The Ilham Winter 2010

14 THE ILHAM A Journal of Contemporary Digital Policy THE MEANSTOTURN AN IDEA INTO PROFIT EEntrepreneurs rarely have the means to turn their concepts into profitable businesses. Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak built the first Apple computer in their garage from parts purchased at a local Radio Shack store.The parts existed.The innovation was brought to bear through the vision of Wosniak and Jobs.Yet, it took capital to bring that vision to market. Microsoft was nothing more than a corporate shell created by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer until IBM – the huge, mainframe manufacturer – recognized the value of a computer operating system (OS) and agreed to finance the development and installation of Gates’ OS in “personal computers” – a whole new concept just a few decades ago. The world is full of innovative concepts and new ideas.We can see these ideas put in to practice daily on the world wide web.The idea of a personal web log (blog) didn’t exist in the last century. Today, blogs are common.Anyone with something to say, and the will to say it, can claim a small piece of digital turf and become an innovator. So, why does the Middle East lag behind other countries in the development of commerce, both brick-and-mortar and web-based enterprise.Through the ages, Islam has been at the epicenter of entrepreneurship, providing: • The ability to pool capital resources through institutions like banks and private lenders (the first venture capitalists) • The ability to provide an educated work force from the ranks of numerous, respected centers of learning in the Near and Middle East a long history of engagement across borders • The cultural and religious values to create long-lasting commercial relationships based on Islamic laws and traditions • The ability to adapt to a variety of cultures through commercial engagement • The business acumen to maintain commercial viability and generate profits • The desire to engage other cultures for mutual benefit based on strict Islamic laws ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS ANDTHE GLOBAL ECONOMY As a member of the Department of Economics at prestigious Duke University in North Carolina,U.S.,Timur Kuran published an insightful analysis of the current state of commerce in the Middle East in a treatise calledThe Scale of Entrepreneurship in Middle Eastern History:Inhibitive Roles of Islamic Institutions. In this academic analysis,Kuran carefully details the wide acceptance and practice of commerce for centuries until the Middle Ages when the Muslim Empire collapsed and the region returned to nation states ruled by tribal leaders,a form of government that has lasted until modern times. The questionTimur Kuran attempts to answer in identifying“Inhibitive Roles of Islamic Institutions” is complex:Why has a culture that has sought engagement with others throughout its history,and why has a culture that has valued and encouraged entrepreneurship,now falling further behind as the rest of the world advances through the use of increasingly sophisticated technology?