There is a keen interest in the influence of the Internet in the recent years in the Arab World. A particular interest is the impact of Social Media and communication technologies in the Arab World leading to the conflict that began in 2011. However, this paper will focus not on political uses of the Internet, but on the potential economic growth, and how the Internet affects the culture and changes habits of communication, shopping and ways of doing businesses.
The Internet in the Arab World
The whole world has been transformed over the past 15 years by the technology-led transformation. The Internet affected communication and social activity, and the economy did not stay behind. Businesses had to develop quickly to work and interact with their customers on the new platforms. Online businesses are driving economic growth globally, and the Arab region has also witnessed this major transformation.
125 million individuals are using the Internet in the Arab region, and more than 53 million are actively using social networking technologies. 20% of the World's economic growth from 2006 to 2011 has been due to the Internet revolution. Particularly in the Arab region, social media has enabled new economic opportunities globally (Alsher & Salem, 2013).
Nonetheless, we must not forget the political and cultural influence of religious regimes in the Arab World. There has certainly been a rapid increase in internet access in the MENA region. However, there is evidence that there are still many people in the area that do not have access to websites and online services. For example, the Arabic language as a major language of the world, is per capita, underrepresented on Wikipedia. There is evidence that state actors in the Gulf do control the use of it (Graham, 2014).
The Online Arab World
It has been mentioned that some people in the Arab World do not yet have access to the Internet and new communication technologies. It was also mentioned that there are still restrictions due to fear of political consequences of people using freely certain websites such as Wikipedia.
However, it is still a reality that the Internet did help break down the "stranglehold state-sponsored media and information monopolies in those countries" (Ghannam, 2011), and free expression has grown since then.
Of course, individual countries enjoy more freedom than others, but overall, from Morocco to Bahrain, all of the Arab World has seen a transformation of the social media, and a steady growth in the use of these platforms. There were more than 100 million Arab users by 2015 (Ghannam, 2011).
These social networks have a considerable effect on culture, customs and habits. Not only they are doors to other parts of the world, bringing new ideas, fashions, music, theories, news, etc., but they also create communities. All of these are of course still under considerable limitations and challenges from authoritarian regimes, but we must not forget, though, that there is a continual growth and is changing many things, particularly communication and e-commerce.
The New Generation of the Arab World
Google and Booz performed a study (Sabbagh et. al, 2012) in the Arab Countries to evaluate the effect of the internet in the region and to try to understand the new Arab Digital Generation (ADG), referring to people from 15 to 35 years old. Google is constantly looking for innovation, creating new markets, and is known for its effort to enter the authoritarian Chinese digital arena. It is not surprising that is also showing interest in the Online Arab World as it is an emerging online market with a lot of potentials.
What they found in the study is that even though Arab young people are similar to other young people in the world, they are still distinct. They have different traditions, they face different challenges, and they suffer many tribulations due to their religions, along with a strong desire to make changes.
A practical example of some challenges they face today is that most people have easier access to a mobile phone than to electricity. While in most parts of the world technology is driving social, civic and economic moves, in the MENA (The Middle East and North Africa) region, it seems that it has even a higher potential to embody these. The reasons are because young people in the area make up a larger portion of the overall population, compared to other parts of the world, especially the Western World where people do not have so many children, and the latter generations have reduced family members (Sabbagh et. al, 2012).
In the Arab World, from 2006 to 2011 the number of Internet users increased by 23% annually, compared to the rest of the world, which grew only 14%. It also has to be taken into account that the whole region is undergoing a strong urbanisation trend, and it includes the necessary upgrades for new technologies, with high rates of ICT infrastructure growth. It is the part of the world that has grown more rapidly in the past 5 to 7 years, closing the digital gap between them and Asia, Europe and North America (Sabbagh et. al, 2012).
The cultural factors
It has been mentioned that young people in MENA region deal with different challenges than young people from other parts of the World; particularly family, religion and societal norms. Today, with the new digital technologies that offer another source of information, these factors are changing. Thus, policymakers and business leaders who wish to interact and reach the new generation have no other choice than to adapt and begin to use these new digital technologies. While movies, blogs and social media are the preferred online uses of the internet, all of the factors described so far, show that it will soon be a rapid e-commerce transformation and businesses need to be prepared for it (Sabbagh et. al, 2012).
At the moment the reason why ADG are still hesitant to buy online is primary to lack of trust in the online banking systems. However, this will soon change, and businesses need to be prepared. Most markets in the world are now global, allowing consumers to purchase from their computer from any part of the world, and this also allows a greater transparency regarding price. Thus it increases competition as customers if they are not satisfied will go and search somewhere else (Sabbagh et. al, 2012).
Most companies have to leverage their communication and relationship with their customers, and social media is a great tool for that. Companies use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media sites to connect with the younger consumers.
For example, more than 10million people "like" the McDonald's company profile on Facebook and 1 million like the Apple profile. Evian has 129 million views on its YouTube channel. These are just examples of how social media works around the world, and the Arab World is not an exception, sooner or later they will be part of it (Sabbagh et. al, 2012).
Google and Booz, found that ADG spends a considerable amount of time engaging with companies and brands online and researching for products. Even if at the moment most products can be bought offline, the online research is critically important and influence the purchase decision. Even if they are still buying offline, companies can use this time to lay the foundations, creating digital experiences for consumers, and be ready for the e-commerce boom that will soon happen.
It is only a matter of time for the financial services sectors to be in line with the recent communications and technologies securing payments and facilitating bill payments and e-transactions. As we mentioned, most ADG has a mobile phone but not electricity, so smartphones will soon become a digital wallet.
Conclusion
The Arab World is experiencing already the internet revolution. The population growth in the region, combined with the urbanization upgrade for new technologies allowing more access to the web, plus the open doors to a new world, is the perfect scenario for a successful e-commerce arena. The Arab World will experience an even greater economic growth due to the impact of the Internet in the area.
References
Alshaer, S. & Salem, F. (2013). The Arab World Online: Trends in Internet
Usage in the Arab Region. Dubai School of Government's Governance and Innovation Program. Dubai School of Government.
Ghannam, J. (2011). Center for International Media Assistance, and National Endowment for Democracy.
Graham, M. (2014). Who represents the Arab World Online? Mapping and measuring local knowledge production in representation in the Middle East and North Africa. Oxford Internet Institute. Oxford University.
Sabbagh, K., Mourad, M. Kabbara, W., Shehadi, R.T. & Samman, H. (2012). Understanding the Arab Digital Generation. Strategy & Formerly Booz & Company Google.
