News

Information technology (IT) in the Middle East

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Fingerprints will help payment cards retain relevance

  Biometric payment cards using fingerprint technology could add billions to global banking revenues, says UBS

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  TransferGo to harness Google-inspired tech capability

  Payments fintech TransferGo chooses cloud-native core banking platform to build a digital wallet and expand its services

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  Qatar regulator launches platform to monitor human understanding of financial crime

  Qatari financial services regulator works with global body to provide digital platform to assess whether financial services workers understand how to prevent financial crime

• February 02, 2021 02 Feb'21

  Nordic countries dominate European online banking take-up

  Nordics dominate online banking take-up in Europe, but the UK is not far behind

• January 26, 2021 26 Jan'21

  Saudi IT spending to hit $11bn in 2021

  Saudi Arabian organisations will spend about $11bn on IT this year, with emerging technologies high on shopping lists

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Bahrain hopes 5G roll-out will attract more tech firms to its shores

  Bahrain has completed its 5G roll-out, which will support its IT infrastructure in creating the right environment for technology firms

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  Jobs in fintech bounce back after brief lockdown lull

  Fintechs and payments companies need to make staff recruitment a priority as talent pool shrinks

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  Top 10 Middle East stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Middle East stories of 2020

• December 15, 2020 15 Dec'20

  Covid-19 sparks boom in Middle East digital payments sector

  Stubborn cash use could fall in the Middle East after an acceleration in the take-up of digital payments amid the coronavirus pandemic

• November 30, 2020 30 Nov'20

  $60m Middle East tech fund targets 120 startups

  Venture capital fund expects rapid regional technology growth in the post-Covid-19 world

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  IT Priorities 2020: European IT budget share reflects home-working challenges brought by Covid

  European organisations are being forced to redivert more limited budgets during the pandemic

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Saudi Arabian authorities work with Chinese IT giants on digital goals

  Saudi Arabia has signed two agreements with Chinese IT suppliers as it strives to deliver its ambitious programme to diversify its economy

• September 17, 2020 17 Sep'20

  Saudi Arabia sees cyber security boom as coronavirus bites

  Saudi Arabian CIOs have been forced to increase their security posture as the Covid-19 pandemic transforms working methods

• September 09, 2020 09 Sep'20

  Abu Dhabi government launches peer-to-peer coding campus

  Abu Dhabi government launches a specialist programming school that uses peer-to-peer teaching methods and gamification

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Netherlands investigates innovative privacy technology SSI

  Dutch research organisation is looking into areas where self-sovereign identity technology could be used in society and business

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Egypt’s datacentre plans take key step forward

  Government lays the foundations for a datacentre industry with its new data protection law

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  Aramex ships in Rackspace Technology to accelerate datacentre downsizing and move to AWS cloud

  Dubai-based international shipping and logistics firm Aramex is in the midst of a cloud-focused digital transformation designed to tighten up its last-mile delivery operations with the help of Rackspace Technology

• July 15, 2020 15 Jul'20

  Huge declines in traditional outsourcing as Covid-19 puts a stop on deals

  Traditional IT outsourcing deals value plummets in the last quarter as contracts dry up amid Covid-19 disruption

• June 01, 2020 01 Jun'20

  Egypt offers free tech scholarship to 100,000 citizens

  Egypt's youths are being offered free training to help them to prepare for the careers of the future

• June 01, 2020 01 Jun'20

  How Saudi Arabia is using cloud to navigate the Covid-19 downturn

  Organisations in Saudi Arabia are using cloud computing services to help them navigate challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic

• May 20, 2020 20 May'20

  Coronavirus: Pandemic spurs QR code app upgrade at PayPal

  PayPal introduces QR code payment functionality to its mobile app to support social distancing

• May 20, 2020 20 May'20

  Coronavirus: Bahrain sees fintech take-up surge amid Covid-19 crisis

  Covid-19 has spurred the use of financial technology in Bahrain, which could boost the industry in the country and wider Gulf region

• May 18, 2020 18 May'20

  Flagship digital investment at Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc pays off

  Abu Dhabi National Oil Company sees flagship digital project in high demand after proving its value in responding to the Covid-19 crisis

• May 11, 2020 11 May'20

  Coronavirus: SMEs in the UAE forced to digitally transform

  The UAE, like the rest of the world, continues to be heavily impacted by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, and technology is helping to lead the fight

• May 06, 2020 06 May'20

  Cash use to go below 5% of total spending in Middle East

  Banks expect a rapid reduction of the use of cash in the region

• May 05, 2020 05 May'20

  Coronavirus: Total outsourcing spending collapses in March

  IT spending plunged in March, drastically reducing increases that had been expected in the EMEA region

