UAE ICT Home

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has an open economy with a high per capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Since 1973, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, oil and gas reserves should last for more than 100 years. The UAE economy is dependent on the oil and gas sector but the emirates have taken steps to reduce this dependency by developing sectors like finance, IT, trade and business in the region.

IT in particular has become a driving sector for growth in the UAE. The regional hub in Dubai is leading the adoption and development of new technologies in the region. The ICT tools are used in creating employment, in absorbing manpower from other countries and in transforming their public services by increasingly taking advantage of new technologies. The vicinity of the Dubai hub to less developed countries provides a magnet for the development of the ICT sector.

In 2000, The Dubai Technology E-Commerce & Media Freezone (TECOM) was established. TECOM has a total of 650 companies (from IT, Telecom and Creative Media sectors) and is home to Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Ideas Oasis and Dubai Knowledge Village.

This report focuses on the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) policies, infrastructure, diffusion & culture, usage, E-Government initiatives,  geographics, workforce and information policy & law with the UAE. The report was the principal class assignment for the ITEC 654 Nations, Policy & Information Technology class taught by Professor Erran Carmel at American University. The report was completed in April 2007.

UAE ICT Analysis

Strengths

Beginning in the late 1990s, the UAE has made a very strong push to diversify its economy through investment in ICT. The government has developed modern and progressive policy to support this and has also supported ICT development in the country through both investments in education and infrastructure. This has made the UAE and particularly Dubai a magnet for ICT development in the region not only attracting UAE nationals who are receiving IT training in UAE funded universities, but also attracting a significant number of foreigners.

Although it is unlikely that the UAE will become a major outsourcing force, particularly for the West, its geographic location does make it an attractive hub for international companies looking to do business in the Middle East.

Weaknesses

A potential weakness in the UAE is the close ties between the legal system and the ruling elites in the country. There is concern that disputes over intellectual property may not be resolved justly because of this. No notable cases of this have occurred, and it's likely the government's pro-business stance would prevent this.

A second minor weakness is the countries recent move into liberalization of it telecom infrastructure. Although the country has waited until now to liberalize, it has not been significantly hampered because the state sponsored provider Etisalat has set an agenda of implementing modern technology aggressively.

| Contact the Author | Report by Jonathan D. Peterson