Business | Technology
Smart City gets SEZ status
Dubai Internet City (DIC), one of the largest managed ICT clusters in the world and a member of Tecom Investments, on Saturday announced that 112 new companies chose to locate their operations at the cluster in 2007, a 33 per cent increase over 2006.
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:16 March 23, 2008
Dubai: Dubai Internet City (DIC), one of the largest managed ICT clusters in the world and a member of Tecom Investments, on Saturday announced that 112 new companies chose to locate their operations at the cluster in 2007, a 33 per cent increase over 2006.
The new entrants include global companies such as British Telecom, Qualcomm, Google, Layton International, Telecom New Zealand, Dimension Data, Logo Business Solutions and VeriSign, top-tier names in the ICT sector.
Malek Al Malek, director of Partner Relations at DIC, said: "Since inception, DIC has played a critical role in actively developing the regional ICT industry.
Through our initiatives, we have successfully taken a lead in bringing knowledge and expertise to the region in collaboration with our business partners.
Global participation
"The direction that DIC moves reflects the rate that our business partners are also growing in the region. Together we have put DIC in the forefront of this region's ICT industry maintaining consistent growth while enriching the business community with international companies."
Several reasons have fuelled the region's ICT sector's growth in the last year including increased government spending on IT, a highly advanced infrastructure, availability of qualified cadres and the UAE's political stability and security - a key factor for attracting foreign direct investments and international companies.
Many of the existing companies in the ICT cluster have doubled or expanded their premises, resulting in an 84 per cent growth rate for rented area in 2007 against 2006.
DIC has facilitated the setting up of more than 1,000 IT companies in the free zone offering a plethora of business benefits for its business partners including a platform for networking, partnerships and business developments.
Tecom Investments has developed the SmartCity concept to take the successful model beyond Dubai's borders in partnership with Sama Dubai, a Dubai Holding international property development entity.
The alliance has resulted in the establishment of self-sustained townships in two crucial locations -SmartCity Malta, Europe and SmartCity Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala - with more in the pipeline.
Research and statistics from specialised companies in the UAE and Mena region indicate that the size of the ICT sector in the UAE during 2007 surpassed $2.85 billion with an accumulated annual growth rate of more than 20 per cent.
Double digit growth
According to research conducted by IDC and Gartner BMI, the accumulated annual growth rate will maintain double digit momentum until 2011 when the size of the ICT market in the UAE will reach $4.1 billion.
Hosting most of the Fortune 500 companies as well as more than 1,000 specialised industry leaders from diverse segments of the information and communication technology sectors, DIC has emerged as a global ICT hub, while catering to the region's increasing focus on knowledge-economy.
Presently, DIC is home to around 14,000 professionals, working in various ICT sectors.
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