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ANALYSIS

Saudi businesses concerned about cyber war: Bloomberg

RIYADH, July 24, 2019

Seventy-two percent of Saudi Arabian respondents strongly agree or agree with the prediction that the next world war is a cyber war, said the newly released Bloomberg New Economy Forum survey of 2,000 business professionals in 20 markets.

Saudi business professionals are more optimistic than developed markets about change, and have markedly higher expectations for the role that technology will play in the economy, business and daily life in the decades to come, the report said.

Faced with a series of predictions about the world in 2035, the survey revealed sentiment from business professionals from emerging and developed economies on a range of issues including the role of technology, urbanization and climate change.

“It is noteworthy that emerging economies are more optimistic than developed markets about the power of technology to shape a better world by the year 2035,” said Andrew Browne, editorial director of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. “Developing countries in general see technology more as an opportunity while the developed world has a greater sense of technology as a threat.”

Middle East insights (Egypt/ Saudi Arabia/UAE)

•    37 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 28 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘OPEC has been disbanded’. This is the second highest level of agreement of all surveyed markets.  

•    67 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 54 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘China and India have eclipsed the U.S. as the world’s center of tech innovation’. This is the third highest level of agreement of all surveyed markets.  

•    26 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents strongly disagree or disagree with the prediction that ‘From the Middle East to South Asia, the liberation of women is leading to an economic renaissance in the developing world’. This is the second highest level of disagreement of all surveyed markets. However, 43 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents strongly agree or agree with the same prediction.

•    54 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 39 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘‘Beijing is the world’s top tech city’. This is the third highest level of agreement of all surveyed markets.  

•    72 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 68 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘The next world war is a cyber war, as national security increasingly is defined by advancements in Artificial Intelligence, next generation 5G mobile networks, and quantum computing’.

•    67 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 64 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘Lifelong learning, often delivered via mobile technology, is helping workers across the globe successfully adapt to the job market challenges proposed by Artificial Intelligence’.

•    61 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, higher than the global average of 50 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘Self-driving car shares are more common than individually owned automobiles’.

•    51 percent of Saudi Arabian respondents, just below the global average of 52 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘The first low-lying country has been wiped off the map by rising sea levels’.

•    33 percent of Middle East respondents, higher than the global average of 28 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘OPEC has been disbanded’.

•    65 percent of Middle East respondents, higher than the global average of 54 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘China and India have eclipsed the U.S. as the world’s center of tech innovation’.  

Tom Orlik, Bloomberg's chief economist said: “What’s palpable on the streets of Beijing and New Delhi is also evident in the results of the survey – professionals in the new economies are clear sighted on the shift in the center of global economic gravity. As they move to seize the opportunities represented by new markets and new technologies, the flow of talent and capital will accelerate the new economies' rise.”

The 2019 New Economy Forum will be held in Beijing on November 20-22 on the shores of Yanqi Lake. Nearly 500 of the world's most influential business executives, technology innovators, government officials, experts and academics from over 60 countries and regions will gather in Beijing to propose solutions to disruptions from the shift to the new economy. – TradeArabia News Service




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