Dubai Internet City (DIC) is an information technology park created by the government of Dubai as a free economic zone where companies can operate without restrictions on foreign ownership which exist elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates. This freedom has led many global information technology firms to move their regional base and resources to premises in the DIC. DIC is located right next to other industry clusters such as Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village.

The economic rules of DIC allow companies to avail themselves of a number of ownership, taxation and custom related benefits which are guaranteed by law for a period of 50 years. Companies which have established operations at DIC include Microsoft, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, HP, Nokia, Siemens, e-dinar, and many others.

DIC presently has over one and half million square feet of prime commercial office space, and there are over 850 companies with over 10,000 workers based in it.

History

Dubai Internet City opened doors in October 2000, developed by Dubai Holding, an affiliate of the Government of Dubai.

Since 2005, the doors have been closed however; DIC became a victim of its own success and lacked enough office accommodation to house new arrivals. DIC issued temporary licenses to a number of companies enabling them to incorporate and run outside of DIC for a period of time until offices were available. However, the number of such temporary licenses that DIC are allowed to issue is also limited, meaning that there is now a waiting list to be on the waiting list. For those on the waiting list, DIC refuses to confirm how long the waiting list is, where a company is on the waiting list, or even whether it is a waiting list in the true sense (since some of DIC's communications suggest that offices that do become available are not necessarily allocated to those who have been in the waiting list the longest). The DIC web site is still advertising as 'open for business' however.

While a number of new buildings are under construction as of mid 2006, DIC is still unable to give any estimates as to when these might be completed, or give any information as to whether these are office buildings for new small companies to move into. The construction of some towers appears to have progressed little over the last 12 months. There is also talk of a number of privately funded buildings being built at DIC, but with the rapid increase in residential and commercial rents in Dubai over the last 2 years, the cost of office space at DIC may well be prohibitive by the time these buildings are ready.

• History

Location

Dubai Internet City is about 25 kilometers south of the center of Dubai city on the Shaikh Zayed Road towards Abu Dhabi city. It is located in an area which is rapidly becoming the new downtown of Dubai. It is less than 1 km from the sea coast and is in near several five star hotels.