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The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) released  a study last month that identifies areas for development in digital Arabic content and proposes business models that best suit each area. The study was conducted after a thorough analysis of global trends in technology and business as well as several regional and global success stories.

The digital Arabic content industry holds great potential for future economic development and growth. A study by the Arab Media Outlook 2011 shows that a significant percentage of the Arab population, especially women, prefers Arabic content online and offline. Improving the digital Arabic content is not only about increasing the number of websites and mobile apps. It also requires Arab content producers in traditional industries—such as writers, film makers, game publishers, government bodies, and the likes—to partner with tech savvy young people to make the leap from quality content into quality digital content.

Elements of Sustainable Digital Arabic Content

The study lists four characteristics that are crucial to create sustainable digital Arabic content. These are relevance, quality, reach, and financing. Relevance is when a topic meets the expectations of the target audience, and it is directly correlated to the knowledge of consumer behavior and the topic being addressed. Quality is reflected by the user’s experience and satisfaction. The higher the standards, technical ability, attractiveness of design, credibility of the interface, richness of features, and frequency of updates, the higher the quality of the content becomes. No matter how relevant the content being produced, if it does not maintain a certain level of quality, it won’t succeed.

To increase awareness and accessibility—that is, the reach—the content must be complimented with sustained marketing campaigns and branding activities on multiple fronts. Finally, financing is considered one of the most important elements for sustainability. The study indicates that a strong financial backing and a good financial plan are fundamental to ensure success.

The success of any business model is directly linked to the competence of the people driving it. According to the study, the education system in the Arab World still needs to improve on several fronts before producing human knowledge that matches global standards. For instance, it should embed innovation, scientific curiousity, structured thinking, quality of service, entrepreneurship, and respect for deadlines, among others, in its education and students should learn how to apply this knowledge before embarking on any digital venture.

Three Recommended Business Models

The success of any business model in the digital content industry is highly dependent on the viability of the project itself and its quality, relevance, accessibility, and reach. While the study lists several business models that fit an online strategy, the main three models recommended for the digital Arabic content development are the advertising model, the merchant model (i.e., selling goods and services online), and the subscription model. One can merge several business models to generate additional income, depending on the nature of the project.

Five Areas for Development in Digital Arabic Content

The study recommends five areas for development in digital Arabic content, namely education and learning, content aggregation and curation, entertainment and gaming, and social media. Let’s talk about each in more detail:

Education and Learning

The study considers education and learning one of the most important—and profitable—areas that Arab developers should tackle. The eLearning market is expected to grow from the current $90 billion to a staggering $255 billion by 2017, while the target Arab audience for eLearning amounts to about 86 million. The main challenges of this sector are to continually create relevant and effective content. According to the study, some of the areas to consider in education include classic Arabic language, literature, history, gastronomy, management, computer use, and related fields.

The study recommends merchant and subscription business models for this area since people are accustomed to pay for education.

Content Aggregation and Curation

The study mentions STC from KSA and Etisalat and Du from UAE as the major aggregators and curators in the Arab World, noting that the budgets of these big organizations are exceedingly higher than the size of investments by VC’s and other funding organizations. Nevertheless, to identify how digital Arabic content can be developed in this area, the study lists several product categories that should be available on digital platforms, such as local weather, regional news, video archives, traditional music, branded content, and others—all of which are recommended to be integrated with social media.

According to the study, the business model that best matches content aggregation and curation is the subscriptions model, not only because people are ready to pay in return of getting relevant content, but also because this model creates highly profitable exit opportunities.

Information Services

Based on the study, the main areas worth developing in the information services sector include health and medical assistance, sports and fitness, community of practice/interest building, real estate, dating, catering and events planning, financial services, comparative car and accessories market, and complementary governmental and public service processes explanation and simulation. Most of these areas should preferably be integrated with social media.

The business model to be adopted depends on the type of content: For high-added value content, such as medical assistance and event planning, the merchant or subscription model can be used. For other more general and public information, the best way to make profit is through the advertising model, on condition that consistent and relevant information is being produced to create traffic and loyalty.

Entertainment and Gaming

This is the top category for mobile application downloads generating direct sales, advertising, and traffic. According to the study, there is a significant lack of new gaming concepts originating from the Arab World and making global impact. Among the areas to develop in entertainment and gaming, the study mentions the following: tourism and leisure, mobile and social games, mobile lifestyle applications, eBooks and edutainment, music and video production, and related areas. Social integration is highly recommended.

The study states that mobile gaming will take over social gaming, and in-game purchases have already surpassed application purchases. The “freemium” business model is the most adopted by gaming companies; it merges several known business models (paid download, in-game purchases, advertising, and others) with multiple revenue streams of different proprotions.

Social Media

According to the study, Arab social media developers should mainly focus on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. It recommends developing the following areas in social media: education and learning, gaming and entertainment, news and information aggregation, enhanced user-profiling, data gathering, and statistics.

One major challenge of social media is building an app with a big payoff, especially since the barriers to entry are significant. Still, this area holds great potential for growth, especially in the mobile aspect. The advertising model is most commonly used in the social media market, but some companies also sell online content and virtual goods to generate extra income.

Get more in-depth details about the study by clicking here .