Over the last year, the terms “digital economy” and “economy” have been increasingly used interchangeably. This shift is a recognition that digitisation is now the engine driving economic growth and transformation both globally and within the Middle East. By recent estimates, the digital economies of GCC countries alone are growing twice as fast as their advanced economy counterparts.
This progress runs on a foundation on advanced ICT infrastructure. By the end of 2021, there were over 175 5G commercial networks globally, powering manufacturing, mining, power grids, healthcare, education, and other industries.
We have seen this firsthand having signed over 1,000 5GtoB project contracts with carriers and partners. The rapid proliferation of 5G connectivity within the Middle East has served as an enabler of these industries, as well as advanced technologies.
Digital technology and clean energy
One domain that is especially pertinent to this year’s congress is digital power. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates digital technology can support the reduction of global carbon emissions by 15 percent over the next decade. Huawei is putting its ICT experience behind efforts to help societies transition to clean energy.
In 2021, the company launched Huawei Digital Power, which combines digital and power electronics technology to provide low-carbon solutions that are secure, simplified and green. In the Middle East region specifically, Huawei is providing a solution for the world’s largest photovoltaic energy storage project in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea.
This progress in the realm of digital power and sustainability is only possible on modern networks. Carriers, therefore, are in a unique position to keep innovating not only in providing connectivity, but also in cloud services, vertical solutions, and green infrastructure. This evolution will enable service providers to reduce costs and improve efficiency, while empowering the digital economy.
Huawei launched the first cloud service solution for global carriers, the Carrier IT Target Network Architecture, to help carriers increase revenue, reduce costs, improve efficiency, all while rolling out green, reliable, efficient, and intelligent IT infrastructure. The cloud service is part of a broader solutions portfolio geared towards helping carriers optimise their resources. The XtoB offering from Huawei incorporates 5G, premium private line, intelligent cloud network and data centres. This architecture allows carriers to accelerate their digital transformation while helping them to also meet customer demands.
At the forefront of innovation
Pursuing sustainability and capturing opportunities in the digital economy demands more than just vision. At Huawei, we have committed ourselves to staying at the forefront of innovation, and have invested accordingly. Our R&D investments over the past decade have exceeded $110bn, with more than 10 percent of Huawei’s sales revenue going back into R&D.
Our work in establishing open labs in the Middle East and worldwide has led to Huawei being ranked as the second-highest private sector investor in research and the development in the world by the European Commission Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard.
Yet to fully realise the benefits of the digital economy, we must also fully grasp the dangers posed by cybercrime. Predictions cite global cybercrime costs are growing by 15 percent per year and will reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. In the Middle East alone, a recent report notes that only 48 percent of organisations feel confident in their understanding of the cybersecurity threat landscape for their business, and only three in five feel confident in their ability to respond to incidents today.
Such damage could stall progress in digital transformation. It is also why carriers must choose secure-by-design ICT architectures as they roll out new use cases for enterprise customers.
Underscoring both innovation and cybersecurity must be a pledge to open collaboration. Today, your smartphone works as well in the Middle East as it would in Asia, or elsewhere. This is because the global ICT ecosystem decided to work together within standard bodies such as 3GPP and GSMA NESAS to not only guarantee unified standards, but evolve these standards in a transparent and fact-based manner.
Our future demands no less. By working together within established rules and organisations, we are all better positioned to pursue sustainability goals and capture new opportunities in a fully connected, intelligent world.
Steven Yi, president of Huawei Middle East
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