After seven consecutive years of strong growth Dubai Internet City (DIC), one of the largest managed ICT clusters in the world and a member of TECOM Investments, has successfully positioned itself as the most lucrative platform in the region for companies with a global perspective.

Founded on solid fundamentals of state-of-the-art infrastructure and a unique technology-oriented community, the cluster has attracted more than 1,000 specialised industry leaders from diverse segments of the information and communication technology sectors.

Jamal Abdulsalam, Executive Director of DIC, says: “Undoubtedly, the DIC has benefited extensively from being a component of Dubai, one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The regional economic expansion, multi-billion dollar projects and fast-paced investment inflows have made the emirate one of the most essential destinations for global brands to locate their regional or zonal headquarters.”

DIC was established on 29 October, 2000 under the directive of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai. Translating his strategic vision within a short span of time, the technology cluster has convincingly created a niche for itself on the global ICT map, offering advantages too enticing for any leading entity to ignore.

The dedicated free zone hosts most of the Fortune 500 companies and the list keeps growing. Leading international brands represented include LexMark, Intel, General Electric (GE), Microsoft, Cisco Systems, IBM, HP, Dell, Siemens, British Telecommunications (BT), Dimension Data, Gravity, Qualcomm, Leighton International, VeriSign Switzerland, Google, Sun Microsystems, Korea Telecommunications, ZET, Samsung, SingTel, Huawei (telecom hardware systems) and Fujitsu Siemens. The cluster has registered an average annual growth of 53 per cent in the number of business partners since its launch in 2000.

The fast growing regional economies have fuelled the IT sector’s growth, directly impacting the role of Dubai Internet City. According to international market research firm IDC, IT spending by the six-member GCC bloc will reach US$8.6 billion in 2008, up from US$7.7 billion in 2007.

The IDC report goes on to add that IT spending will rise by 14 to 15 per cent each year for the next three years, or three to four times the GCC’s annual GDP rate, while in the UAE alone IT spending could grow by 19 to 20 per cent.

With Dubai as a hub catering to multiple regions, future prospects for the IT cluster are even more promising. IDC predicts that by 2011, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region will be a US$46 billion IT market. These figures indicate dynamic growth opportunities beyond the GCC region, besides giving global brands a reason to be part of DIC to achieve their expansion targets.

The success story of the TECOM Investments’ entity has made several countries sit up and take notice, to an extent that most are eager to replicate DIC’s successful business model. To take the brand beyond the Dubai borders, the SmartCity concept has been created, as a joint venture between TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai, a Dubai Holding real estate entity.

This partnership has resulted in the establishment of technology zones in two crucial locations – SmartCity Malta and SmartCity Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala. SmartCity Malta has recently begun construction work at the Ricasoli Industrial Estate site to convert the rundown location into a knowledge-worker’s dream city.

The 358,000 sq.m. township, based on the models of TECOM clusters Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and the Knowledge Village, will contribute around US$725 million annually to Malta’s GDP by 2014. This is the first of TECOM Investments’ investments aimed at building knowledge-industry centres across the world. SmartCity Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala is the second addition to its global network.

Although companies in DIC operate within an integrated technology environment, proximity to Dubai Media City and Knowledge Village has provided new business values and dimensions to their operations. While DMC offers communication, advertising and marketing services, Knowledge Village provides access to a vast pool of young talent and skilled personnel in addition to training and development facilities for these companies.

Since its inception, DIC has participated effectively in major local, regional and international ICT exhibitions, in addition to providing sponsorships for important industry events, which have helped to collectively promote its business partners and serve their growth plans.

Some of the major exhibitions that DIC annually participates in include ‘GITEX Dubai’, ‘GITEX Riyadh’ and ‘CeBIT’, the world’s largest specialised information and telecommunication exhibition in Germany. The CommunicAsia 2007 show in Singapore proved particularly beneficial, with DIC receiving several business enquiries from companies in the Asia-Pacific region to locate their Middle East operations.

Reiterating the reasons for its phenomenal success, Abdulsalam gives credit to the effective communication channels between DIC and its business partners as well as among the business partners themselves.

“Annual events have created a close networking relationship between these companies at the senior management level, providing an ideal platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise,” he says.

To sustain its reputation worldwide, DIC provides top notch services to its clients and business partners by implementing international standard guidelines, while paying close attention to small businesses’ needs. DIC’s internal network is further strengthened through continuous market research and surveys that help the cluster understand the rapidly transforming nature of the businesses and their requirements.

DIC’s position as an emerging global ICT hub was reinforced recently with the Foreign Direct Investment’s magazine prestigious Middle East Special Economic Zone of the Future award for 2006-7. It has also received top ranking in the Science Hi-Tech category. Foreign Direct Investment is published by Financial Times Business, the specialist publishing arm of the FT Group.

DIC is home to around 14,000 professionals, working in different ICT sectors, including software development, business services, internet service providers, e-commerce, consultancy, as well as sales and marketing.

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About Dubai Internet City

Launched in 2000, Dubai Internet City (DIC), member of TECOM Investments, provides a knowledge economy ecosystem designed to support the business development of information and communications technology (ICT) companies.

It is the Middle East’s biggest ICT infrastructure, built inside a free trade zone. It is a strategic base for companies targeting emerging markets in a vast region extending from the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent, and from Africa to the CIS countries, covering 2 billion people with a GDP of $6.7 trillion. Within a short span of time, a dynamic international community of ICT companies has established itself in Dubai Internet City. The global ICT giants are all here, including Intel, Oracle, HP, IBM, Dell, Siemens, Samsung, Schlumberger and Cisco, as well as many small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures. For more information regarding DIC visit: www.dubaiinternetcity.ae