IBM is bringing Watson over to the Middle East and North Africa

With the help from the city of Abu Dhabi, IBM will offer its Watson-based data analysis services to the Middle East and North Africa. Under the partnership, the Abu Dhabi-based investment and development company Mubadala will introduce Watson to its network of regional companies, entrepreneurs, start ups and application developers, hoping to entice them to use Watson to build new products and services. The collaboration will focus on bringing Watson to the geographical area known as MENA (Middle East and North Africa), which includes all the Middle East countries, such as Iran and Kuwait, as well as North African countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Mubadala subsidiary Injazat, an information technology services company, will act as the preferred provider of Watson technology in the region. IDC has estimated that MENA is one of the fastest growing IT markets in the world. Spending on information and communications technology in the area will exceed US $270 billion in 2015, according to the analyst firm.