Arab world urged to embrace technology to 'leap frog' into modern era

Dr. Schmidt, who is also Co-Chair of the upcoming 4th Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2006), will be addressing delegates at the event, which will be held from 4-6 December in Dubai.

In a pre-event statement, Dr. Schmidt said the Information Technology industry could act as a great "enabler" in assisting the Arab World to better integrate with the global economy and help improve the quality of life in the region.

He said: "Today, this region of 290 million people has only 26 million Internet users. These are expected to grow to 50 million by 2009 making the Arab World a sizeable market.

"Although challenged by a severe lack of content in the native language, we expect this to change in the near future, bringing the Internet closer to the general non-English speaking population making it a more useful and productive tool that can contribute to the overall advancement of the region."

Highlighting the region's need for advanced IT capabilities to "leap frog" into the modern era, he said ICT can provide local business with larger target markets, bringing economies of scale to even the smallest business.

"For example, sellers in Morocco can find buyers in the UAE and vice versa. The Internet can become the 'great equalizer' for small and medium enterprises giving them marketing and sales tools previously available only to large corporations.

"This reduced barrier to entry into large markets will drive innovation. Somewhere out there a couple of university graduates will think of something big - something really big - and will go out and make it happen and all it will take is a few blogs or websites for the whole world to know about it," Dr. Schmidt pointed out.

The ASF 2006 Co-Chair stressed the world today is undergoing rapid change necessitating rapid response to capitalize on the opportunities.

"The whole world is undergoing rapid change. The Internet and communications industry have revolutionized many aspects of our lives. The Arab World in particular, stands to capitalize on many new opportunities, but also faces significant challenges that need to be addressed."

"This region has an abundance of assets, a young population, fast growing economies, and a unique strategic geographical location, but still faces poverty in some parts, high illiteracy rates and a sub-par entrepreneurial spirit," Dr. Schmidt said.

The Google CEO stressed the Arab region needs to work on addressing these challenges. More investments need to be made in the people. Top priorities must include health, education, training and the creation of job opportunities.

Among the other challenges facing the regional IT industry, the ASF 2006 Co-Chair mentioned the lack of significant research and development (R&D) funding to help drive the industry towards world-class product development and innovation.

Referring to Google's regional plans, Dr. Schmidt said the company has identified exciting opportunities in the Arab region. It has currently set up a regional hub in Cairo and has rolled out several products that specifically cater to the Arab-speaking world. Its future plans include extending its presence in other countries of the region.