Business leaders across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region expect to increase technology spending over the next three years, a new report by UK-based Global Data states. This especially fall on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, cloud computing and internet-of-things (IOT).

According to the report, 42 per cent of the 250 survey respondents from the MEA region confirmed plans to make substantial investments in AI over the next three years, while 41 per cent said they plan to increase spending on cybersecurity and cloud computing. A slightly lower percentage (40 per cent) identified internet-of-things as their major investment priority.

Shifting technology focus

The findings indicate that survey respondents in the MEA region assign a higher priority to AI than those in other regions, such as North America (41 per cent), Asia Pacific (39 per cent) and South and Central America (38 per cent).

Except for the area of AI, there is no significant divergence between the technology priorities of MEA business leaders and those of their global counterparts.

The report surveyed more than 1,660 respondents globally.

Cybersecurity emerged as the most important area of future investment, with 43 per cent of overall respondents saying they expect to make substantial investments in that area over the next three years. This was followed by AI (39 per cent) and cloud computing (37 per cent).

Further technology priorities

Other technology areas that are expected to receive major investment in the short and medium-term are internet-of-things (IOT), robotics, 3D printing, quantum computing, blockchain and virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR).

Global respondents ranked cybersecurity, AI and cloud computing together as high priorities in terms of importance and planned investment.

North American respondents allocated the highest priority to cybersecurity, with 49 respondents from the region saying they plan substantial investment in this technology area over the next three years.