Digital Digest

25 recent Internet and Technology developments you may have missed from – and/or potentially impacting on - Qatar and the Middle East

Issue 8: Q2 2013

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Twitter: @ictqatar

Contents Issue 8: Q2 2013

Slides

1. Recent developments in the MENA region

• New data on MENA Internet usage

• 5th Arab Social Media Report published

• Media Use: Social networks (and the web) are key sources of news

• Massive mobile growth in the last 10 years

• Mobile increasingly important to get online

• In Brief: Content News

• In Brief: Social Media News, Facebook Special

• In Brief: Technology News

• Spotlight: 5th Arab Youth Survey

3-18

4-5

6-8

9-10

11

12

13

14

15

16-18

2. Wider Internet & Society Research

• Social Impact: Our constant need to be connected

• Youth Research: Young people are the most likely to “showroom”

• Emerging Technology: In Q4 2012, more tablets shipped than PCs

• Internet Governance: “Project Loon” launched

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20

21

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3. Coming Up – three emerging issues

• Social Impact: Disruptive Technologies

• Technology: How “Connected” Cars could save lives

• Internet Governance: Facial Recognition for device security?

24-28

25-26

27

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1. Recent developments in the MENA region

Images: http://bit.ly/16HEQbS , http://bit.ly/127waXW , http://bit.ly/OA8BW7

Includes: - New data on MENA Internet usage

- 5th Arab Social Media Report published

- Media use: Social networks are key sources of news

- Massive mobile growth in the last 10 years

- Mobile increasingly important to get online

- Spotlight: 5th Arab Youth Survey

1.1 New data on MENA Internet usage (via Ipsos Gemius)

A new study covering 11 MENA countries (KSA, UAE, Urban Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan,

Morocco, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Syria) offered fresh insights in online behaviors in

the region.

Key insights include:

Source: http://slidesha.re/10NNrbV

1. 39.2m of MENA’s 102.8m adults (15+) are online.

2. Penetration is highest in the GCC (KSA, UAE,

Kuwait, Oman, Qatar) at 61%. In North Africa

(Urban Egypt, Morocco) and Levant (Lebanon,

Syria, Jordan, Iraq) it stands at 30%.

3. UAE at 71% has the highest Internet Penetration.

Iraq at 23% the lowest.

4. Saudi Arabia has the biggest Internet Population

at 8.5m. Oman the lowest at 0.5m.

5. 87% access the Internet from home.

34% from work. 8% public places.

Image: http://bit.ly/19Em9Yx

Noteworthy country level insights included:

Images: http://bit.ly/14z0ZYK , http://bit.ly/14bNwap , http://bit.ly/18hOIgq , http://bit.ly/14Z9mia

UAE: E-mail consumption, Real Estate and

Business related websites have the highest reach, page views,

visits, and time spent per visit compared to other countries.

Jordan: Highest reach of social networking websites.

Highest reach & time spent per visit for games and news

websites.

Egypt: Both religion and dating websites are in the top 5

categories that Egyptians visit and spend time on

per each visit.

Music websites have the highest reach, page views, visits, and

time spent per visit compared to other countries.

KSA: Finance & stock market, Recruitment, Videos

and Governmental websites have the highest

reach, page views, visits, and time spent per

visit compared to other countries.

1.2 5th Arab Social Media Report (Dubai School of Government)

Growth continues across the main social networks. - Saudi Arabia dominates Twitter in MENA.

- Egypt dominates MENA Facebook usage.

The total number of Facebook users in the Arab world as of end

of May 2013 is 54,552,875 up from 45,194,452 in June 2012. All data via: http://bit.ly/1716MZ2

Usage of social networks in Arabic continues to grow

Facebook is still the most popular social network in MENA.

UAE is MENA’s most socially networked country.

LinkedIn now has 4,716,515 users in the Arab world.

Up from 4,294,484 in June 2012.

It is still some way behind Facebook and Twitter in user numbers.

1.3 Arab Media Usage Study (Northwestern University in Qatar)

- Social networks (and the web) are key sources of news

- But TV and interpersonal sources also remain important

Source: PowerPoint of Northwestern University in Qatar's new Arab Media Use survey. http://bit.ly/19RCGuW

Data suggested respondents

felt that quality of news

reporting in the region had

improved in the past two

years. TO ADD

“While respondents across the Arab

world are pleased with journalistic

progress in their region over the

past two years, they demur

somewhat when asked to rate

the reliability of news they

receive from TV, in newspapers,

online and on radio. “

http://bit.ly/17iNZbH

1.4 Massive mobile growth in the last 10 years (GSMA)

From 19m connections in 2002 to 391m in 2012.

• The GSMA noted this growth - an 32 per cent annual average over the past 10 years

– was the second highest growth rate globally after sub-Saharan Africa.

• Looking ahead they called for more spectrum to be made available, noting:

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“…mobile broadband connections across the Arab States are expected to increase by a staggering

255 per cent by 2017, rising from 40 million in 2011 to 142 million… Mobile broadband

connections have already outstripped fixed-line connections by over 350 per cent.”

