Tech News

UAE Leads in AI Enthusiasm and Application Insights from a Global BCG Survey

Published

6 days ago

June 25, 2024

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sentiment towards generative AI (GenAI) is overwhelmingly positive. This enthusiasm aligns with global trends showing high consumer awareness and excitement about AI. According to new research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled “Consumers Know More About AI than Business Leaders Think”, consumers’ knowledge and excitement about AI is surprisingly high.

BCG’s research is based on a survey conducted by BCG’s Center for Customer Insight to measure the level of awareness of AI and GenAI, as well as usage and sentiment among 21,000 respondents from 21 countries across six continents. It also explored questions relevant to the use of AI in the workplace.

“While perception and usage vary by market, age, and exposure, consumers in the UAE profoundly appreciate AI, surpassing many other regions,” commented Rami Mourtada, Partner & Director at BCG. “This finding highlights the region’s forward-thinking attitude towards technology and should be a wake-up call for business leaders. The high engagement levels in the UAE show the need for responsible AI frameworks that address consumers’ data privacy concerns. We must continue fostering this positive outlook while addressing the concerns accompanying such seismic shifts.”

Global and UAE-Specific Insights on AI Adoption and Sentiment

Globally, over 80% of survey participants are aware of GenAI, with a quarter actively using it. Notably, younger individuals under 35 show higher engagement, with 86% awareness and 32% usage compared to 80% awareness and 20% usage among those over 35.

The UAE demonstrates more robust engagement and nuanced sentiments towards GenAI. In the UAE, 91% of consumers know GenAI and 34% use these technologies. Emotions are mixed: 37% are excited, 46% feel conflicted, and 17% are concerned, resulting in a net sentiment of 20% (excited minus concerned).

Governments like the UAE showcase robust AI engagement, with initiatives like the Falcon 2 AI model, designed to compete with Meta and Open AI. Positioning the country at the forefront of AI development. This highlights the region’s commitment to integrating AI across industries.

Excitement about AI in the Workplace

In the UAE, 67% of employees are excited about GenAI’s potential to enhance their work environment, with only 13% expressing concerns. This reflects a dynamic workforce that sees AI as a tool for innovation and efficiency, leading to a net sentiment of 54% in favor of AI.

AI applications are rapidly gaining popularity, and the UAE showcases its readiness to integrate AI at all business levels. Leaders must focus on people, process changes, and technological implementation to tap AI’s potential.

“The enthusiasm for GenAI among UAE professionals underscores a dynamic workforce that sees AI as a tool and a partner in driving innovation and efficiency. We must continue to foster this positive outlook while addressing the concerns that accompany such transformative changes,” said Mark Zaleski, Managing Partner & Director at BCG X.

Implications for Leaders

BCG report highlights several recommendations for business leaders to leverage GenAI successfully:

• Emphasize transparency and balanced sales when inventing new consumer applications.
• Pilot new ideas and products in markets that are more receptive to AI/GenAI and consider a tailored approach to privacy.
• As companies roll out new AI offerings, reassuring customers before the applications scale too fast, as it is important.
• It’s important to remember the 10-20-70 rule when working with data and technology. Focus 10% of the effort on technology development, 20% on deploying tech stacks, and 70% on change management and other people-related processes.

This means that most of the work should be focused on managing the changes that come with new systems, rather than just relying on data and technology.

Trust is crucial in AI adoption. Leaders must respect consumer and employee concerns while navigating the misinformation-excitement-concern curve and capitalizing on market opportunities.

Tech News

Esports World Cup and HONOR Sign Technology Partnership for Mobile Competitions

Published

4 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Integrator Web-Editor

The Esports World Cup Foundation and HONOR have announced a main partnership for the Esports World Cup, set to take place this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The HONOR 200 Pro will be the official smartphone of the EWC, leveraging the device’s cutting-edge technology to power esports competitions in popular mobile games like Free Fire, Honor of Kings and Women’s ML:BB tournament.

As the ultimate smartphone for mobile gaming enthusiasts, the HONOR 200 Pro offers a suite of outstanding new features that appeal to both esports athletes and casual players. Highlights include:

● Snapdragon 8 Series Mobile Platform: Boasting a CPU clock speed of up to 3GHz for smooth graphics rendering and real-time responsiveness.
● 5200mAh Silicon-Carbon Battery: Providing up to 61 hours of use on a single charge.
● 3840Hz Risk-Free Dimming: Verified by TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Display Certification and TÜV Rheinland Full Care Display Certification, with Natural Tone 2.0 for optimized display color temperature.
● Advanced Cooling: A vapor chamber covering 36,881mm², 10% larger than the HONOR 90, for exceptional heat dissipation.

The partnership will focus on engaging global gamers, strengthening brand identities, and fostering a community driven by the spirit of competition.

“We are thrilled to join forces with as a partner in the Esports World Cup,” exclaimed CEO Ralf Reichert at the Esports World Cup Foundation. “EWC athletes demand the absolute best in gaming technology, as it is essential for maintaining competitive integrity and delivering an unparalleled experience. The HONOR 200 Pro is an exceptional smartphone, equipped with cutting-edge technology that surpasses the high standards set by EWC athletes. We are eager to witness its incredible performance this summer in Riyadh.”

