News

Dubai Starts App Development Program To Train 1,000 Emiratis

The scheme, called “Create Apps in Dubai” should triple the number of app creators by 2025.

Published

3 years ago

March 30, 2023

Nour Nasir

dubai starts app development program to train 1000 emiratis

Emirates News Agency

On Wednesday, Dubai’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, launched a new ecosystem for developing digital applications and growing the pool of local talent within the emirate.

The scheme, known as Create Apps in Dubai, aims to transform Dubai into one of the world’s “most attractive destinations” for business opportunities. By 2025, the program should also have trained over 1,000 Emiratis and tripled the number of app creators. Additionally, 100 new national app projects will become available in digital stores over the next two years.

create apps in dubai event chamber for digital economy

“The exponential growth of digital applications and platforms has created a new global competition for technological leadership. Dubai seeks to be at the forefront of this global race by providing a platform for fostering the development of 1,000 highly-skilled UAE nationals whose ideas and innovation will create a vibrant applications sector in Dubai,” says Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Dubai is seeking to solidify its position as a global capital of the digital economy, with the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) plan preparing to help 30 private companies achieve $1 billion in value.

Also Read: ChatGPT Is Accelerating The AI Revolution In The Middle East

With global smartphone sales exceeding $448 billion and 2 million new apps and games created in 2021 alone, the sector represents a massive opportunity for investors, entrepreneurs and tech startups to thrive.

Create Apps in Dubai will be overseen by the Dubai Chamber for Digital Economy, and support development plans to “empower UAE citizens to play key roles in realizing the country’s digital vision”, a recent statement said.

The UAE’s digital economy will be worth $140 billion by 2031, up from nearly $38 billion, according to recent figures from the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.