More than 130,000 ICT professionals from 150 countries are set to attend this year's edition of Gitex Technology Week, the leading ICT event in the Mena and South Asian region, which opens today (October 20) in Dubai.

The world’s leading brands will be at high-profile event revealing new products and services, while the industry’s key decision makers will be driving thought leadership on the industry’s opportunities and challenges across the region, said event organisers, Dubai World Trade Centre.

The Middle East continues to be a booming market for the ICT industry with total spend projected to increase 5.5 per cent from 2012 to $192.9 billion in 2013, according to IT research firm Gartner.

More than 80 per cent of the world’s leading ICT brands will be present at the event which kicks off tomorrow at DWTC and runs till October 24 under the theme “Lets Create, Disrupt and Re-imagine Together”, with Dubai Internet City as a strategic partner.

Gitex Technology Week has consistently driven results for businesses of all sizes, with 85 per cent of the 2012 attendees saying the event met or exceeded their expectations for return-on-investment, according to a senior DWTC official.

"ICT trends like mobility, the cloud, and big data are commonly used industry buzzwords, however Gitex Technology Week is the region’s only event that offers visitors an in-depth understanding of these concepts as well as knowledge on how they can be used to deliver enhanced ROI," remarked Trixie LohMirmand, the senior VP.

"Gitex is again ready to set the standard for ICT thought leadership and business development for every attendee from small businesses to multinational corporations and government agencies, he stated.

This year there will be substantial numbers of international exhibitors and visitors - new country participants hail from Belarus, Brazil, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia and Ukraine.

The official country partner of Gitex Technology Week is Serbia, under the auspices of the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency, as the Eastern European country looks to boost trade ties with its rapidly-growing ICT-related companies.

The show has also attracted a major new international partnership this year in the form of the GSMA Mobile 360 Series comes to the Middle East for the first time.

The co-located GSMA Mobile 360 Series will attract high-profile executives in the mobile industry, as well as key regulatory and government representatives.

The top ICT event will also welcome back InfoComm MEA for the third successive year to assemble the widest range of audio visual systems and technologies in the region.

Among the features appearing for the first time is the Big Data Conference. Supported by Diamond SponsorAccenture and Platinum Sponsors Commvault and Huawei, the event is the first stand-alone session on what is one of the ICT industry’s most compelling and challenging trends.

Worldwide, IDC estimates that spending on Big Data technology and services will likely grow from $3.2 billion in 2010 to $16.9 billion in 2015, representing a CAGR of 40 per cent, or about seven times that of the overall ICT market.

According to organisers, Gitex is also expanding on its ability to celebrate innovation and support local talent.

The Cloud Awards will put a spotlight on cloud computing’s contribution to the business community, while the Gitex Hot Stuff Awards is the largest consumer electronics gadget competition in the region, it stated.

Adding to this competitive spirit is the Student Lab competition, which is sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs (MoPA) and held in association with Google.

A new exposure-enhancing and knowledge-sharing platform set to make an impression are the free to attend Smart Sessions. Sponsored by Kaspersky, a dedicated theatre will provide a powerful showcase for anyone with innovative solutions and insight.

Featured activities include panel debates, discussions and interactive presentations. Smart Session topics include mobile apps solution trends, SME entrepreneurship, cyber security, social media and cyber security.

Also new at Gitex this year is the GSM Exchange, a specialised international trading platform for mobile phone distributors, wholesalers and retailers. The organisation is representing a wide range of mobile distributors and showcasing mobile products from across the region at Gitex.

Another major highlight is the 'Digital Strategies Forum' which is returning to the Gitex by popular demand. The seminar, to be held on 23 October, focuses on how the rules of business are being upended in a new, consumer-empowered era.

Sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Finance, the Government Sector continues to attract the highest government participation of any trade event in the region. This year sees government participation up 25 per cent compared to 2012.

Another feature with enduring appeal is the Gitex Consumer Tech feature, which brings its usual eye-catching array of entertainment and leisure hardware, software and accessories, whereas the network and security sector is looking forward to welcoming the world’s top names dealing with biometric technologies, anti-virus/anti-spam solutions, security tools and services.

Gitex Card Technology, meanwhile, has been updated to tackle everything from Near Field Communication to Radio Frequency Identification and beyond.

Throughout the show, the new Content Hub, sponsored by Lincoln, which is also the provider of the event’s Official Technology Car,will provide an exciting world of live newsfeeds, social media alerts, interviews, breaking news and industry updates under one platform, said the organisers.

Create Gitex Technology Week networking features includeConneXions, an event-specific virtual community inspired by the interface of social media applications, and the Midis Group-sponsored C-level Majlis Programme,whichwill continue to provide c-level executives the chance to network with likeminded peers, they added.-TradeArabia News Service