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UAE Freezones Biz News Updates
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Dubai Internet City: 15 years young
 Dubai
Internet City
The Silicon Valley of Dubai has just turned 15. One terabyte-sized
vision for the future, made tangible in the form of a free zone for
tech-enterprise, has defined the city’s status as a smart global hub.
Touching lives, steering professionalism and boosting economic
competitiveness, the success story of Dubai Internet City, indeed, has few
parallels.
On October 29, 2000, announcing the launch of Dubai Internet City, His
Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: “The test of success (of DIC)
will be if businessmen find it more profitable to carry out their e-business
from Dubai. There is no other test. This is the project. This is to be
pursued with energy and efficiency.”
Dubai Internet City has sailed through the test, and is today the pillar of
Dubai’s knowledge economy. It has served as home to over 1,400 businesses
and providing employment to over 20,000 people, and has been a force of the
city’s smart transformation.
“There will be the right conditions for e-business. There will be a clear,
business-friendly attitude. There will be a clear business advantage from
operating from Dubai,” Shaikh Mohammed had observed 15 years ago. Today
every word has come true.
The ‘Majid Bin Mohammed Innovation Centre in5’ which was launched in May
2013 in Dubai to promote entrepreneurship and technology innovation in the
UAE. The centre is to be located at DIC, one of the largest information and
communications technology (ICT) free zones in the region.
“in5 will allow emerging start-ups to work within an entrepreneurial
environment that fosters growth and offers support. With industry-specific
infrastructure, mentoring and access to industry experts, we hope that this
platform will allow emerging innovators to bring their ideas to fruition and
deliver viable solutions to the marketplace. Dubai Internet City has always
been actively engaged with entrepreneurs and the founding of in5 will
further complement our efforts in this direction,” said Majed Al Suwaidi,
Managing Director, DIC and Dubai Outsource Zone
In the ICT sector, the prime force of smart transformation, Dubai Internet
City serves as home to over 1,400 companies with over 22,000 employees.
Leveraging the strengths offered by Dubai through its ICT backbone, other
industries that have thrived in the city’s free zone include media with over
2,000 companies and 22,000 professionals; the industries with over 250
companies employing 10,000 people and the educational sector that provides
world-class programmes for over 20,000 students.
The remarkable achievement of Dubai Internet City is not confined to the
success it has notched up in attracting the world’s IT leaders to the city.
The geographical advantage of the city and its state-of-the-art telecom and
tech infrastructure, complemented by the entrepreneurial environment of DIC,
have served as a magnet for foreign direct investment in ICT – further
strengthening Dubai’s competiveness.
The growth of the ICT and allied sectors, as well as the organic expansion
into other knowledge economy sectors, has also benefited Dubai from a larger
perspective.
The thriving property sector, for example, benefits from Dubai evolving as a
choice for professionals from around the world. They sought a world-class
lifestyle that was offered by the city’s developers. The growth of Dubai
Internet City also energised sectors such as hospitality, aviation,
logistics and retail – all of them key contributors to the economy.
Dubai Internet City also set the base for the city’s fast-paced evolution,
its centre of gravity shifting from the downtowns of the past to creating a
vibrant new heart that builds on Dubai’s reputation as a global metropolis.
One visionary initiative, indeed, has brought quantum leaps in advancement.
Oct 27, 2014 |
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Courtesy Khaleej Times
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