Booz Allen Hamilton: Energizing the future of ICT in the Middle East (page 1 of 2)

In the not-too-distant future, ICT will positively transform how we interact as consumers with services such as banking, shopping, healthcare, transportation and many other facets of our everyday lives. Leading ICT regions such as Western Europe, North America, and South East Asia are already experiencing this paradigm.

The Middle East region, however, is still far from realizing the full benefits of ICT, and the path to true advancement will continue to be tortuous unless the topic receives full attention. A number of challenges must be overcome to get ICT development on a sustainable path.

"The importance in giving the populations of the Middle East access to ICT cannot be underestimated," said Eddy Skaff, Senior Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton. "In order to be competitive on the world stage, Middle East markets will have to prevail over some current obstacles they face that threaten to hinder the successful implementation of an environment that supports and sustains ICT and its benefits. Governments in this region can play a key role in making these benefits a reality to consumers."

The single biggest hurdle is the lack of a holistic ICT development agenda at a national level in most Middle East markets. Definition of a development plan at a market level across the main facets of ICT is mostly non-existent in the region. This position does not undermine the successful formulation and early implementations of sector specific ICT plans, such as e-government, e-education, and broader e-commerce activities in markets such as the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Nevertheless, it does underscore the prevailing state of fragmentation region-wide. The accumulation of these soiled initiatives is creating an inefficient allocation of resources and substantive delays in delivering meaningful services to end users that can truly improve their lives. Recent research in the Gulf region reinforces this viewpoint with nearly 60% of respondents agreeing that ICT development is important for the Government, while 55% rate the related Government efforts as unsuccessful.

ICT development continues to suffer from an over-emphasis on telecommunications development at the expense of most other elements in the ICT spectrum. The emerging view, however, from most Middle East markets is that policy makers and regulatory authorities should continue to strive in democratizing access to all telecommunications services and encourage further innovation in the sector. This will require a shift over time from defining licensing regimes to stimulating accessibility and affordability of services. Past the priority of communication accessibility and affordability, policy makers should create an environment for the development of digital-services in a number of domains such as education, health, media, general government activities and other commercial transactions.

There are three dimensions to the new ICT convergence facing the Middle East market:

The first deals with consumers and how their role in a truly digital world can shift from pure consumption to active participation in the development and production of products and services.

The second dimension covers product and services where the delivery of communications, services, information, and entertainment becomes increasingly digital, standardized, affordable and easy-to-use.

The third dimension deals with technology and how Internet Protocol is driving the integration of voice, data and media platforms.

Unfortunately, the Middle East region continues to exhibit an inhibiting environment, mostly due to insufficient commitments and investments.

Middle East markets can reverse this trend and truly realize the full potential of ICT for the benefit of their economies and societies however.