The 4th Saudi Arabia chief information officers summit was held at the Four Seasons Hotel recently to mark the IDC’s (International Data Corporation) 50th year of delivering leadership in global IT advisory services.

The annual event was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Abdulaziz Al-Helayyil, regional director for IDC Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, said: “Saudi public sector allocated its largest ever budget in 2014. Focusing on improving e-government maturity, the coming years will be a fascinating period for the development of the Kingdom’s ICT market.”

The event represented the largest social network of chief information officers, IT experts and vendors in the Kingdom, exploring the pivotal role of chief information officers in the world of technology transformation.

Al-Helayyil said the emergence of new channels is transforming the Saudi banking sector, adding that the rise of real-time analytics and the “Resilient Oilfield” is driving a positive performance in the oil and gas sector.

The summit explored strategies for enhancing public safety through the use of smart technologies, implementing new approaches to information security and embracing the evolving IT delivery and service provider ecosystem.

“As a consequence of the broad vertical representation, IDC customized the learning experience by introducing a series of industry-specific sessions that deal with the unique challenges faced by chief information officers operating in these individual sectors,” Al-Helayyil added.