News

Information technology (IT) in the Middle East

• May 22, 2026 22 May'26

  Denodo expands AWS integrations to power agentic AI with governed enterprise data

  Integrations with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, SageMaker and Quick aim to help Middle East enterprises operationalise agentic AI across hybrid and multi-cloud environments with trusted, real-time data access

• May 20, 2026 20 May'26

  Presight and Abu Dhabi Civil Defence build AI-driven public safety platform

  Cooperation agreement between Presight and the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority signals the next phase of AI-driven emergency response, strengthening the UAE’s ambition to become a global leader in smart cities, crisis management and digital public...

• May 18, 2026 18 May'26

  How geopolitical instability could reshape Gulf datacentre investments and sovereign AI strategies

  Rising tensions are forcing hyperscalers, governments and investors to reassess risk, resilience and infrastructure strategies as the Gulf positions itself as a global AI powerhouse

• May 14, 2026 14 May'26

  UAE Cyber Security Council and Dell launch cyber security centre to strengthen digital resilience

  Abu Dhabi initiative supports the UAE’s sovereign cyber strategy with AI-driven security, advanced skills development and accelerated local innovation

• May 13, 2026 13 May'26

  AI threats push Middle East CISOs towards identity-first security

  Deepfakes and shadow AI have rendered the traditional security playbook obsolete, prompting cyber leaders to shift towards resilience-first defences

• May 13, 2026 13 May'26

  AI-driven surveillance growth reshapes data infrastructure in UAE

  Seagate Technology’s Sameer Bhatia discusses how the UAE’s smart infrastructure ambitions are driving demand for scalable, resilient and sovereign data storage architectures for AI-enabled surveillance and critical infrastructure environments

• May 12, 2026 12 May'26

  IDCA datacentres report: Global concentration and the Goldilocks zone

  International Data Center Authority report shows capacity concentrated in a few developed nations, while ‘Goldilocks index’ shows which states can benefit from rapid development

• May 12, 2026 12 May'26

  Saudi Aramco deploys AI refinery system with Emerson

  The system integrates Emerson’s Aspen Hybrid Models into Saudi Aramco’s refinery planning framework, enabling higher prediction accuracy, smarter feedstock optimisation and scalable AI-driven refinery planning

• May 12, 2026 12 May'26

  UAE launches sovereign AI-driven Cyber Factory security initiative

  UAE Cyber Security Council and CPX unveil national cyber manufacturing initiative aimed at strengthening digital sovereignty, AI-powered defence and critical infrastructure resilience

• May 11, 2026 11 May'26

  Core42 partners with Solutions+ on Mubadala sovereign AI

  Agreement announced at Make it in the Emirates will see Core42 provide sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure while Solutions+ delivers implementation services and enterprise AI applications across Mubadala portfolio companies and government entities

• May 07, 2026 07 May'26

  Data residency becomes the GCC’s next AI battleground

  As sovereign AI strategies accelerate across the Gulf, organisations are shifting their focus from ‘how do we use AI?’ to ‘where does the data live?’, turning data residency into a strategic differentiator rather than a compliance exercise

• May 06, 2026 06 May'26

  Closing the AI trust gap in MENA: Why visibility, governance and data quality matter more than hype

  Alteryx’s Sabya Sen explains why confidence in AI remains low for high-stakes decisions, and what CIOs must do to turn adoption into real business value

• May 06, 2026 06 May'26

  Opaque acquires Abu Dhabi cryptographic AI tech from TII

  The announcement was made at Make it in the Emirates as UAE-developed post-quantum and confidential AI technologies move from Abu Dhabi research labs to global enterprise deployment

• May 06, 2026 06 May'26

  Cloud and data sovereignty caught in a paradox

  We asked the hyperscalers how they would respond to US court-ordered eavesdropping on foreign citizen data – and got responses that highlight a paradoxical situation

• May 05, 2026 05 May'26

  Google AI workers vote to unionise over IDF and US military tech

  Unions send letter to management requesting recognition for Google DeepMind employees, in particular over the company’s involvement in hi-tech systems used in Gaza and Iran wars

• April 30, 2026 30 Apr'26

  Artificial intelligence powers Egypt’s USD 27bn city project

  Backed by Talaat Moustafa Group, the development aims to fuse digital twin infrastructure, edge AI and data-driven economic planning to create a scalable smart city model

