Following the announcement of Dubai’s World Expo 2020 win, global search engines and social media channels registered an unprecedented surge in Dubai-related keyword searches. Twitter’s #UAE and #DubaiExpo2020 were trending with unparalleled momentum. This surge heralds a new era for the local digital industry and opens up exceptional opportunities to monetise on the interest.
The figures say it all. Gartner Group projected that “The Internet of Things” or internet activities will contribute up to $19.1 trillion to the global economy and more than 30 billion mobile devices will be connected by 2020. According to Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai’s World Expo is expected to yield at least USD 23 billion dollars in revenue, a 5.5 per cent GDP growth and the creation of 277,000 jobs.Digital competitiveness has become a key factor in the race for economic leadership. Internet technologies, mobile devices, m-commerce, e-commerce, online presence, content marketing, social media, cloud-computing and new digital trends have transformed product/services delivery, import/export balance, costs/profits ratios and productivity/resource management.But how will Dubai’s 2020 World Expo instigate digital change in the MENA region? Reports show a mitigated outlook on MENA region’s digital trade and internet literacy, mobile device and internet technology adoption. The UAE, however, scored the highest ranking in 2013 in terms of mobile device and consumer electronics penetration; a trend that led the UAE government to invest $200 million in m-government service deployment. Roberto Croci, EMEA Sales Director for Google Analytics, heeded the call for m-government, observing the tremendous opportunities brought by the explosion of smartphones. In light of Dubai’s 2020 World Expo win, Roberto believes the UAE - a tech-hungry nation, is now in an ideal position to claim the forefront spot on the global digital marketing stage by leveraging cutting edge technologies. Going digital is no longer a challenge. Opening an online store can be done in fifteen minutes, creating a web-page in even less and selling products through mobile apps is as simple as creating an email account.