People today create a data trace with almost everything they do - trawling Facebook, booking an Uber, walking with a FitBit.

The Middle East is no exception. Although the number of connected things in the region is still low, Deloitte data suggests people are rapidly making up for that with adoption rates far above the global average. 

And events such as Minds + Machines in Dubai in November are keeping the concept of machine-to-machine networks, or Industrial Internet, at the forefront of people's minds. 

There are problems though, of course. Where is this data going to be kept? Wipro’s Helen Gliman points out that businesses such as in the oil and gas industry have to make doubly sure it’s secure.

But as entire cities begin to generate data, entire industries begin to monitor the to’s and fro’s of their employees and contractors, and regular people become more and more connected, you can be sure the Internet of Things has arrived in MENA.