Cisco, World Bank Support Silatech To Help Arab Entrepreneurs

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SilatechSilatech is an initiative that was launched by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned of Qatar, to develop employment and business opportunities for young people in the Arab region.

Global networking heavy-weight Cisco, which is one of the founding members of Silatech and its global strategic technology provider, has just announced that it is extending its support for the social and economic development initiative, through working to deliver a technology platform for young entrepreneurs and businesses, primarily in the Arab world, to help them to drive programs for economic growth.

They will be developing a collaboration platform including services such as video conferencing and blogging, that will help individuals, businesses and other concerned organizations to collaborate on projects. They also aim to deploy a mix of traditional and social networking tools to connect today’s youth with other entrepreneurs and established businesses across the region.

The two companies also plan to co-operate on the establishment of entrepreneur centers for young people in the region, which will offer training courses on building and growing business and using IT to enable business success.

On the other hand, the World Bank Global Partnership for Youth Investment announced that they would support Silatech through two of its strategic pillars – Thought Leadership and Investment.
They will be offering financial products and business development service support to encourage financial intermediaries to invest in the youth micro enterprise market across the region; in other words, the aim is to  establish a scheme, which would see young people with new business ideas helped when seeking loans from commercial banks.

The Global Partnership will also assist Silatech to reach across the World Bank Group to support youth investment across the Arab World and participate in country-level missions and strategy development that could lead to co-financed and scaled projects and knowledge products based on global best practices.

# Sources: ITP, Zawya

New Deal To Launch Free Arabic Encyclopedia Online

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Emirates Internet Group has signed a cooperation agreement with Abu Ghazaleh Group to establish a free Arabic encyclopedia on the Internet.

The encyclopedia will cover a lot of applied science, and the human, economic and technology aspects will be addressed to the Arabic user, to enrich the electronic content of the Arabic language and to build a scientific referenced academic site with high quality.

A specialized committee of academics and scientists will insure the control of articles, and monitor and evaluate them from the perspective of academic and research centers. The enrichment of the encyclopedia will depend on the participation of knowledge specialists in specific fields, as the participants can correct and discuss and also to add more information in the encyclopedia, without violating the rights of the author or any other rights .

Two thoughts cross my mind in response to this piece of news: one is a very positive one; it’s great to see these Arab groups investing in knowledge and working to create more Arab content online.

On the other hand, I’m not too sure about the approach; instead of launching a whole new encyclopedia from scratch, with all the difficulties and costs that will entail, why not support the little groups of people from all over the Arab world who are passionately working on growing the Arabic version of Wikipedia?
I mean the platform already exists, it’s open, it’s easy to use, and it already has a head start, the teams are there already inputting information, and many people already trust it and use it, so why not just use that?
Is it so that it can be labeled as an Arab project? But isn’t the goal what’s most important? To share knowledge and get more Arab content out there?

I personally think this project would have more chances of success if it were to go with enriching the Arabic version of Wikipedia instead of creating a whole new encyclopedia, and I fear that if they don’t it’ll only end up like every other previous Arab initiative.

# Source: BI-ME

Why I Don’t Trust Arab Online Services

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This guest blog is by Qwaider of Memories Documented.

I just can’t get my self to trust the Arab online services for many reasons. They’re emerging, they’re growing, but this one area that I fear that I’m never going to venture to.

And here is why…

Privacy
Privacy is the next big buzzword that you’re going to be hearing about from now on. It will by synonymous with security and is a great concern for great deal of researchers and experts mainly because the world as we see it today. Is going to continue to morph to depend more on alternate methods of identity. With Privacy as it’s cornerstone. Someone who has your information has the ability to steal your identity. Which will be catastrophic in the future. But that’s not all.

Lets face it, for Hotmail, I’m just a figure, no one is going to be interested in what I have in my inbox. But I sadly can’t say the same about Arabic services… That’s just the way it is. All you have to do is cross the wrong people. Who may not even be the decision makers or the admins themselves but they know a friend of a friend of their girlfriend, and now …. they know everything about you.

