(MENAFN- Arab News) A top cisco official in saudi arabia says the group's internet of everything (ioe) solutions could generate sr59.1 billion ($14.3 billion) in value for saudi arabia's public sector over the next decade.

he was citing cisco study released recently.

'cisco defines the ioe as the networked connection of people process data and things and the increased value that occurs as 'everything" is connected to the network" he said.

he said the ict skills gap should be addressed in order to embrace ioe strategy

speaking at the press conference tarig enaya cisco's managing director for saudi arabia said that ioe can help the saudi government create value by saving money improving employee productivity generating new revenue and enhancing citizen benefits.

citing the study he says that cisco projects that the value for the kingdom's public sector can be realized on two levels — city and citizen.

at city level the value over the next decade is projected at sr51.1 billion ($12.3 billion). the company identified the top five avenues through which government can deliver on this value which include strategies around the following areas: smart grid cyber security travel mobile collaboration and chronic disease management.

he said: at a citizen level the value at stake is projected at sr7 billion ($1.9 billion) for the country. cisco identifies the following as the top five avenues through which government can tap into the ioe value on a citizen level: payments counterfeit drug programs chronic disease management telework and smart street lighting.

the cisco executives also outlined the findings of cisco sponsored research conducted by idc in seven mena countries.

saudi arabia with the largest population in the gulf faces the most severe skills challenge with a total networking skills gap of 73 percent in 2012 and growing.

the reasons for this gap is largely due to a lack of technically qualified saudi nationals resulting in saudi organizations having to rely on an expatriate and often temporary (fly-in) it workforce.

the key findings of the research into the networking skills gap in saudi arabia include the following:

a very high value is placed on the importance of the network in saudi arabia with 96 percent of respondents believing the network will become more important to them in the future.

almost 40 percent of saudi organizations found it difficult to find networking professionals with the right sets of skills.

communication skills were rated as the most important non-technical skill needed in saudi arabia (66 percent) with english cited as the most significant challenge facing those who found hiring networking professionals a challenge.

professional certifications are given high importance in saudi arabia with 90 percent of respondents believing these to be important when hiring networking professionals.