Dubai Silicon Oasis

Dubai Silicon Oasis

Type	Government
Industry	Technology park, free trade zone
Founded	U.A.E (2004 (2004))
Founder(s)	Dubai Government
Headquarters	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Employees	150-200
Website	http://www.dso.ae

Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) is a 7.2km² free zone in Dubai with special benefits to companies operating within it. And providing various infrastructure services.

Introduction

Established in 2004, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) (www.dso.ae) is wholly owned by the Government of Dubai providing both a living and working integrated community. Silicon Oasis is a Free Zone Authority and provides free zone incentives and benefits to companies operating within the tech park.

Dubai Silicon Oasis’ (DSO) spans 7.2 km². The Authority has made a large capital investment in its infrastructure to cater to the need of high tech industries in the free zone, this ranges from advanced telecommunications, a fibre optic network, tier 3 data centre with 120 high capacity racks, and a high-tech utility infrastructure with 8 power stations with a capacity of 1600 MW.

The technology park possesses a combined fire, water and irrigation supply system which is supported by a pump station and a 5000 m³ underground irrigation tank. A sanitary water network is also provided giving potable water supply of 44,525 m³ per day based on an estimated 162,400 population working and/or living at the Silicon Oasis. DSO has a sewerage management system includes onsite pumping stations that transport wastewater to municipal plants through a new pressure pipeline. Current capacity of the sewage management system is 3,000 m³ per day (of which the technology park currently uses approximately a third) with a planned expansion set to see the capacity increased to 10,000 m³ to facilitate the community’s future growth.

In addition, DSO has a fully completed network of roads allowing quick in and out access to Dubai’s major highways.

Location

DSO is within close proximity to Dubai’s major transport and business hubs.

• 15 mins from Dubai International Airport
• 10 mins from Business District
• 20 mins from Jebel Ali Port and Port Rashid

Clients

Philips, Fujitsu, AMD, Western Digital, Synopsys, Corning and Schneider Electric are some of the companies operating in Dubai Silicon Oasis. Companies that are able to operate at DSO include those in the following sectors:

A) IT, telecom, electrical, electronic, engineering and related activities e.g. mobile and internet technologies, software, data centre and arabized/localised technologies.

B) Consultants, law firms, finance institutions, etc.

C) Bio-tech, automobile, aerospace, oil and gas, alternative energy and many others

All major activities of doing business can be accommodated within DSO including:

• Company headquarter offices, sales & marketing, support offices training, etc.
• Import/export, distribution, testing and checking, labelling, packaging.
• Assembly
• Manufacturing

Benefits

DSO clients are offered a number of benefits operating within the technology park. These include:

• 100% foreign ownership
• 100% repatriation of capital
• Zero Income tax
• Zero corporate tax
• Low cost of operations
• State of the art IT infrastructure and facilities with tier 3 data centre
• Fast-track business set-up & licensing
• Dedicated business support services including integrated online E-Business system offering tenants fast and efficient services at the touch of a button
• Access to regional pool of talented technical and engineering professionals
• Stable and clear regulation
• Access to consumer markets of 5 billion people (Middle East, North Africa and Indian Subcontinent).

In-house Services

The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) provides a comprehensive range of in-house business and government services in order to fulfil all legal and operational requirements. All services are provided directly by DSOA under one roof.

As an authority of the Government of Dubai DSOA is the municipal body of the free zone which issues all types of licenses as well as the following services:

• Company licenses (issuance and renewal)
• Work permits
• Employee visas
• Family residence visas
• Customs clearance
• For companies opting to construct their own facility at the tech park, issuance of building permits, design approval, certificate of completion and other permits are all obtained through DSOA.

Facilities

DSO offers an array of high-quality facilities to businesses operating within DSO. These include:

• Offices
• Light Industrial Units used for multiple use for Warehousing and Manufacturing
• Land for development company’s own facility

Offices

DSO has a total capacity of 97,740 sq m of commercial space dedicated to offices for lease clients can lease from.

• Area of 15 m² to full floors reaching 5000 m².
• High speed internet & VoIP connections.
• Avaya communications system.
• Tier 3 data centre
• UPS system back up
• False ceiling, raised flooring with power floor boxes
• Semi furnished offices with maintenance, daily cleaning and a Help Desk services provided

Ecosystem

DSO has created a hi-tech eco-system in order to promote technological collaboration and innovation. DSO identifies six key elements for its high-tech ecosystem: large enterprises, start ups & medium-sized businesses, universities and an incubation centre, venture capital funds, a hi-tech infrastructure and government & business services.

Dubai Circuit Design Centre - Dubai Circuit Design Centre (DCDC) (www.dcd.ae) is the region’s first advanced integrated circuit (IC) design centre.

Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T) Dubai - In partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology based in Rochester, New York, DSO has established RIT Dubai to ensure the DSO community has a pool of skilled hi-tech professionals.

DSO Incubation Centre - DSO runs an incubator centre to support technology entrepreneurs. The centre’s incubator program is designed to successful develop young entrepreneurs and their businesses by providing a support resources and services.

DSO Technology & Investment - DSO is dedicated to technology and as result has set up a dedicated Technology & Investment Generation (TIG) team which acts as a strategic investment arm for Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA). The aim of the unit is to identify, foster and invest in high-tech business opportunities. To this extent DSO offer incentive programs to attract technology-based companies to establish their presence at Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO). These include 30% reduced costs and investment incentives such as subsidised lease rates, EDA tools, and staff accommodation.

Community

The DSO community possesses a range of residential and lifestyle facilities which include schools, universities, hospitals, community centres, shopping complexes, swimming pools and tennis courts. The DSO community has been landscaped with green parks, interconnected courtyards, and children’s play areas in addition to 24 hour security, daily maintenance and a fully completed road network.

Community features include:

• Residential Villas and Apartments
• Education - Educational institutions such as RIT Dubai, GEMS School and International Indian High School.
• Shops & Services - Supermarkets, retail outlets, banks, post office, health clinic, restaurants, cafes, etc.
• Leisure & Lifestyle - Community centres, play areas, swimming pools and parks.

Cedre Villas Cedre Villas is a gated community of 1047 spacious villas located within Dubai Silicon Oasis. Developed by renowned UAE developer Arabtech, there are 3, 4 and 5 bedrooms villas in four sizes Luxury (with private swimming pool), Executive, Twin and Town House ranging from a built up area of 356 sq m to 676 sq m. The villas also come in a range of different exterior styles; Arabic, Modern or Traditional.

The villas are available to buy and lease. In 2009, Cedre Villas was classified as a ‘freehold’ area allowing both locals and foreigners (expats) to possess free hold ownership of their property.

Accidents & Incidents

On 3 September 2010, UPS Flight 6, operated by Boeing 747-44AF N571UP crashed shortly after take-off, killing both crew and destroying the aircraft. N571UP was operating an international cargo flight to Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany. The aircraft barely missed Silicon Oasis, terrifying many residents.

Courtesy : Chirenj Chandran

Image gallery

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  DSO HQ Exterior
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  DSO Exterior
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  Lobby area

External links

• Dubai Silicon Oasis Official webpage
• Roschester Institute of Technology, Dubai Official webpage
• Dubai Circuit Design Official webpage
• The Silicon Oasis Community website (unofficial) - run by Chris Tan

References

Coordinates: 25°7′28.6″N 55°22′51.6″E / 25.124611°N 55.381°E / 25.124611; 55.381