The Middle East ICT

Over the past decade and a half Dubai has become one of the Middle East’s leading telecoms markets. The emirate has two highly competitive mobile network operators (MNOs), advanced ICT infrastructure, high smartphone penetration rates and strong support from the government, which has put ICT at the centre of many of its development plans.

Over the past 15 years, Dubai has developed one of the most advanced IT sectors in the GCC region. As of early 2016 more than 90% of the UAE’s population reported using the internet on a regular basis, according to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO. Usage in Dubai, the country’s largest and most tech-savvy urban...

Mobile data speeds in Dubai have increased rapidly in recent years, as the UAE’s two mobile network operators have ramped up spending on telecoms technologies and infrastructure. This is part of an ongoing effort to prepare the UAE for a future in which it is less dependent upon oil. A Cabinet reshuffle in early 2016 was a key step, following...

The UAE’s Cabinet declared 2015 the “year of innovation”. “We convene today in a 500-year-old castle,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE. “Our vision is setting the foundation to build a future that will be for hundreds of years to come.”