Technology hub Dubai Internet City (DIC) plans to be an active participant at GITEX 2002. Its focus will center on further strengthening the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) community in the region. For the first time there will be a DIC Community Pavilion featuring a cross section of ICT companies from the DIC community.
DIC’s subsidiaries—the eHosting Center, the region’s only managed hosting service provider and DataFort, that provides managed IT security services—will have their own stands at GITEX.
“GITEX’s efforts to showcase the latest developments in the Middle East’s ICT industry synergize well with DIC’s mission of providing an environment and infrastructure to help develop the region’s ICT sector,” said Omar Bin Sulaiman, DIC CEO.
Both GITEX and DIC have played key roles in developing Dubai into the focal point of the ICT revolution in the Middle East. We see ourselves as being a catalyst to bring together all elements of the ICT Value Chain thereby providing a platform for knowledge sharing and networking amongst all the ICT companies,” Bin Sulaiman added.
The entire Middle East IT market grew by 21 percent in 2001 with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sector expanding by 23 percent. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) personal computer (PC) market grew 20 percent year after year in 2001 and the PC market in the UAE alone will expand by almost 40 percent by end of 2002.
With the UAE’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) representing only 17.4 percent of the GCC total, its 20.3 percent market share in software solutions, PC sales and related services is further evidence of the government’s determination to maintain its pre-eminent position within the region.
DIC represents the first initiative in the region to address all the growth drivers of the ICT industry, including infrastructure, business environment and talent. “We have designed a complete Knowledge Economy Ecosystem to support the growth of ICT companies. This ecosystem provides an environment that attracts each and every element of the Value Chain for an ICT business into the community. We have developed programs that could be leveraged by the ICT Community to explore and expand Channel Development opportunities,” Sulaiman added.
DIC provides a technology platform, which allows companies looking to provide cost effective Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services such as Call Center operations. Their infrastructure offers state-of-the-art IT and communication facilities.
Businesses in DIC have complete exemption from taxes and 100 percent ownership. Their knowledge-focused initiative Knowledge Village is developing initiatives aimed at developing the region’s knowledge workforce and accelerating its move to the Knowledge Economy. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
