The 2024 Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) opened in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, with crowds of visitors already flooding the exhibition hall to check out the hottest new tech products on display.
The five-day event features more than 40 exhibition halls structured around five key themes, encompassing technology investment, cutting-edge artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data management, and futurism.
The event has attracted over 6,500 companies from 180 countries, including a number of renowned brands who are exhibiting their latest products, while an estimated 200,000 visitors from all over the world are expected to drop in at the event.
Continuing on from last year's focus on artificial intelligence, this year's exhibition theme is "Global Collaboration to Forge the Future AI Economy". Numerous companies are also showcasing their latest research findings in the fast-developing field of AI, which continues to play an increasingly prominent role across several sectors of society.
Among the attractions at the exhibition is a smart screen offers which customers a "one-click outfit change" shopping experience through augmented reality, providing a service which developers saw could come to completely change traditional consumer habits when it comes to trying on clothes.
"We already have some projects in Saudi Arabia, South Korea, USA, Europe, UK and Canada. We've been working with fashion retail brands. If the mirror is placed in store, it is a great opportunity for people to try different clothing, without bringing it to the changing room, putting it all on. You can just quickly see what the store offers and decide if it's good for you, if it suits you," said Ekaterina Erygina, an exhibitor representing the product which has been created by tech firm ZERO10.
The annual GITEX event is seen as part of the UAE's vision to transform itself into a global innovation and research hub, thereby supporting the country's transition to a non-oil economy in which it plans to increase the share of technology in its overall GDP to 80 percent by 2031.
This year, international participation in the event has risen by nearly 40 percent, with many emerging digital nations, including China, showing optimism towards the Middle East market, including a representative from telecoms giant China Mobile.
"We can see that the entire Middle East market is developing towards digitalization, intelligence and green energy. Therefore, there is a high level of expectation and enthusiasm for high technology, intelligence, and digitization. We are participating in the exhibition with the hope of collaborating and building this ecosystem together with local and Chinese telecom operators and enterprises, to jointly contribute and support the development of digital operations in the entire Middle East market," said Cai Chen, senior product director in the Middle East and Africa region for China Mobile International Limited (CMI).
Hottest tech products draw visitors as Gulf Information Technology Exhibition kicks off in Dubai
