October 2nd, 2008 elitani
by Vineetha Menon
A survey has revealed that UAE internet users have the second highest rate of membership of social networking sites in the world.
Research by market intelligence firm, Synovate - involving 13,000 people between the ages of 18 and 65 - showed the Gulf country was second only to the Netherlands, where 49 percent said they were members of sites like Facebook.
The UAE came second with 46 percent, ahead of Canada with 44 percent and the US on 40 percent, compared to a global average rate of 26 percent.
UAE social networkers also ranked among the most prolific, in terms of the amount of users who sign up for multiple social networks, and 37 percent of respondents in the UAE also said they have more friends online than in the real world.
Commenting on the figures, Synovate’s managing director for the UAE, George Christodoulides, said that the popularity of social networking in the country made sense. “It is a place that’s very connected to the world; a hub for cultures, business and people.
“These sites also offer a way for people to meet - online - in a society where traditionally men and women don’t always mix freely.”
Meanwhile, despite reports to the contrary, YouTube is still available online in Kuwait, although new instructions on blocking the site have been issued by authorities.
According to reports, the popular video sharing website was banned last week by the Ministry of Communications, although the site appeared to have been given a reprieve when the Minister was said to have rescinded the order after internal discussions.
Now, it is understood that the Ministry has issued a new order to “block certain specific links within Youtube.com”.
The official paper which has been circulated to ISPs, gives a five page list of specific URLs and key words that are to be blocked, mostly concerning sexual content.
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October 2nd, 2008 elitani
By Vineetha Menon
According to Bashar Kilani, manager of software business at IBM Middle East, companies in the Middle East need a cultural change in order to embrace Web 2.0 and use social networking tools to enhance business productivity.
Web 2.0 has become a reflection of today’s society with MySpace and Facebook becoming household names. Recently, it was revealed that the UAE is the second most socially-networked country in the world; however, enterprises are yet to embrace the trend competitively.
Kilani believes that the challenges don’t just stem from a technical point of view, but are also culturally related - “From an end user perspective, we constantly look for more efficient ways to work and more efficient tools to facilitate this, however there is often a reluctance to change the way we actually work.”
“IT managers are hesitant about giving up control of information and access to data; being skeptical of the way employees will use the information, and the way they will use the common tools that are available to them in the web 2.0 era such as blogs and instant messaging (IM) applications,” Kilani said.
The myth that most employers hold on to is that web 2.0 tools focus only on socializing but Kilani adds that “there are whole host of applications that enable the tapping of hidden resources in an organization, increasing the productivity of people that use them through sharing of information and collaboration.
“There is a need for employers and employees to take the time to understand the opportunities that web 2.0 tools present…but first a cultural change is needed,” Kilani concluded.
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October 2nd, 2008 elitani
by Andy Sambidge
Internet use in the Middle East is growing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world, new research reveals.
During the last six years, the number of people using the Web in the region soared by more than 600 percent, three times higher than the global average increase, according to Middle East Broadband Forecast to 2010, a report by researcher RNCOS says.
The report says rapidly falling broadband access charges and continuous efforts to upgrade the network infrastructure are the key reasons fostering impressive growth in the Middle East broadband market.
As a result, the number of broadband subscribers increased by an estimated 48 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year and the number of broadband subscribers is predicted to surge at a rate of about 50 percent during the next three years.
Israel dominated the Middle East broadband market with the highest number of broadband subscribers in 2007, followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.
Egypt is anticipated to report highest growth in its broadband subscriber base among the Middle East countries with a predicted growth rate of more than 83 percent from 2008-2010.
And the region says the total number of 3G subscribers in the region is expected to surpass four million by the end of 2010, growing at a rate of around 60 percent.
Overall, says the report, the Middle East broadband market is poised to grow at rapid pace with the backdrop of positive economic outlook and increased market liberalisation.
“The aggressive developments in the field of technology by the Gulf countries to change their image from oil-rich countries to technologically-developed nations has created huge opportunities for domestic as well as foreign players seeking to make way into these potential markets,” the report adds.
However, variations in the speed with which this is occurring has led to wide disparities in broadband penetration rates from state to state, the research report added.
The RNCOS research covered markets including Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain and Iran.
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