Dubai - Mubasher: Digital transformation could generate extra annual revenues of $16.9 billion for Middle East companies from 2017 to 2021, according to a new report by the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), conducted by PwC.

The report shows that a further $17.3 billion could be achieved in annual cost savings and efficiency gains.

The PwC report, called ‘Industry 4.0: Building The Digital Industrial Enterprise’, is based on a survey of over 2,000 companies from 26 countries, including more than 50 companies in the Middle East from six key industries.

The survey found that several UAE companies are active adopters of Industry 4.0, demonstrating their efforts to move to where the future resides.”

Among the Middle East respondents, the report found that annual digital revenues are expected to rise by 3.8% on average over the next five years, through additional customer benefits and new digital products and services, some companies are expecting an overall increase of as much as 50%.

Demand for digital transformation is strong among companies in the region, with most planning to invest 4% of annual revenues in solutions related to digital operations. That would amount to an investment of $42 billion on average in digital transformation by companies in the region each year over the next five years, the report highlighted.

“Companies around the world are using digitisation to increase design and production efficiencies, enhance their interactions with customers and suppliers, and deliver new business models with the aid of digital offers and services. This is almost a new $1 trillion a year business,” said the report’s lead author Anil Khurana.

The inaugural edition of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) will be held from March 27-30 2017 at the Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi.