Telecoms & IT

Dubai is well placed to capitalise on emerging trends in the ICT sector to drive economic growth. Indeed, information and communications technology is central to the emirate’s strategy to develop further as a knowledge-based economy. As a result, IT expenditure is expected to continue to expand rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 11% until 2016. Digital storage solutions, computer hardware and IT services will likely drive much of this growth. Meanwhile, Dubai’s telecoms sector is also well positioned to continue growing rapidly. Boasting almost 13m mobile telephone connections, 1.9m fixed telephone connections and nearly 1m internet users, the sector plays an important role in the economy, contributing almost 5% of GDP and employing more than 10,798 people in 2011. Going forward, the sector is now at a turning point where the focus looks likely to shift from building infrastructure to developing content and services to leverage the hardware segment. This chapter includes interviews with Osman Sultan, CEO, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du); and Ahmad bin Humaidan, Director-General, Dubai eGovernment.