Saturday 07 / September / 2024
Muscat: His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, patronised the opening of the 33rd edition of the COMEX Global Technology Show 2024, with the participation of more than 100 local and international institutions in the technical field.
The exhibition, organised by Aldar Al Arabia Company in partnership with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, aims to promote digital investment, and review the latest technologies and electronic services.
His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Amer Al-Shaythani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, confirmed that the National Program for the Digital Economy aims to raise the percentage of the digital economy’s contribution to the gross domestic product from 2 percent to 10 percent by the year 2040, and to achieve growth in 8 executive programs, which are: Digital industry, digital transformation, space, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, e-commerce, technology, cybersecurity industry, and technical infrastructure.
In his speech, His Excellency said that the volume of investments in the communications and information technology sector since the announcement of the National Program for the Digital Economy amounted to more than OMR 1 billion (2.5 billion US dollars). A large portion of these investments focused on the areas of communications technologies, data storage and processing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, space technology, and semiconductors.
His Excellency added that the agreements and projects announced at COMEX 2024 have an estimated value of 60 percent higher than those announced at COMEX 2023 and exceeded OMR 40 million . Pointing out that the value of the new projects and agreements announced on the opening day is approximately OMR 60 million and includes digital fields, development of technical infrastructure, Oman Investment Authority projects to support the digital economy, and technology investments.
His Excellency explained that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology is working on projects that will be launched in the coming period, including: “The Omani Linguistic Model,” which is a project that keeps pace with the generative artificial intelligence revolution, such as characteristics that accommodate the Omani identity and culture, and the “Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” project in cooperation with the World Economic Forum, the “Unified National Portal for Government Services” project, in addition to the “Special Technology Zone for Start-ups” project.
Amr Baaboud, CEO of Al Dar Al Arabia Company - the company organising the COMEX Exhibition, explained that the COMEX Exhibition aims, over more than thirty years, to highlight the paths available in the field of digital transformation and technological development to diversify sources of income on the basis of technology, knowledge, innovation, and the importance of the digital economy in supporting the national economy.
He added that the exhibition will provide unique opportunities to learn about the rapid global developments in advanced technologies and the role of technology in developing capabilities, skills, efficiency and productivity. The COMEX exhibition will enjoy wide participation from various government agencies and local and international technology companies.
The exhibition inauguration ceremony included the signing of a number of agreements with several companies specialised in the technical field related to digital transformation, development of technical infrastructure, and investment agency projects to support the digital economy and digital investments. Including the signing of the unified national portal agreement between the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, ITHCA Group, and Nortal Company, which aims to develop and design the unified national portal for electronic government services.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and Diyar United Trading and Contracting Company also signed a project to upgrade the electronic certification infrastructure with the aim of upgrading the integrated electronic certification system and finding solutions and systems for identity verification, electronic signature, time stamp, electronic stamp and various certificate issuance systems.
An agreement to implement the digital transformation project was also signed between the Consumer Protection Authority and ITHCA Group, with the aim of automating services related to the Consumer Protection Authority. While the General Secretariat of the Tender Board and Bahwan CyberTek Company signed a contract to design, supply, install, implement and maintain the national system for managing government projects and procurement (Integration), to assign an electronic project that serves all government agencies subject to the General Secretariat of the Tender Board (digital transformation).
Oman Data Park signed an agreement to establish the largest national data center for redundant data in the Sultanate of Oman with Middle East Information Systems Company, with an investment of approximately $25 million for the first phase. In addition to signing a strategic partnership between Omantel and Google to establish a center for edge cloud computing services in the (Middle East, Africa and Asia) region, with the aim of providing generative artificial intelligence services and data analysis solutions worth OMR 2 million . A strategic partnership was also signed between Omantel and Amazon Cloud Services to establish a center for sovereign cloud services and build and operate an integrated e-commerce platform in the Sultanate of Oman. In addition to establishing a cloud center of excellence and providing solutions in generative artificial intelligence at a value of OMR 24 million .
The opening of the exhibition was attended by a number of Their Highnesses and Excellencies the ministers, Their Excellencies the undersecretaries and honorees from the State Council, and Their Excellencies the members of the Shura Council, in addition to the CEOs and representatives of the companies participating in the exhibition.