When I establish an account at Google, Facebook or even my space. I know that my private information is going to continue to be my private information. Someone accessing it illegitimately might be subject to very harsh disciplinary actions, and might do jail time.

I can’t feel the same about my information on ANY Arabic social or online server. So I stay away.

Quality
The Quality of a service that is pumping millions into their online presence is something you can feel. Even though the services grow and prosper. Their quality usually gets better as economies of scale starts kicking in. Sadly, this is not the case for Arabic online services and the results are disappointing.

Accountability
When something goes wrong. I know where to go to normally when dealing with an international company. I deal with a company and not an individual. So I know that even if someone is not there, things will still function. But sadly that’s not the case with Arab online services where accountability is really not that clear, and knowing people is the only way to get things done.

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Anasheed MouslimTube, Online Islamic Nasheed Repository

MMM 9 Comments

Anasheed MouslimTubeAnasheed MouslimTube is a new service that is currently in beta that aims to become a repository for Islamic nasheeds, a form of Islamic song that is currently surging in popularity around the Muslim world.

The website users can find nasheeds by going through available albums, viewing work by different nasheed artists, picking tags that describe what they’re looking for best, check out the most popular nasheeds with other users, or try out the randomly selected nasheeds album. There also is a search engine that enables more advanced searches for nasheeds.

Nasheeds can be listened to online through streaming real audio, or downloaded in several formats for later listening. Lyrics are also provided for a big number of these nasheeds.

The website currently has 152 albums by 154 nasheed artists, grouping 912 nasheeds.

MouslimTube Screenshot

The website has a very nice and straightforward design, making it really easy to use and navigate around. It is in Arabic only.

Anasheed MouslimTube was developed and launched from Egypt by Hazem Khaled, and designed by Muhammad Abdul-Shakour Arab (Division Designs).

# Anasheed MouslimTube

The Importance Of Having An API For Arab Startups

MMM 15 Comments

APIOver the past few years, one of the really important trends and directions we’ve been seeing with online services is the move towards opening their platforms, mainly through APIs (Application programming interfaces), so that people can build a set of tools around them, pull or push information through them easily, and so as to make it easier for other platforms to talk to their platform as well.

When it comes to the tools developed around these platforms, we find tools that use the base functionalities provided by the platform, just making them easier to use by providing different interfaces and clients for the application; and other tools that extend the application further by providing complimentary functionalities that make it even more interesting for more users.

In both of these cases, having people developing these kinds of tools, and users adopting them, can only be good for the service, mainly because it helps build a community of users around the service, spreads it even further into the mainstream, and because it also provides clearer ideas for growth through the different uses the application is being used for.

On the other hand, having the possibility for other platforms to talk to their platform provides users of both platforms with an added-value, which can only be good, building user loyalty and growing both services’ user bases.

In the Arab online startup scene, we can’t really find that many examples of services opening up their platforms through APIs, even though I think it’s even more important and crucial in the Arab internet context.

Arab startups don’t have as much access to funding as their US or international counterparts, meaning that they have less flexibility and ability to grow their service into a central point that can be everything for everyone, so it’d be more interesting if they could just concentrate on one area, that they could fully develop and do very well, and then open it up so that other specialized services can plug in and communicate with it, in a way that we end up with a group of online applications that compliment each other and work together successfully.

Just taking the example of Yamli that recently opened up their linguistic service through an API, we can see that the online services that have integrated the functionality in their systems have easily provided an added-value for their users without having to invest a lot of time into developing a solution of their own, leaving them the time to concentrate on their main business, while Yamli see a growth in their user base and can continue to develop their solution even more.

In the end it’s a win-win situation for both the providing service and the consuming one.

Analysis: Dwwen Blog Aggregator Almost Shut Down

MMM 15 Comments

DwwenA few days ago, Arab blog aggregator service Dwwen announced they would be shutting down on June 15th this year due to financial and resource burdens.

The announcement came on the blog of Tareq Abu Zeid, the founder of Dwwen, where he said that the lack of financial backing for the service doomed it and made shutting it down inevitable.

After the announcement, a number of comments flowed in, with some people proposing that Dwwen start a donations campaign to raise money to keep going on, while some others offered to help in any way possible, and others asked how much they needed, showing readiness to help financially.

