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Ammar Al Malik, Executive Director of DIC: "Hosting the 10th innovation centre is testament to DIC's growing significance in the global technology sphere"
Dubai-UAE: – Dubai Internet City (DIC), the largest technology business hub in the region, celebrated a significant milestone as it welcomed the launch of Cisco Systems’ Cisco Innovation and Experience Center, DIC’s 10th innovation centre.
Driving innovation-led growth across the region and spurring Dubai’s transformation into a smart city, DIC’s flourishing ecosystem has attracted global information and communications technology (ICT) heavyweights, as well as small and medium enterprises. Companies across the spectrum in DIC are also investing back into the mature ecosystem, enabling the technology business hub to set new benchmarks of excellence.
The latest investment, Cisco’s 9,000 square feet innovation facility valued at more than AED36 million, integrates an innovation hub with a customer experience centre to bring digitalisation to life for Cisco’s partners and clients across 24 industry verticals, including retail, education, healthcare, transportation, oil and gas, and smart city, among others.
Ammar Al Malik, Executive Director of Dubai Internet City, said: “As a key contributor to achieving the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021, Dubai Internet City is at the very core of the innovation mandate. Hosting the 10th innovation centre is testament to DIC’s growing significance in the global technology sphere and we are delighted to provide platforms for companies to set their bases and open innovation centres of various specialisations, such as the Cisco Innovation and Experience Center.”
He added, “This new centre joins a cluster of nine other forward-looking DIC-based facilities that encourage collaboration between industry partners, support young entrepreneurs, drive growth, and generate new business and jobs. The intermingling of ideas and best practices in an enabling environment is exactly what our region needs to be at the vanguard of innovation.”
In line with the UAE’s efforts to develop a diversified and innovation-driven economy, several prominent multinationals have set up innovation facilities at DIC to tap into its talented community and explore further opportunities in the region. This is complemented by in5 Dubai, an enabling platform for over 100 start-ups to be incubated and nurtured to their next phase of growth.
As Dubai Internet City looks ahead to its next phase of growth, the launch of its Innovation Hub, a 1.8 million square feet development, located at the crossroads of Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Park, is expected to transform these business parks into innovation-driven platforms and enablers, significantly increasing the number of talented professionals working and operating in the emirate.
Supporting a workforce of 15,000 professionals, the Innovation Hub will offer companies of all sizes, including multinational corporations, start-ups and SMEs, world-class facilities and services, robust and adaptable state-of-the-art infrastructure and a vibrant working environment. Launched across several phases, the entire development is set to open doors in 2019.
Prominent global technology corporations are increasingly looking to establish their regional headquarters and invest in innovation centres at DIC that features a community of like-minded individuals, facilitators and companies. Home to over 24,000 professionals, DIC’s unique ecosystem offers a robust framework for businesses of all sizes to create and build collaborations to bring to fruition the ideas of tomorrow.
In September 2017, Canon Middle East launched its innovation centre, an evolved showroom concept to inspire customers and provide businesses with live demonstrations of Canon’s latest software and hardware technologies. Global ICT solutions provider Huawei also launched the Huawei OpenLab Dubai in May, which aims to collaborate with partners for industry solutions that promote digital transformation and ecosystem development. Furthermore, enterprise software provider SAP announced plans in March 2017 to build its SAP Cloud Data Center that will facilitate organisations in harnessing the capabilities of cloud solutions. The centre is intended to also help accelerate business models, particularly in the UAE’s government, banking, finance and healthcare sectors.
To fuel innovation and advance digital transformation for corporates, multinational consultancy firm Accenture opened a Digital Acceleration Center in May 2016. Showcasing advanced software and hardware technologies, the centre equips companies with the right set of tools to become truly digital. In the same month, financial services giant Visa launched a 4,000 square feet innovation facility in DIC to serve its partners in the Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Middle East and Africa regions. The facility’s main aim is to develop cutting-edge digital commerce and payment technologies to drive the cashless economy. Earlier innovation facilities established in DIC include those from MasterCard, Microsoft and 3M.
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About Dubai Internet City
Dubai Internet City (DIC), a member of TECOM Group, is a unique ICT hub where the ideas of tomorrow are born. As the only specialised technology business community in the region, it is a place where innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world work, connect and share their vision for a bold new future.
Set up to facilitate growth, Dubai Internet City fosters entrepreneurship, empowers SMEs, and attracts global ICT leaders to Dubai. Businesses can access a rich and diverse ecosystem of knowledge workers, nimble service providers, and expertise from across the globe.
Amidst a vibrant lifestyle community, business connections are not only made in boardrooms but within a wider ecosystem that gives professionals the opportunity to work, live and meet with like-minded people throughout the day.
In addition, DIC partners benefit from a range of services and offerings set up to facilitate the ease of doing business:
axs, TECOM Group’s smart gateway for integrated services, provides seamless government and corporate support – including leasing, licensing and registration, customer care and government services – under one umbrella through strategically located Smart Centres as well as online.
In5 is an enabling platform for entrepreneurs and start-ups in tech, design and media, created by TECOM Group. Supporting DIC in the tech innovation space, In5 Tech offers entrepreneurs state-of-the-art specialised facilities, creative spaces, and training and mentorship programmes to help turn bright ideas into reality.
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Ishwinder Kaur
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