YouTube is set to join forces with Dubai Studio City to bring a YouTube Space to Dubai next year, an incubator space giving YouTube creators the tools and guidance that remove barriers enabling them to innovate and experiment with content.

This will be its first such facility in Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, and the 10th worldwide.

Launched in 2005, Dubai Studio City provides cutting-edge facilities and services to companies across broadcasting, media production, film, television and music and entertainment sectors in the Middle East.

Through this collaboration, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region’s most talented YouTube content creators, from Dubai, to Jeddah, Cairo and Casablanca will have free access to high-end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops and courses.

This collaboration follows in the footsteps of nine other YouTube Spaces in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York City, Berlin, Sao Paolo, Mumbai, Toronto and Paris, said a statement from Youtube.

Since the first space was launched in 2012, more than 150,000 people around the world have attended over 19,000 hours of workshops and over 15,000 videos have been created; garnering over 165 million hours of watch time.

Lance Podell, the director and global head of YouTube Spaces, said: "The Mena region has one of the world’s most vibrant YouTube communities. Talented creators are producing content for passionate audiences in a region that comes in second in the world after the US in terms of watch time."

"This collaboration with Dubai Studio City will help us support this incredible community of YouTube creators as well as continue to boost the growth of Arabic content on the web. We are happy to have our first Space in Dubai, a place of vibrant creativity from fashion, to media and advertising. YouTube is a home for all this content," he noted.

Malek Al Malek, the chief executive of Tecom Business Parks, said the partnership with YouTube to establish the region’s first YouTube Space, reflects its commitment to creating an ecosystem conducive to innovation that will ensure Dubai remains at the forefront of a competitive global media industry.

"The partnership reflects Dubai’s ability to attract the strongest and most dynamic content platforms to the UAE, and our aim is to leverage our shared experience in creating an enabling environment for the nurturing of a unique talent pool, and to empower them to generate inspiring and engaging content from Dubai Studio City," he added.-TradeArabia News Service