Yesterday, only a couple of days after the initial announcement, a little announcement was put up on the Dwwen homepage telling users that the service wouldn’t be shutting down and that further details would be communicated later.

It’s great news that Dwwen managed to find the backing or means to keep going on, they’ve built a really good service since they launched, and have managed to gain many an Arab blogger’s respect.

But now that things have worked out for the best, I think we should take a step back to study and analyse their case a little bit, because I think it more or less gives us some insight into the rather short life cycles of Arab startups of this kind, and how they end up having to take the decision to shut down.

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Getmo Arabia To Bring Digital Downloads To The Middle East

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GetmoArvato Middle East Sales and Abu Dhabi Media Company yesterday announced the launch of Getmo Arabia, a new digital media platform for the Middle East and Africa, at the MECOM 2008 conference in Abu Dhabi.

Getmo Arabia will offer services direct to consumers through www.getmo.com where customers can download over three million songs, videos, movies, games and ringtones in English, Arabic and other Asian languages to their mobile phones & home computers.

The content will be available to users at significantly reduced rates, in hopes to kickstart a new era in the market for mobile & PC entertainment in the region.

Abu Dhabi Media Company also announced a partnership with Sony BMG, in which the record label will provide local and Arabic content for the platform, which can be accessed via PC or mobile.

Getmo Arabia is set to service the 33 million internet users and 80 million mobile phone users in the Middle East region.

At the time of this article’s publication, the getmo.com website is still not accessible online.

# More: Zawya, ITP

Resto Tunisie, Community Powered Directory Of Restaurants in Tunisia

MMM 3 Comments

Resto TunisieResto Tunisie, is a Tunisian website that aims to become a comprehensive directory of restaurants in Tunisia, aiding people to make their decisions on which eatery to pick.

The site’s users as well as restaurant owners get to suggest restaurants for addition, by filling out a contact form, specifying the address of the restaurant and why they think it should be included.

Site visitors can navigate through the restaurants in a number of different ways; either by specialty, budget, and top voted for example; or by searching directly for a certain restaurant or using the advanced search to combine different criteria to find the best restaurant for their needs.

On each restaurant’s page, visitors will find the restaurant’s details, specialty, its address, phone numbers, website, whether it servers alcohol or not, and a little description of it. The restaurant is also located on a map (using Google maps) to make finding it easier, along with other nearby restaurants.

Users can also use this page to cast their votes on the restaurant in the three areas of Decoration, Service and Food; as well as leave their reviews and comments on it.
By logging in to their accounts on the site, users can always come back to find the list of restaurants they favorited and reviewed.

A little zone in the website also provides a list of job openings at some restaurants.

Resto Tunisie Screenshot

The service was developed by Tunisian web agency WebCarré, and currently has 327 restaurants in its database.

The design is really nice; the site is pretty easy to use and to surf around. The only thing I think they should consider is opening up addition of restaurants by the users more, letting users fill in the restaurant’s details, position it on the map and all, with them going over all submissions later on, checking there are no duplicates and that the content is good. It should make the service livelier and easier for them to maintain.

# Resto Tunisie

Waleg & Ikbis Launch ‘The Online Arabian Star’ Contest

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Waleg
Ikbis

Waleg, the first and largest blog network in the Arab world, and Ikbis, the popular Arab video and photo sharing service, have teamed up to launch a new online contest under the name of ‘The Online Arabian Star‘.

Talent TV shows; like Star Academy, SuperStar and a bunch of others on a bunch of Arab TV stations; have proven to be very popular with viewers all around the Arab world. This contest aims to capture some of that success online.

All contestants have to do is upload a video of themselves singing a song in Arabic, and then wait for the votes to roll in. The top 20 winners move to the second phase, and another round of voting is launched to select the winner according to user voting. The final winner gets a $500 cash prize.

For more details on the contest, you can visit the contest’s page on Ikbis or on Waleg.

The Online Arabian Star

It’ll be interesting to see how successful this contest is in terms of number of contestants, quality of the submitted material, and how much interest, attention and traffic it generates.