‘Tech That’: Sam Blatteis, former head of Google Gulf Government Relations, takes us inside the Middle East Digital Boom

Sam Blatteis, CEO of The MENA Catalysts, explains the continued potential and vitality of the digital economy and high tech sectors in  the Gulf, post-COVID;  the Gulf’s commitment to the knowledge economy, and how it has become a differentiator in a fragmenting Arab world; why the US is still the partner of choice for Gulf governments, but why and how the US-China competition for influence in the region may be heating up; the synergies between the Gulf and Silicon Valley; and more UAE minister draws on the past to seize possibilities of AI future (al-monitor.com) Gulf states’ quest to find ‘new oil’ turns to hydrogen (al-monitor.com) Hi-tech rivalry between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh heats up (al-monitor.com) Diplomacy in the Gulf follows the money (al-monitor.com)