1.5 Mobile increasingly important to get online

Analysys Masson's survey of mobile Internet users

in 2012–2013 in the Middle East and Africa (MEA)

also emphasized the importance – and impact – of

mobile broadband connections.

http://bit.ly/11nnWz9

GSMA Report: http://bit.ly/11nnWz9

“87% of surveyed mobile

Internet users use a mobile

phone as the main means to

connect to the Internet…”

The GSMA noted that:

“Eleven countries in

the region rank

above the world

average in mobile

web browsing.”

SwYVK14bit.ly/http://Phone image:

1.6 In Brief: Content News

http://www.infotimes.org/ bills itself as

the Middle East’s first dedicated data

journalism website – current efforts

are specializing in Arabic infographics.

Ima

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: http

://bit.ly

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ax

Yahoo! Maktoob has announced the debut of two

new web series focused on entertainment and

celebrity news for the Middle East: OMG! Nujoom in

Arabic, and OMG! Now in English. http://bit.ly/14XdCA9

Online portal dubizzle entered the

content creation space with the

launch of its first ever web series

and the formation of a content

platform in Egypt: http://bit.ly/1679wXQ

Elmadinah, is a MENA orientated city

simulation game “where you will be able to

build your city of dreams and develop it from

the ground up. As a virtual mayor, find the right

balance between economic development of

your city, population and attractiveness.”

http://bit.ly/18hEmxd

Rapid growth for Facebook in

MEA anticipated to continue

According to new estimates from eMarketeer, MEA (NB incl. all of Africa, not just MENA) will be amongst the key growth markets for the social network in the next 4-5 years.

• Their findings noted that Facebook grew by 84.7% in 2011 and 47.2% in 2012. This rate of growth will drop dramatically, but it will still be their second fastest growing region 2013-17, only just behind the more populous Asia-Pacific.

• By 2017 they anticipate 82.6% of MEA Internet users will be on the network once a month, the highest global figure – considerably ahead of older markets, and just ahead of Latin America. (See: Left)

• With 318.9m Facebook users in MEA by 2017, this is almost double the MEA’s 167.9m expected monthly users by the end of 2013.

http://bit.ly/145sLMu

1.7 In Brief: Social Media - Facebook Special

1.8 In Brief: Technology News

First GCC produced “anti-distraction” app for drivers

“Salamtek” (meaning Your Safety) is a free Android app which

blocks “distractions” from smart phones like phone calls,

messages and alerts when you drive above a certain speed.

The application was designed by the Qatar Mobility

Innovations Center (QMIC). Download at: http://bit.ly/11LubIL

Egypt offline

In late March the Egyptian

military arrested three

scuba divers accused of

cutting an undersea

Internet cable off the

coast of Alexandria. The

arrests followed a series

of disruptions to Internet

services. http://bit.ly/YLkjhv

c.40% of mobile

users in the

Middle East and

Africa have fallen

victim to mobile

cybercrime,

according to a

new study by

Norton / Symantec H/T:

http://bit.ly/10hA0zP

Google replaced the term

"Palestinian Territories" with

"Palestine" on www.google.ps page,

following the UN’s decision to award

Palestine observer status last year.

1.9 Spotlight: Arab Youth Survey (ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller)

Discernible changes in ICT habits and attitudes.

The Top 10 Findings are listed (right,) but

perhaps the two topline findings most of

interest to our Digital Digest readers are:

9. News consumption is falling and

newspaper readership is hardest hit - News interest has waned as events of the Arab

Spring recede, but Middle East youth continue to

rely on TV as their main source of news

10. Social media is becoming

increasingly influential - More young Arabs are getting their news from

social media while trust in websites and social

media as reliable news sources has risen sharply

from 2012

Sources: • http://bit.ly/139GgyY and http://bit.ly/19EbHAd

• http://bit.ly/13946cS

The 5th annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey surveyed 3,000 Arab men and

women aged 18-24 across UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, Iraq, Egypt,

Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Yemen (during Dec 2012- Jan 2013).

Other Top 10 Findings

1. Majority of Arab youth believe that “our best days

are ahead of us”

2. Arab youth have more national pride since the

Arab Spring

3. Fair pay remains the top priority of Arab youth

4. Home ownership is increasingly important

5. Rising living costs continues to be the top

concern among Middle East youth

6. Civil unrest and lack of democracy are the

biggest barriers facing the region

7. The UAE continues to be seen as a model nation

8. Among nations outside MENA, France viewed

most favorably by Arab youth

Five further things to note

• News sources: social media and online are rapidly rising. TV is holding steady. Use of

traditional media news sources such as radio and newspapers are declining rapidly.

• Trust in news sources: Even though TV news consumption is holding steady, trust in

TV is declining. Whereas trust in news from websites - and in particular social networks

- are growing fast.

• Internet habits: there’s not a lot of difference between what young people in the GCC

and in non-GCC countries do online. Listening to music is the most popular activity.

