Internet needs Arabic to do the talking

The evolution of global communications has led to a new digital era and, soon, a new global economy, making digital content an essential part of the media as well as the social and corporate landscape.

However, this evolution has created a challenge in the Middle East. Although Arabic is the fifth largest spoken language in the world with over 350 million speakers, only 65 million of these are actually internet users. This relatively small amount is not enough to support the creation of Arabic digital content, and this has consequently impaired internet penetration in the Arab world.

If Arabic is the seventh most popular language on the web, it is still under-represented with only 3 per cent of Arabic content available online in 2013. On the other hand, over 40 per cent of the population in the Arab world is aged between 15 and 35 years and 80 per cent of them are daily users of the internet.

The growth rate for Arabic content online increased by 2,502 per cent between 2010 and 2011 making Arabic the fastest growing language online in the Arab world, highlighting the huge potential of a booming Arab digital-savvy generation.

Two main factors tend to explain the expansion of the digital economy through the region. First, the increasing access to technology, networks and services through reliable telecommunication companies and, second, the advent of internet-enabled mobiles in the Gulf region, of which penetration is amongst the highest in the world with 61 per cent in the UAE, over 50 per cent for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to name a few.

Today mobile advertising volumes in the region remain significantly behind global trends, with only 6 per cent of the total advertising budget being spent on digital, compared to the UK, where digital already accounts for more than 30 per cent. Beyond the development of e-commerce, companies should seize the opportunity in terms of advertising volume through the exponential growth of social media platforms which now have the power to reach 44 million Facebook users and over one million active Twitter users in the region.

This phenomenal opportunity highlights a need for more relevant and accessible digital content, particularly for this market in terms of quantity and quality of content in order to match global standards.

CULTURAL ECONOMY

Various initiatives have been launched by both public and private institutions throughout the region to encourage Arab youth to develop online content in their mother tongue: from the creation of communities in Cairo and Beirut, the translation of academic publications in King Abdulaziz University, to university students’ training in Jordan and the month-long ‘Arabic Web Days’ initiative launched in partnership with TED, Twitter, Wikipedia, Soundcloud and Al Arabiya.

Moreover, the development of Arabic content in the digital economy can also be relevant from another perspective, the preservation of a cultural economy. This concept was highlighted a decade ago through the French law ‘Toubon’, which established quotas to protect national intellectual content. Beyond preserving the use of the French language, the law was aimed at promoting the cultural economy of the country through intellectual content.

In February 2013, the French government made the first deal of its kind with Google. This deal was designed to support French publications and news organisations by increasing their online advertising revenue alongside an investment of €60 million (Dh292.43 million) to finance the digital publishing of French content.

Promoting Arabic content in the digital economy will become not only a way to make digital content and e-commerce more accessible to Arab countries, but also to preserve the positioning of the language on the global stage.

More relevant content in Arabic will contribute to a higher numbers of Arabic speakers using the internet and, eventually, will enhance the development of online transaction, e-commerce and brands’ advertising volume online.

In this new global landscape, it is of the utmost importance to promote, develop and support the creation of Arabic content online in order to catch up with mature global digital economies. The faster Arabic content progresses into the digital space, the faster the digital economy of the Arab world will grow.

CREDIT: The writer is the strategic planning head at BPG Group.