ICT spending to top $260 Billion in 2016 as digital transformation initiatives take hold across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa

ICT spending in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) will top $260 billion in 2016 as organizations across the region increasingly embrace digital transformation initiatives in a bid to streamline their costs and bolster their flexibility. That's according to global technology research and consulting services firm International Data Corporation, which today hosted an event at Dubai's Madinat Jumeirah to announce a series of "IDC FutureScape Predictions" for the year ahead.

"Sitting at the heart of most digital transformation efforts across the region is some combination of the main 3rd Platform technologies – mobility, cloud, Big Data analytics, and social business," says Megha Kumar, IDC's senior research manager for software in the META region. "And while this trend undoubtedly signals a positive development for the region's ICT vendors, it is also worth noting that a number of macroeconomic factors are preventing the market from reaching its full potential. Indeed, declining oil prices, political instability, and volatile currency fluctuations have all played their part in IDC adjusting its initial forecast for 2016 down from $270 billion. With such factors in mind, we feel a more modest year-on-year growth rate of 3.8% is attainable for the region, with software and IT services responsible for much of the increase."