Technology investments in the GCC are expected to top $9.1 billion by year end, making the region one of the world’s leading hotspots for large-scale technology spending, according to recent research from IDC.

Amidst the burgeoning growth, experts have identified strong technological leadership as an important factor in achieving genuine productivity benefits for companies and social and economic advantages for the region.

In line with this, SAS, a leading provider of business intelligence and analytic software and services, is set to host the ‘Premier Business Leadership Series’ (PBLS) on September 11 in Mumbai.

The event will see global thought leaders address a gathering of senior executives from the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, and discuss the business impact of performance excellence through insight and innovation.

'With a focus on the globalisation and future business issues that C-level executives across the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions face, PBLS has been designed to provide valuable foresight into the global economic outlook by inviting global thought leaders to talk about how managing performance, customers, analytics and information are essential to sustainable success,' said the seminar organisers.

Speakers at this year’s Asia Pacific leg of the event will include among others, Gerard Lyons (global economist, Standard Chartered); Adil Zainulbhai (CEO and managing director of McKinsey India); Renée Mauborgne (co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy) and Thomas Davenport (co-author of Competing on Analytics).

SAS chief executive officer Jim Goodnight will discuss and provide insights into what it takes for a company to be globally competitive.

“The growing adoption of business analytics and intelligence by companies in India and rest of Asia Pacific continues to gain momentum,” said Bill Hoggarth, regional CEO, Africa Middle East, SAS.

“With world-class innovators set to grace the event and impart real-world case studies, the seminar will deliver a roadmap to participants, which will help them gain valuable insights on how to innovate and manage in these exciting times to ensure growth that is manageable and sustainable,” he added.

At present, nearly 40 per cent of the GCC technology investment is intended to support new initiatives as organisations in the region experience rapid growth, either through mergers or acquisitions.

SAS’ hosting of such a high impact event is a testament to the company’s proactive approach in extending the reach of innovative business intelligence solutions and the role these applications play in the growth of the most important industries in the region.

In addition to representatives from SAS, spokespersons from other leading organisations, including Gartner, Citi, Vodafone and ICICI are also set to provide their opinions on their respective industries.-TradeArabia News Service