Affno e-Government showcased at GITEX
November 7, 2008
Affno showcased their e-Government expertise at the recently concluded GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The exhibition was opened by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Regarded as one of the world's top three trade exhibitions, GITEX attracted more than 130,000 visitors and 3,300 companies from 83 countries.
A special feature at this year's event was providing one of the most comprehensive updates on major e-Government projects and initiatives from across the GCC region. The Ministry of
Justice, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Interior Naturalisation and Residency Administration - Dubai, all participated for the first time. A delegation of 16 government bodies from Bahrain also attended.
Other government departments from within the Middle East such as The Abu Dhabi Police Authority and Ministry of Labour and Knowledge Oasis Muscat were also in attendance.
Suren Kannangara CEO of Affno commented "It is very easy to get diluted in the hive of activity and merge into the background in an exhibition such as GITEX which is dominated by all the global giants in the IT field. I am happy to report that Affno despite its modest presence at GITEX made a significant impact among e-Government officials in the Middle East and North African region. Our unique suite of products for e-Government applications plus our extensive track record in e-Government deployments were keys to attracting interest"."On a general note, a key feature in this year's exhibition was a tremendous amount of interest demonstrated in the cost, efficiency and performance benefits of software", he added.
Research conducted by economic and financial analysts Global Insight shows that the Middle East will spend US$ 73 billion on ICT in 2008, and US$ 95 billion by 2011 - a rise of 30 percent. The UAE is also showing no signs of slowing down, spending US$ 11.4 billion on ICT this year, a figure that is set to rise to US$ 14.8 billion by 2011.
