The Polish ICT services sector increases its market share

Companies specialising in technologies for the electronic processing, collection and transmission of information have been present in the Poland Pavilion since the beginning of the World Exhibition. They are assisted in establishing contacts on Middle Eastern markets by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency that has prepared, especially for this occasion, a comprehensive economic programme consisting of several initiatives.

The demand for services based on information and communication technologies is growing steadily, both in Poland and worldwide. In 2020, the sales of IT and ICT services of Polish companies amounted to over PLN 37 billion. This figure shows a significant increase compared to the previous years. Based on data from Statistics Poland (GUS), exports in 2018 were estimated at a total of PLN 18.3 billion, which is half of the current exports. It is worth mentioning that previously Polish exports consisted mainly of digital products. Today, companies from the United States, Europe, or the Middle East require much more extensive professional support.

The growing importance of the IT and ICT sectors in Poland is confirmed by rankings. In the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking Poland took the 32nd spot. The following selection criteria were used: technological expertise, education, investment capital and business skills.

Expo 2020 Dubai is a unique opportunity to promote digital technologies used by Polish companies. At the World Exhibition, the most dynamic companies are presenting the export and investment potential of their products and services. The comprehensive economic programme prepared by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency is of great support for them. The Agency places great emphasis on strengthening the image of companies from promising sectors, such as: medical equipment, cosmetics, Polish fashion, furniture, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, or pro-health services. The IT/ICT industry is also on this list.

Polish IT companies are an integral part of the national presentation at Expo 2020 Dubai. You can learn about their achievements and products in the exhibition zone of the Poland Pavilion "Poland. Spirit of ingenuity". One of those companies is Exatel – a Polish telecommunication operator and cyber security services provider. The company is known for managing a fibre-optic data transmission network with a length of approx. 20,000 km. It employs around 30 cyber security experts and has a portfolio of around 1,080 customers. Exatel participated in Europe's first public tests of 5G technology. It has also contributed to smart city solutions in Przemyśl and the proprietary Cyber Threat Intelligence system.

Another company that is presenting its contribution to the development of Polish IT/ICT technologies at Expo 2020 Dubai is CloudFerro. It is a leading European provider of cloud computing services, successfully operating in the IT and telecommunications industries for over 20 years. It specialises in big data and works with over 40 scientific institutions and research centres in Europe. These include the European Space Agency and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

During their participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, Polish IT and ICT companies aim to look for new development paths and business contacts. However, some of them have already made their mark on local markets. Comarch is one of the Polish companies that have their offices in the Dubai Internet City technology park. This global manufacturer and supplier of modern IT systems and software has been operating in the market since 1993, and it has already implemented several thousand projects in over 100 countries. Clipatize is also successful in the UAE. The company specalises in the implementation of b2b content marketing and lead generation projects. It cooperates, for instance, with Microsoft, Emirates Group and Canon. Synerise is also among the companies that operate in the UAE market. This technological company opened its branch in the Microsoft Technology Centre in Dubai. This was the result of various actions that the representatives of Synerise had been carrying out for several months in the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries during trade fairs, conferences and business meetings. Sentione, which specialises in customer service automation and Internet and social media monitoring using artificial intelligence, is also implementing its plan to expand in the region.

The greater popularity of Polish IT and ICT companies in the Middle East is the result of the visit paid by the representatives of the Dubai Internet City Technology Park to Poland. Business meetings were held in Warsaw and Krakow in 2018. They were organised by the trade office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Dubai. Both events were attended by as many as 200 companies.