E-Business
IDC Predicts ICT Spending in META to Hit $243Bn in 2017

ICT spending in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) is forecast to total $243 billion in 2017, according to the latest insights has presented by International Data Corporation (IDC).
Hosting its annual ‘IDC Predictions’ event at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, the global technology research and consulting services firm said it expects the region’s ICT market to grow 3.6% year on year in 2017.
While this is down on previous forecasts, it still represents a considerable improvement on the 1.6% year-on-year growth that is anticipated for the current year.
“There’s no doubt that 2016 has been a particularly challenging year, characterized by currency volatility, weak oil and commodity prices, and a subsequent softening of government spend,” says Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC’s group vice president and regional managing director for META.
“And while these issues will continue to linger, we expect organizations to start pushing ahead with their planned technology investments as the ‘wait-and-watch’ period draws to a close. Digital transformation initiatives will top the CIO agenda in 2017, as emerging technologies are increasingly leveraged in an effort to drive desired business outcomes. Innovation will be key in this regard, and we expect to see considerable disruption of the traditional ICT mix as a result.”
Complementing that disruption will be an acceleration in the shift towards software and services in the region’s IT market.
Indeed, IDC expects spending on software and IT services to grow at respective CAGRs of 7.0% and 8.6% over the 2015-2020 period, far outstripping the 1.7% rate of growth anticipated for hardware. Communications, finance, and government will be META’s biggest-spending verticals in 2017, but healthcare, transportation, and utilities are expected to be the fastest growing over the five-year forecast period.
IDC expects the markets of South Africa ($10.5 billion), Saudi Arabia ($7.5 billion), the UAE ($6.2 billion), and Turkey ($5.6 billion) to once again lead the way in terms of IT spending in 2017 as 3rd Platform technologies like cloud, big data, social, and mobility become investment imperatives and dominate the ICT decision-making agenda. The emergence and increasing traction of so-called ‘innovation accelerators’ such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, cognitive systems, virtual reality, next-gen security, and 3D printing will both disrupt and boost this spending on the 3rd Platform.
Today’s event saw IDC outline five overarching trends that it expects to shape the region’s investment landscape over the coming 12 months and beyond.
The first of those was that cloud will accelerate to a new level of adoption in 2017, with increased competition among cloud providers set to drive aggressive pricing, bundling, and customer service, as well as a growing focus on securing SME accounts.
The second major trend identified by IDC was that big data analytics will become increasingly more predictive than descriptive in nature, driving new use cases around exploration and discovery, performance management, and operational intelligence.
IDC’s third major trend for 2017 builds on the idea that the emergence of innovation accelerators will usher in a new wave of IT disruption as early adoption gathers pace. In particular, IDC expects the transformational impact of IoT to become more evident over the course of the next 12 months, with the most prominent use cases to include freight monitoring, smart grid electricity, manufacturing operations, production asset management, and remote health monitoring. Given these applications, it makes sense that the biggest spenders on IoT in 2017 are tipped to be the region’s manufacturing, transportation, utilities, and healthcare verticals.
The fourth major trend identified by IDC is the fact that maintaining security continues to be the number-one challenge facing the region’s CIOs, with spending on security solutions by META organizations set to cross the $2 billion mark in 2017.
IDC expects threat management, compliance remediation, security management, automatic malware removal, and mobile security solutions to be the top five investment priorities in this area.
Finally, IDC anticipates a more pragmatic focus from the region’s Smart City initiatives in 2017, with governments and their partners looking to enable innovative transportation, citizen engagement, and emergency response services that drive tangible improvements in the lives of their residents.
E-Business
Kaspersky Warns of a New Phishing Technique Leveraging Bubble, a no-code AI Platform

Kaspersky has discovered a new phishing tactic used to evade traditional security controls that exploits Bubble, a platform that allows users to build web and mobile applications through a visual interface without writing code.

Attackers are increasingly adopting innovative tools designed for legitimate software development and repurposing them to boost phishing campaigns.
Traditional phishing attacks often rely on malicious links or obvious redirection techniques, which are typically flagged and blocked by modern security systems.
However, attackers are now leveraging Bubble’s no-code environment to generate intermediary web applications which are hosted on Bubble’s legitimate infrastructure and trusted domains such as *.bubble.io, which improves their credibility and helps them bypass security filters.
These applications function as disguised redirectors, silently forwarding victims to malicious credential-harvesting websites.
In the observed campaign, victims were ultimately redirected to a convincing imitation of a Microsoft login page, protected by a Cloudflare verification layer designed to further obscure malicious intent.
This technique is likely being integrated into broader phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms and phishing kits. These kits enable a wide range of malicious capabilities with ready-made tools, including real-time interception of session cookies, driving phishing campaigns through legitimate services such as Google Tasks and Google Forms, and carry out adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks that can bypass multi-factor authentication.
They also support the generation of phishing emails using AI, implement geo-filtering and anti-detection mechanisms to evade security crawlers and are often hosted on reputable cloud services like AWS to avoid blacklisting.
“The use of legitimate platforms like Bubble introduces a new level of trust abuse, making it harder for both users and automated systems to distinguish between safe and malicious content. This significantly increases the likelihood of credential theft, unauthorised access and potential data breaches,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.
E-Business
NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.

The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.
The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.
The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.
With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.
This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.
Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.
These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.
Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.
The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.
Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.
E-Business
FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion – Minister

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.
He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.
Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.
He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.
“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.
Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.
According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.
“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.
Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.
Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.
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