“HONOR is very pleased to join forces with the Esports World Cup and provide the official smartphone for its mobile competitions,” said Dr. Ray, CMO of HONOR. “As a brand dedicated to its consumers, HONOR strives to offer products that provide a superior experience and elevated performance, particularly among gamers. Our technology enables players to push their limits and achieve new heights in their gaming journey. We look forward to seeing the HONOR 200 Pro power the best esports athletes in the world as they strive for international greatness at the Esports World Cup.”

Beginning July 3, the Esports World Cup will transform Riyadh into the epicenter of esports fandom and gaming culture. Located in Boulevard City, fans can watch their favorite athletes and clubs compete across 22 game championships for a share of more than $60 million in life-changing prize money — the largest prize pool in esports history. Across eight weeks, the Esports World Cup will also feature festival activities that include numerous gaming activations, community tournaments, pop culture celebrations, international experiences, and more.

Tech News

Toshiba Announces MG10-D Series of Enterprise HDDs with Capacities up to 10TB

Published

4 days ago

June 27, 2024

Integrator Web-Editor

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH (Toshiba) announces the release of its MG10-D Series, a family of air-filled conventional magnetic recording (CMR) HDDs supporting SAS and SATA interfaces and capacities of up to 10TB. Crafted with precision engineering and over 50 years of Toshiba experience, the MG10-D Series delivers improved performance and power efficiency over prior generations. With sanitize instant erase (SIE) and self-encrypting drive (SED) options, valuable data is safeguarded by a storage solution known for its robust performance and unwavering dependability.

Built for the increasing application demands of enterprise server and storage solutions, the MG10-D Series delivers a new level of performance. For example, compared with the previous model, the new 10TB MG10ADA10TE provides an approximately 13% better maximum sustained transfer speed of 268MiB/s and doubles the cache buffer size to 512MiB. It also reduces power consumption in active idle mode by approximately 21%, to 5.74W. Architected to deliver improved total cost of ownership (TCO), the new MG10-D Series fits seamlessly into a wide variety of business-critical applications, such as email, data analytics, data retention, and surveillance.

“Toshiba’s MG10-D Series delivers exceptional performance to meet the demands of growing business critical applications. The new cutting-edge design of the MG10-D Series is engineered for sustainable enterprise environments and fits seamlessly into existing infrastructure reducing TCO,” said Larry Martinez-Palomo, Vice President, Head of Storage Products Division at Toshiba.

The MG10-D Series is a 5-disk CMR standard 3.5-inch, 7200 RPM air-filled platform. Available capacities are 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, and 10TB for both SAS and SATA. SATA is also available in a 1TB drive. The series supports 6Gb/s SATA or 12Gb/s SAS interface options in Advanced format 512e and 4Kn. A 512n option is available on the 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB offerings to support legacy systems with native 512 byte block sizes. Designed for 24×7 enterprise reliability, the MG10-D Series has a workload rating of 550TB, an AFR of 0.44% and an MTTF/MTBF of 2M hours.

The MG10-D Series will be available in CQ3.

MG10-D Series

Capacity	Interface	Format	Model Number	Optional Security
10 TB	SATA-3.3	512e/4Kn^[7]	MG10ADA10TE	SIE/SED^[2]
8 TB			MG10ADA800E
6 TB			MG10ADA600E
4 TB			MG10ADA400E
2 TB			MG10ADA200E
4 TB		512n	MG10ADA400N
2 TB			MG10ADA200N
1 TB			MG10ADA100N
10 TB	SAS-3.0	512e/4Kn^[7]	MG10SDA10TE
8 TB			MG10SDA800E
6 TB			MG10SDA600E
4 TB			MG10SDA400E
2 TB			MG10SDA200E
4 TB		512n	MG10SDA400N
2 TB		512n	MG10SDA200N

Tech News

ASBIS celebrated its 32nd partnership anniversary with Seagate partners

Published

4 days ago

June 27, 2024

Integrator Web-Editor

ASBIS Middle East, a subsidiary of ASBISC Enterprises PLC recently celebrated the 32-year anniversary of its distribution partnership with Seagate. Notably, Seagate was the first global IT vendor with whom ASBIS signed a distribution agreement in 1992, marking the start of a longstanding and successful collaboration between the two companies.

The anniversary event was held on the 25th of June at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Dubai. The event comprised several elements, including presentations by Arnab Majumdar, Country Manager – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Seagate, who showcased the latest solutions offered by Seagate. Additionally, Mr. Hesham Tantawi shared a summary of the principal milestones achieved by the two companies in their partnership. The event also included contributions from Mohit Pandey, Head of Sales META at Seagate Technology, and concluded with a celebratory cake-cutting ceremony with 200 valuable partners.

Over the past three decades, ASBIS has delivered impressive outcomes for its partners and upheld its status as the primary Seagate distributor in the EMEA region. The collaboration has progressed from distributing standard HDD, SDD, and external drives to incorporating more intricate and advanced solutions.