The aspirations of many of the GCC countries to become global centres of business remain undimmed by financial crises and political turmoil. One area of optimism is the potential for the creation of one or more Silicon Valleys in the region -- centres of entrepreneurship, innovation and employment supported by the GCC’s enormous wealth and the encouragement of its governments.
Knowledge cities and villages are already being created in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar, while Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030 plan and Dubai’s hosting of the 2020 World Expo point towards a substantial acceleration of efforts to shift the GCC towards a future less dependent on energy and more reliant on technology and ideas.
Knowledge cities and villages are already being created in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar, while Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030 plan and Dubai’s hosting of the 2020 World Expo point towards a substantial acceleration of efforts to shift the GCC towards a future less dependent on energy and more reliant on technology and ideas.
- But are the building blocks of innovative success – the human, financial and knowledge assets – robust enough?
- Are government policies sufficiently targeted to these areas?
- Can the region overcome social and demographic challenges to attract and more importantly grow the necessary talent?
- Will investment within the GCC prove attractive enough, or is the region’s wealth better deployed elsewhere?
- And how can these efforts in practice generate innovation across a range of industries?
