Dubai ranks high in innovation index

The results of the Dubai Innovation Index are in, and they show that the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates is further ahead in commerce and industry innovations than such major cities around the world as Shanghai, Madrid and Moscow.

The index, a project of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce with assistance from auditing firm PwC, ranked Dubai No. 16 of the 28 cities ranked for innovations. For efficiency in innovation outputs, Dubai ranked 11th.

Dubai Chamber President and CEO Hamad Buamim said he was pleased with the results of the index. He said the emirate was committed to laying a solid innovation foundation to reach short-term goals - a strategy he said would put the city in position to climb higher in the innovation rankings.

"This indicator is still new and shows us the way to compare our current position with the steps needed to prepare for the development of the innovation environment in Dubai and to stimulate the innovation culture in the business environment which will play an effective role in the coming period," Buamim said.

Dubai's high rankings were largely due to the city's advances in the area of new technology, as well as in medical care, media, information technology and retail. Sectors in which the city lagged included agriculture, construction and energy.

“PwC is proud to be part of the development of the Dubai Private Sector Innovation Index with the Dubai Chamber," PwC Middle East strategy and innovation partner Anil Khurana said. "This is a unique and comprehensive index that evaluates and compares macroeconomic data to private sector views of a city. The macroeconomic index compares Dubai against the leading innovative cities in the world and highlights that Dubai has made significant progress and investments in recent years towards the post-oil knowledge economy."

Over the next three years, the Dubai Chamber plans to invest $100 million in innovation projects and initiatives.