Knowledge Village announces plans to build new campus

"We have been overwhelmed by the demand on our facilities. We are one year old and have just about fully completed our facilities, but we have already outgrown our current campus, which is large by any means," said Dr. Abdullah Al Karam, CEO of Knowledge Village.

"To satisfy our long list of prospective clients we shall build a new campus that will be double the size of the current one. The new Knowledge Village will occupy a space of 25 million square feet and will house between 25-30 international universities and accommodate more than 36,000 students," said Dr. Al Karam.

"We have taken the decision and are in the process of working out the details. An announcement detailing the ambitious new project will take place towards the end of this year. The new village will be ready for students -- who come from different parts of the world -- in about two years. This will help Knowledge Village achieve its goal of making Dubai an international centre for education and training."

Ready for 2010
Dr. Al Karam said that: "We hope that the new expansion will fulfill all the requirements of Knowledge Village until 2010. We shall build facilities for training, accommodation, activities and leisure, all of which will certainly help make it a unique campus and comparable with any in the world."

Knowledge Village, which recently completed a year since it was established in 2003 in the Dubai Free Zone for Technology and Media (Tecom), aims at attracting the best universities in the world and creating an ideal environment for education, one that matches the vast growth in the economic, technological, educational and social sectors in the UAE.

Tremendous success
Dr. Al Karam said, "Knowledge Village has achieved tremendous success in just a year. It is now fully occupied and hosts about 15 globally well-known universities, most of which have been officially announced and the rest, including a university from Canada, is to be announced in January. With a construction cost of approximately AED 400 million, Knowledge Village also houses more than 200 companies and institutes for training and education. More than 6,000 students come to the campus every day. Some 25% of them are from countries in the Middle East in addition to the students from Arab and foreign communities residing in Dubai."

Commenting on joining the umbrella of Dubai Holding, Dr. Al Karam said, "Being under Dubai Holding will enhance the activities of the Knowledge Village as it is directly linked to the other entities under Dubai Holding and thus will gain from the synergies created."

He also said that the Knowledge Village will progress on the same path it has drawn for itself, while working to achieving its goals, as is the case with the other entities of Dubai Holding.

Human Resources
According to Dr. Al Karam, Knowledge Village is a successful project in all its aspects. It has served the community and provided better opportunities for education, and hence has contributed towards the shaping of well-qualified human resources to serve the UAE community.

"Knowledge Village has been able to draw the attention of students in the region who used to seek education abroad, in countries such as Europe and USA. This is directly related to the development of the industrial, economic and social sectors in the UAE and the employment opportunities in the country," said Dr. Al Karam.

On-job training
According to him, Knowledge Village has recently opened a department for student affairs, which will encourage the training of students in Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City based companies, as well as in the Dubai Holding entities and outside.

Dr. Al Karam said the Knowledge Village management is in discussions with a number of leading Arab universities, which are set to join the campus. He hopes to soon announce some of the leading names.

The Knowledge Village community houses a number of international universities and educational institutions from countries like Australia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Belgium, UK, Ireland, and Canada. In addition, it provides specialised programmes in different fields such as administration, finance, business management, IT, medicine, sciences, mass communication and others.