Technology news and insights in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa
Technology News and insights in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s DASTAK digital service platform has won the APICTA ICT Award 2025 in the Digital Government & Citizen Services category, marking Pakistan’s first win in this category in 14 years. The platform was recognized for its innovation, scalability, use of advanced technologies, and measurable impact on citizen service delivery across the province.
Zain secured two major global awards in Riyadh for pioneering 5G-Advanced service innovation and breakthrough technologies across Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, driven by advancements in VoNR, AI translation, MEC deployments, and 5.5G-A convergence. The wins reinforce the company’s leadership in next-generation digital infrastructure and intelligent connectivity.
Vodafone Egypt has won both the Best Mobile Network and Best Fixed Broadband Network awards in umlaut’s 2025 benchmarking report, based on extensive national performance testing. The company was also named Best in Network Reliability for the third straight year in mobile and second year in fixed services. Backed by over 100 billion EGP in long-term investments, Vodafone continues to strengthen Egypt’s digital backbone through fiber expansion, nationwide 5G rollout, and advanced resilience systems.
Zain Group’s startup accelerator, Zain Great Idea (ZGI), was named a 2025 Corporate Rising Star at the Corporate Startup Stars Awards in Paris. The recognition highlights 15 years of sustained open innovation, regional accelerator programs, Silicon Valley partnerships, and strong outcomes across funding, mentorship, and ecosystem development throughout the Middle East and Africa.
Zain Jordan has won the 2025 Global Economics Award for Best Digital Transformation Initiative for its Agentic AI program. The initiative improved efficiency, cut processing time by 80%, boosted satisfaction to 95%, and saved over 1,000 work hours. The award reinforces Zain’s leadership in AI-driven telecom innovation and Jordan’s growing digital ecosystem.
ONE App, powered by Al Salam Bank, has won the Best Project for Digital Transformation at the 2025 eGovernment Excellence Awards. The honour recognises the platform’s role in reshaping Bahrain’s financial sector through smart, integrated digital services that enhance user experience, strengthen sector-wide innovation, and contribute to national digital transformation goals.
Oman is emerging as a regional digital and AI leader, achieving major gains across global rankings, government digitisation, AI development, and national talent building. With new AI models, regulatory advances, a unified digital services portal and strong startup support, the Sultanate is accelerating its transformation into a modern, competitive digital economy under Oman Vision 2040.
Zain Group has been ranked the top company in the region for children’s rights for the third straight year, earning a score of 8.5/10 in the Global Child Forum Benchmark through strong governance, ethical supply-chain practices, digital child protection and progressive family-friendly policies.
Zain Bahrain has been ranked the Kingdom’s top network for coverage, quality and gaming experience, helping Bahrain secure the #1 position in MENA in Opensignal’s Global Network Excellence Index.
The UN has praised the UAE’s Arab Digital Economy vision as a regional model, highlighting the UAE’s leadership and forward-looking approach in driving unified digital transformation across the Arab world.