• April 28, 2026 28 Apr'26

  Zero waste drives datacentre sustainability shift in UAE

  Khazna’s DXB8 becomes the first datacentre globally certified for zero waste, highlighting how circular operations are emerging alongside power, cooling and AI infrastructure as a core design priority

• April 24, 2026 24 Apr'26

  UAE targets agentic AI to power half of government operations

  With a two-year target to move 50% of government sectors, services and operations to agentic artificial intelligence, the UAE is positioning autonomous systems as the next phase of digital government

• April 23, 2026 23 Apr'26

  Using AI to manage insider risk amid Middle East conflict

  As geopolitical tensions reshape the cyber threat landscape across the region, organisations are turning to artificial intelligence-driven behaviour analytics, investigative automation and monitoring of AI agents to detect insider risk faster and ...

• April 22, 2026 22 Apr'26

  Egypt targets nearshore IT outsourcing market as global demand shifts

  Talent scale, cost advantage and AI capability position Egypt as an alternative to Eastern Europe in evolving sourcing strategies

• April 21, 2026 21 Apr'26

  Middle East CIOs move from cloud-first to sovereign-first in a high-risk digital era

  As artificial intelligence scales and regulatory pressure intensifies, resilience – not cost – is becoming the defining metric of enterprise technology strategy, says Nischal Kapoor, chief revenue officer at e& enterprise

• April 16, 2026 16 Apr'26

  Dubai rolls out AI training for 50,000 government staff

  An initiative under Digital Dubai, in partnership with government HR and AI bodies, reflects the wider UAE strategy to embed artificial intelligence across public services, workforce development and economic diversification plans

• April 16, 2026 16 Apr'26

  UAE education builds digital resilience as regional tensions accelerate shift to remote learning

  Ankabut CEO Tarek Jundi outlines how national infrastructure, AI-driven platforms and distance-learning capabilities are helping schools and universities maintain continuity amid geopolitical uncertainty

• April 15, 2026 15 Apr'26

  Data dive: A new American Century in the datacentre pipeline?

  Looking at datacentre development internationally, we see how the UK faces apparent relative decline, how countries are responding to the AI age, and what MW vs GDP can tell us

• April 14, 2026 14 Apr'26

  Turkey launches nationwide 5G services with ambitious domestic production targets

  Country’s three mobile operators go live across all 81 provinces following $2.95bn spectrum auction, with government mandating 60% local content requirements

• April 09, 2026 09 Apr'26

  European Union deep tech plan too late for quantum champions IQM and Pasqal

  European quantum computing firms hurry to get US stock exchange listings so they can be predator not prey in a coming wave of consolidation

• April 07, 2026 07 Apr'26

  UAE unveils Falcon Perception in push for AI independence

  Technology Innovation Institute’s compact multimodal model rivals global heavyweights while signalling a shift towards efficient, real-world AI deployment

• March 26, 2026 26 Mar'26

  UAE positions cyber security as pillar of national resilience and digital growth

  Strategic investment and coordination reinforce the country’s ability to withstand complex cyber threats

• March 25, 2026 25 Mar'26

  Designing water‐smart AI datacentres in GCC and MENA

  As Gulf countries race to build AI capacity in one of the world’s most water‐stressed regions, policymakers and operators are rethinking how they power and cool datacentres without exhausting critical water resources

• March 25, 2026 25 Mar'26

  The UAE CIO: From technology operator to digital value architect

  As AI, sovereign cloud and regulation reshape the Gulf’s technology landscape, CIOs in the UAE are being pushed beyond infrastructure management into a role that blends strategy, governance and digital trust, says CIO and technology expert Umesh ...

• March 24, 2026 24 Mar'26

  AI infrastructure investment in the Middle East enters a new geopolitical reality

  As the region builds large-scale compute capacity, technology leaders are focusing on resilience, supply chains and semiconductor dependencies

• March 23, 2026 23 Mar'26

  Starlink launches services in UAE and Kuwait, expanding Middle East satellite internet

  Starlink now provides satellite-based internet in the UAE and Kuwait, joining Oman, Qatar, Israel and Yemen in the Middle East

• March 19, 2026 19 Mar'26

  Cisa tells US organisations to harden endpoint management after Stryker attack

  Last week’s cyber attack on the systems of a US medical services company by Iranian hacktivists has prompted an alert from Cisa, urging organisations to reinforce their defensive posture

