BUSINESS
Pixabay
“
While
SEPTEMBER 2017
14
The increasing prevalence of digitisation in the mining and construction sectors increases the potential impact of cyberattacks on connected systems and networks .
ransomware attacks in 2016 were estimated to have raked in around USD1-billion , the number is likely to be much higher this year .”
Increasing ICT and IoT spend
According to global ICT research and consulting services firm International Data Corporation ( IDC ), spending on big data and analytics in the Middle East and Africa will increase by 11.0 % in 2017 to reach USD2.2-billion , compared to USD1.98-billion in 2016 . This data comes from IDC ’ s latest Worldwide Semiannual Big Data and Analytics Spending Guide . The growth is expected to reach approximately USD3.20-billion in 2020 — a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) of 10.0 % over the 2016 – 2020 period .
IT and business services accounted for 55.1 % of overall spending , with software the next biggest spender . According to Megha Kumar , research director for software at IDC MEA , there is a lot of focus around customer and operational analytics , and uptake around advanced and predictive workloads . Kumar says that this shows that organisations in the region acknowledge the need to leverage data for strategic decisions , but face challenges in finding skills to support big data and analytics deployments , with the majority of software spending focused on solutions for end-user query as well as reporting and databases .
Geographically , 22.7 % of this investment was generated in South Africa , second only to Saudi Arabia , with 24 %. Industries with longer-term potential include discrete and processed manufacturing , resource industries , and transportation , while construction has shown very little spending in this area .
IDC ’ s Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide forecasts that the IoT market will grow 19.6 % year-on-year in 2017 to total USD7.8- billion , compared to the 18.1 % growth seen in 2016 . IDC attributes this to the proliferation of digital transformation initiatives across the region as businesses and government entities strive to boost productivity and improve efficiency .
According to Wale Babalola , research analyst for telecommunications , IoT , and digital media at IDC MEA , “ IoT now offers a myriad of industry-specific solutions that can be easily deployed by organisations in a bid to stay ahead of competition .”
IDC forecasts that manufacturing operations will account for more than 51 % of the projected IoT-related spending of USD1.3-billion from manufacturing organisations in 2017 . The transportation industry is also forecast to see IoT-related spending of around USD1.3-billion in 2017 , with freight monitoring expected to account for USD849-million , highlighting the increasing importance of monitoring goods and improving productivity .