The Middle East isn't known as a hotbed of technological achievement. However, in the seventh annual "Global Information Technology Report" released on April 9 by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum and French management school INSEAD, the region demonstrated the most improvement in its tech-readiness and expertise of any in the world. Soumitra Dutta, a professor of business and technology at INSEAD and coeditor of the report, says oil-producing countries have woken up to the fact that diversifying their economies will prove "absolutely critical" in the coming years.