2019 was lackluster year for IPO activity with deals and proceeds down overall Technology sector dominates with 263 IPOs raising US$62.8b in 2019 2020 expected to see more robust IPO activity, particularly in the first half of the year Geopolitical uncertainty and trade tensions heavily impacted the 2019 IPO landscape, pushing overall IPO activity down in terms of deals and proceeds. 2019 has registered 1,115 IPOs with proceeds of US$198b – a 19% fall in deal volume and a 4% decrease in proceeds compared with 2018. However, as US-China-EU trade tensions, concerns about economic growth and other geopolitical issues – including Brexit and social unrest in Hong Kong – subside, a healthy increase in IPO activity is expected in 2020, particularly in the first half of the year, as markets are expected to become more volatile leading up to the US Presidential elections.

69% of telco leaders say 5G and IoT will lead digital transformation drive Only 44% see network performance as a critical use case for AI and automation 67% believe talent is the biggest obstacle to analytics and AI deployment Telco leaders are optimistic about the promise of digital transformation, but there is a lack of synergy in the application of emerging technologies at the network layer. That is according to a global EY report, Accelerating the intelligent enterprise, which includes analysis of 27 leading telcos about their digital transformation journey.