2020 proved to be a year of disruption, with the last months of the year hitting the ‘fast-forward’ button on digital transformation. What does this mean for 2021? Our team of digital transformation experts share their predictions for Digital Trends for 2021 in the GCC.

• The GCC will continue to be the region with the highest percentage of internet users at 98% in 2021 vs. 89% in high income countries
• The number of data centres by global cloud providers is estimated to increase by 50% in 2021 
• 5G penetration (the percentage share of total mobile connections) expected to increase by 35% in 2021 vs. 2020
• 5G and cloud adoption is expected to accelerate the ongoing implementation of more than 10 regional ‘smart city’ projects in in 2021
• The threat to cyber-security threat is here to stay. In 2020, the average cost of a data breach was USD 6.5MM. This is expected to continue to rise in 2021, due to the upward trend in remote working.