The Middle East is a new frontier for business innovation. In particular, the possibilities for using big data and advanced analytics to improve regional outcomes are enormous — and the region needs these capabilities to maintain its hard-won global advantage. This report analyzes the big data challenges and opportunities for the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries: the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Kuwait, the State of Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Enterprise architects should read it to understand how to apply big data proof-of-concept energy and investment dollars.