The Evolution of GITEX Global

GITEX's 43 Year Journey from Startup to Top 3

GITEX is 43 years old in 2024. It was first launched in December 1981 as the "Gulf Computer Exhibition" at the Dubai International Trade and Exhibition Centre, welcoming 3,000 guests. Thinking back, at this time IBM had just introduced its first personal computer, which ran on Microsoft's nascent MS-DOS operating system. Two months prior to the Gulf Computer Exhibition, Apple had released their Profile 5MB hard disk for their Apple III computer, for $3,499. The local exhibition has also played host to its own special showcases too; it was at this event in1985 that IBM launched its first arabic language keyboard. In 1988, GCE changed it's name to Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, or GITEX For short. By 1989, GITEX had grown more than 3-fold to 10,000 participants. On GITEX's 25th birthday in 2006, it reached 125,000 attendees. By 2010, GITEX had become the 3rd largest ICT show in the world. Last year, in 2022, GITEX broke records, welcoming a staggering 170,000 people to the event. 40% were international, flying in from over 170 countries.

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