Arab gov’ts urged to support efforts to increase Arabic web content

AMMAN — Arabs need to do more to contribute to efforts seeking to increase the volume of Arabic content on the web, which does not exceed 3 per cent at present of the overall volume of online content, experts said Thursday.

The experts made their remarks during the second Arabic Digital Content Conference, which attracted several entrepreneurs and experts in the fields of ICT, digital games and applications. 

Participants said Arab governments needs to do more to help in efforts seeking to increase Arabic content on the web.

“There is a huge gap in the volume of digital Arabic content when compared to other languages on the web… and there are no practical efforts to address this gap,” Tareq Bitar, corporate communications manager at Zain Jordan, said at the event.

He called for coordinating efforts between all stakeholders to increase Arabic content. 

“The Arabs’ contribution to increasing the content in their language on the web is modest. We need to have strategies in place to address this issue,” Bitar said.

The experts said the increase in the number of Internet users, especially mobile Internet users, makes it crucial to increase the volume of relevant Arabic content on the web.

Amira Rashad, chief-of-staff and head of media and research at Yahoo! Middle East and Africa, agreed.

“The young generation go to the Internet when seeking information or entertainment… Therefore, we need to create the proper Arabic content for them,” she said.

“People need rich, short, relevant and informative content in Arabic on the Internet,” Rashad said at the event, which was held by Content Arabia.

She called for creating content that is relevant to the culture, traditions and faiths of those living in the Arab world.

Experts at the conference said Arabic web content ranks eighth in volume compared to content in other languages, which is a serious issue that needs a clear vision to address it.

Arabic speakers account for 5 per cent of global Internet users, according to Google, while about 65 per cent of Arab Internet users look for Arabic content.