UAE, Saudi firms plan higher spend on IIoT
01 September 2019
More than 70 per cent of medium-to-large organisations in the buildings and cities sector in the UAE and Saudi Arabia expect to increase spending on digitalisation and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies in the next five years, a report said.
Findings from the “IIoT Market Spotlight – UAE & Saudi Arabia” report, which global technology leader Honeywell has launched in partnership with YouGov and IDC, also reveal that senior decision-makers in the buildings and cities sector are looking to IIoT technologies to capture key benefits including improved operational efficiencies (53 per cent), time savings (50 per cent) and increased revenues (26 per cent).
The growing appetite for investment in digital transformation comes as regional governments push forward with the implementation of smart city initiatives. Research by IDC shows spending on smart city technologies in the Middle East and Africa is expected to increase to $2.7 billion by 2022, up from $1.3 billion in 2018. Experts attribute the positive forecast to the acceleration of digitalisation within urban ecosystems as environmental and economic benefits become clear.
“IIoT, big data and analytics technologies are helping improve the safety, security, productivity, and energy efficiency of urban areas around the world while reducing operating and maintenance expenses and cutting energy costs,” said George Bou Mitri, vice president and general manager for Honeywell Building Technologies in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
“By aggregating data from disparate systems, we can gain powerful operational insights and enable real-time decision-making that brings many benefits, ranging from improved traffic management, security, and crowd monitoring in cities, to enhanced occupant comfort and reduced downtime for a building’s mechanical assets,” Bou Mitri added.
Even with the increased spending and appetite for digital transformation there remains challenges for the buildings and cities sector to overcome to realise the benefits of digitalisation. Almost half (43 per cent) of surveyed executives highlight a lack of digital culture and of qualified staff and training in their organisation as a key hurdle to the adoption of IIoT technologies.
More than a third (37 per cent) of respondents said data protection issues are a key concern, and 34 per cent cite budgetary pressures as presenting a key obstacle.
To support organisations to overcome challenges and help realise the benefits of IIoT technologies, Honeywell has launched two innovation and knowledge-exchange hubs in the UAE in the past year. The company will also open a new training and knowledge-sharing hub for IIoT technologies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, representing continued significant investment and commitment to digitalisation efforts.
The centres demonstrate solutions for a range of sectors including smart buildings and cities.
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