• April 09, 2020 09 Apr'20

  How Bolt plans to be more uber than Uber

  Overcoming competitors with brand names that have become part of the modern vernacular is a challenge Estonia-based Bolt has set itself as it takes on Uber

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Estonia offers digital tools to countries struggling with coronavirus school closures

  Government and tech companies in Baltic state unite to offer advanced digital learning tools to other countries

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  UN identifies tech companies working in Occupied Palestinian Territories

  United Nations Human Rights Office report names a number of technology companies that could be involved in violating human rights

• March 12, 2020 12 Mar'20

  CIO interview: Miguel Rio Tinto, Emirates NBD

  The Dubai-based banking group’s CIO, Miguel Rio Tinto, talks about its ambitious digital transformation plans

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  IT Priorities 2020: IP network investments top priority for Middle East IT leaders

  IT leaders in the Middle East expect to see increased spending on IP networks as digital transformation continues across the region

• February 26, 2020 26 Feb'20

  Thousands of UK entrepreneurs register businesses in Estonia since Brexit referendum

  UK entrepreneurs are registering businesses in Estonia to make sure they can continue to trade freely in the EU

• February 25, 2020 25 Feb'20

  Mastercard creates 1,500 tech jobs in Ireland

  New roles at tech hub in Dublin will include professionals with expertise in artificial intelligence, cyber security, blockchain and user experience

• February 04, 2020 04 Feb'20

  Azimo gets loan from European Investment Bank to build cross-border payments infrastructure in EU

  UK fintech gets validation from EIB through €20m loan which will contribute to building its smartphone app-based payments infrastructure

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  New jobs in Ireland as Brexit forces Revolut to migrate work from London

  Brexit has pushed the financial technology firm into moving London jobs to Ireland

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  Cost-cutting and digital transformation spur increased European IT outsourcing in 2019

  The need to rein in costs while digitally transforming has led to growth in traditional and as-a-service base outsourcing

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  Estonian CIO gives UK IT professionals hope as Brexit removes rights

  Tech chief says Estonia’s door is open to UK IT professionals if they want to continue enjoying an EU lifestyle

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  UK and EU AI communities will only be globally significant if they work as one

  The European Union and the UK will be left behind in artificial intelligence research and development if they take separate paths after Brexit

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  Two-fifths of Middle East IT staff would change job for more money

  IT professionals in the Middle East are mostly motivated by money when it comes to finding a new job, according to a Computer Weekly survey

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  Over a quarter of Middle East businesses have no women in their IT department

  Businesses in the Middle East are failing to balance their IT workforces between men and women, and a quarter have no women in IT roles

• January 13, 2020 13 Jan'20

  Travelex to begin restoring foreign exchange services two weeks after ‘Sodinokibi’ attack

  Travelex says it is making “good progress” in its recovery and is to begin restoring electronic foreign exchange services, but is silent about whether it has agreed to pay hackers a $6m ransom to decrypt computer files

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Travelex hackers threaten to sell credit card data on dark web

  Sodinokibi cyber gangsters have threatened to sell Travelex customers’ private data on a Russian underground cyber crime forum if it fails to pay a $6m ransom

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  Cyber gangsters demand payment from Travelex after ‘Sodinokibi’ attack

  Cyber criminals are demanding payment to decrypt Travelex’s computer files after a devastating malware attack. New questions have been raised about the security of Travelex’s computer network after it emerged the company waited eight months to patch...

• January 03, 2020 03 Jan'20

  Suspected ransomware attack causes worldwide disruption for Travelex

  Travelex switches off computer systems and resorts to cash-only currency sales after malware attack. Insiders claim the currency exchange chain has been hit by ransomware which has left critical files containing customer data encrypted

• December 24, 2019 24 Dec'19

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  How Saudi Arabia plans to become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East

  With its young and educated population, Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a hub for tech innovation

• December 11, 2019 11 Dec'19

  How can CIOs in Europe turn innovation into a competitive advantage?

  CIOs across Europe are under pressure to innovate to help businesses grow and must think differently as a result

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  Cloud computing surges in the UAE in 2019

  Cloud computing take-up saw a significant acceleration in the Middle East throughout this year

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  Dubai’s Kentech kicks off digital transformation drive

  Energy and industrial support company will go live in Oracle’s cloud next month

• November 21, 2019 21 Nov'19

  Swiss packaging manufacturer powers digital maintenance with GE and ServiceMax

  Carton and packaging company SIG, which also sells IoT-connected machines to food and beverage firms, has developed a digital maintenance service