Dubai 100

It is hard to connect Roland Daher to any one organization. A computer engineer turned businessman, Roland's story is not so different from that of many American start-up gurus, with one important distinction: Roland is a pioneer because he is bringing the hope of start-up communities to the Middle East. Roland was a crucial part of the beginning of the Dubai-based start-up effort Wamda, now a globally recognizable brand. He has since moved on to his current position, working with Falcon Private Bank on a pre-accelerator program to develop and marketize new technologies in healthcare called Dubai 100. The access to his distinct experience on the start-up community in Dubai was immensely valuable for all of us, and would go on to inform many of our later meetings with the government and other private sector groups interesting in expanding the role of start-ups in Dubai.

For Roland, Dubai is positioned at a unique nexus between global capital, multinational corporate interests, and small and medium enterprises from emerging markets in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. The safety, security, and rule of law Dubai provides makes it a natural point of interest for any multinational investor, and makes accessing capital for start-ups far easier in Dubai than in most other cities in the Indian Ocean, like Beirut or Mumbai. The presence of multinational industries also allows for rapid scaling-up of these smaller industries in the innovation economy through partnerships with and annexation into larger global organizations. Roland explained that Dubai's strength is in connecting those interested parties, and offering that rapid scaling. No other regional hub has the same amount of global interest, and no tech hub in America or Europe has access to as much raw talent and innovative interest as Dubai, the aspirational space of most of the Indian Ocean. Today, new incubator and accelerator programs are becoming much more frequent, and within less than a decade, have already moved forward tremendously in the UAE, and in the Middle East.

Roland praised Dubai and the UAE more broadly, for this vision which stems from the city's and the country's leadership and commitment to a genuine culture of capitalism. A copy of “My Vision” the book written by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, sat on the table in the room where Roland met with us, echoing his veneration for the city's leader. Even on those matters where he saw room for improvement, Roland maintained his respect for the city's leadership, in the careful balancing act that all nations undertake and which Sheikh “Mo” has carried out superbly. Roland's office overlooks the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, and a major symbol for Dubai. He told us how the massive tower is more than just a building; it is a testament to the city's commitment to pulling possibility from the impossible, and about finding ways to look past critics and challenges to make things happen. Roland's description of the spirit of Dubai describes the spirit of entrepreneurship, and his passion for it is both apparent and inspiring.

~Kevin Hack, 1st year Middle East Studies concentrator, SAIS