• March 17, 2026 17 Mar'26

  Interview: D360 Bank redefines cyber security for Saudi Arabia’s cashless future

  Muath Alhomoud, director of cyber security at D360 Bank, discusses payment security, cloud resilience and the responsible use of AI in a hyper-connected financial ecosystem

• March 11, 2026 11 Mar'26

  Iran war a melting pot for other cyber threats

  State-backed cyber threat actors from non-combatant states are taking advantage of the Israeli-US war on Iran to fulfil their own goals, according to Proofpoint analysts

• March 11, 2026 11 Mar'26

  CISOs on alert: Strengthening cyber resilience amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East

  As regional uncertainty rises, security leaders across the Gulf focus on resilience, faster incident response and deeper threat intelligence to protect critical systems and data

• March 09, 2026 09 Mar'26

  IWD 2026: How the Middle East is building a new generation of women leaders in technology

  From government-backed STEM initiatives in the UAE to thriving regional communities such as Women in Cybersecurity Middle East and Women in IT, the region is shifting the conversation from participation to influence

• March 09, 2026 09 Mar'26

  Airspace disruption and geopolitical tensions raise questions over Middle East tech events

  Major gatherings, including Leap and Gisec Global, remain scheduled, but travel disruptions and geopolitical tensions are adding uncertainty

• March 04, 2026 04 Mar'26

  Iranian hacktivists muster their forces but state APTs lay low

  Hacktivist activity surrounding the Iran war is sky-high but Iran’s state-backed cyber espionage actors have yet to show their hands, giving security teams a valuable window of time to shore up their defences

• March 04, 2026 04 Mar'26

  AI workloads force a fundamental redesign of Middle East datacentres

  From hyperscale GPU clusters to sovereign AI ambitions, Huawei outlines how infrastructure must evolve to meet regional demand

• March 03, 2026 03 Mar'26

  Resilience under pressure: How regional conflict is reshaping the Middle East tech strategy

  From AWS outages in the UAE to stronger focus on data control and cyber security, tech leaders say the Israel-US-Iran conflict is challenging, but not stopping the region’s digital goals

• March 03, 2026 03 Mar'26

  NCSC: No increase in cyber threat from Iran, but be prepared

  While cyber threat levels remain stable following the outbreak of war in the Middle East at the weekend, at-risk organisations in the UK should take steps to ward off potential reprisals from Iran-linked threat actors

• March 02, 2026 02 Mar'26

  Virtual twins and AI companions target enterprise war rooms

  Dassault Systèmes claims platform can answer complex business questions in seconds, but approach requires rethinking enterprise data architecture

• February 26, 2026 26 Feb'26

  Khazna’s NexOps shift signals new operating model for AI-scale infrastructure

  Managing director Bart Holsters explains why hybrid insourcing, competence assurance and sovereign readiness are becoming essential as artificial intelligence pushes datacentres to their limits

• February 24, 2026 24 Feb'26

  Where MENA CIOs draw the line on AI sovereignty

  From patient data that cannot be outsourced to banking risk systems that must stay in-country, CIOs are keeping regulated cores sovereign while using global clouds for speed and scale

• February 24, 2026 24 Feb'26

  UAE CIOs feel AI heat as 85% fear role risk within two years

  Technology leaders say careers, credibility and corporate resilience now hinge on delivering measurable artificial intelligence outcomes

• February 19, 2026 19 Feb'26

  Neom partners with DataVolt on $5bn hyperscale datacentre project for digital infrastructure

  The landmark 1.5GW renewable-powered facility at Oxagon signals the Kingdom’s accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, sustainable computing and next-generation digital cities

• February 18, 2026 18 Feb'26

  HP bets on edge AI and regional investment to power Middle East enterprise transformation

  Ertug Ayik, managing director for Middle East and Africa at HP Inc, outlines how on-device artificial intelligence, embedded security and a partner-first model are positioning the company at the heart of MENA’s digital transformation

• February 16, 2026 16 Feb'26

  Qatar advances sovereign cloud strategy to strengthen digital trust and national autonomy

  Deloitte’s Cloud Centre of Excellence in Lusail is helping public and private sector organisations adopt sovereign, AI-ready cloud environments aligned with Qatar’s regulatory vision

• February 12, 2026 12 Feb'26

  e& drives AI-first workforce transformation with Oracle Cloud

  UAE technology group deploys Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM on OCI Dedicated Region to embed artificial intelligence across human resources while meeting national data sovereignty requirements