• Almost 50% of young people read blogs: mostly from their own country.

• There’s not much consumption of blogs from other MENA countries of the West.

Fashion is the top topic (52%). Tech is 4th (31%) most popular.

Images: http://bit.ly/139GgyY

• Twitter and Facebook

behaviors are fairly constant:

people typically follow, or are

friends with, people they know.

Usually from their own country

(90%+ although c.50% also

follow / are friends with people

in MENA).

Selection of key charts

2. Wider research related to ICT and Society

Images: http://bit.ly/17uFdYC , http://bit.ly/1bID9vZ , http://bit.ly/1cCyxrv

Includes: - Social Impact: Our constant need to be connected

- Youth Research: Young people are the most likely to showroom

- Emerging Technology: More tablets shipped than PCs

- Internet Governance: “Project Loon” launched

2.1 Social Impact: Our constant need to be connected Children and Adults finding it hard to switch off

And smartphone users interact with their

phone ~150x a day…

Source: KPCP's Mary Meeker Internet Trends 2013 -

http://slidesha.re/11aymBx

15% of 10-15 year olds think they

will be left out if they are not

constantly on social media

Age % who say these use these sites

10 39%

11 43%

12 54%

13 73%

14 79%

15 80%

Research from

Mintel found that

60 % of those

aged 10-15 say

that they use a

social

networking

website or app. Read more:

http://bit.ly/13NDk7Q

2.2 Youth Research

Young people are the most likely to showroom

“Showrooming” means going into a store to test or look at a product, before buying it elsewhere.

Data from TNS shows it a global phenomenon, increasingly linked to mobile usage.

Read more:

http://bit.ly/12HuVTf

Young people lead the way with combining

showrooming and mobile usage.

Ima

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http

://bit.ly

/17iY

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2.3 Emerging Technology In Q4 2012, for the first time, more tablets shipped than PCs

Image: http://bit.ly/15iHF2D

2.4 Internet Governance: “Project Loon” launched

• “Project Loon is a network of

balloons traveling on the edge

of space, designed to connect

people in rural and remote

areas, help fill coverage gaps,

and bring people back online

after disasters…

• …Project Loon balloons float

in the stratosphere, twice as

high as airplanes and the

weather…

• … People connect to the

balloon network using a

special Internet antenna

attached to their building…”

Text: http://bit.ly/19Bt2wa

Image: http://bit.ly/19J0b9d

Graphic: http://bit.ly/11FTufh

Google seeking to provide connectivity to the two-thirds of the

world’s population who currently don’t have Internet access.

3. Emerging Issues

Images: http://bit.ly/14FpSll , http://bit.ly/okcmXS , http://bit.ly/11VKrYN

Includes: - Social Impact: Disruptive Technologies

- How “Connected” Cars could save lives

- Will Facial Recognition soon be used for device security?

3.1 Social Impact

“Not every emerging technology will alter

the business or social landscape—but

some truly do have the potential to disrupt

the status quo, alter the way people live

and work, and rearrange value pools…

…Some technologies detailed in

the report have been gestating for

years and thus will be familiar.

Others are more surprising…

…We estimate that, together, applications

of the 12 technologies discussed in the

report could have a potential economic

impact between $14 trillion and $33 trillion

a year in 2025…

Source: http://bit.ly/12NqA0d

Disruptive Technologies: McKinsey study identifies the

12 technologies which could

transform life, business and

the global economy

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3.2 Technology

How “Connected” Cars could save lives

One of McKinsey’s 12 Disrupters are autonomous, or semi-autonomous cars. (We mentioned Google’s

self drive cars – and their lack of accidents - in Vol 3.) GSMA and PwC recently argued connected cars

could save one in nine lives through emergency calling services

The European Union

seems to agree having

recently mandated -

that from October 2015

- all new models of

passenger cars and

light duty vehicles must

be fitted with the “eCall”

system (explained right).

It is estimated that eCall

could save up to 2,500

lives a year and reduce

emergency services

response time by 50% in

the countryside and 60% in

built-up areas.

3.3 Internet Governance Will Facial Recognition soon be used for device security?

“Pulling faces could become the next type of password used to unlock Android

phones and tablets,” says Emma Woodley on ITProPortal, noting “Google filed a

patent for the technology last year, but it has only just been published.”

Phone Image: http://bit.ly/13SuHJ6 Android Image: http://bit.ly/16g4HaI

“Google has previously suggested that specific facial

expressions could prevent their existing Face

Unlock system being hoodwinked by photos.

This is following last year's introduction of a "liveness

check" that required users to blink at their device to

prevent the program from being fooled by a

photograph.”

Although the article notes that even this security was

broken by researchers in tests.

Read more: http://bit.ly/16IRDM3

•Thank you for reading.

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•Issues and our monthly Tech Top 10:

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Disclaimer: all content in these slides is in the public domain and referenced so that you can read the original sources.

Any omissions, errors or mistakes are mine, and mine alone.

rassed@ict.gov.qa: Contact us

Twitter: @ictqatar