The Ilham Winter 2010

17THE ILHAM A Journal of Contemporary Digital Policy How can Government come to the aid of the would-be business owner, or to the person whose vision requires capital to change the world? 1. Provide a strong education in technology.The nation of India writes more lines of computer code than any country in the world. It has also become the outsourcing choice for technical support for numerous companies located throughout Europe and North America. In fact, the region in India around the city of Bangalore is known as the Technology Crescent. 2. Encourage political stability to support entrepreneurs. Government support of commerce will, ultimately, benefit the government and the people represented by the government. 3. Educate the younger generation in the use of digital technology.This is the clear future of commerce, even though theW3 is still in its infancy.The use of computer technology should be made a part of school curricula from the earliest grades through the university level. 4. Create agencies to provide capital and business support to new businesses. 5. Encourage global engagement.The Muslim world can no longer afford to reject outside innovation. It’s a reality and, through acceptance of global engagement, the region more quickly becomes an important and influential part of the world economy. 6. Provide unfettered access to theW3 and the commercial benefits derived from this access. 7. Change perceptions.The “us” against “them” mentality that creates secularism is not conducive to the engagement required to bring a concept to commercial reality. 8. Develop the requisite digital infrastructure to keep pace or even outpace others in global commerce 9. Create more open and transparent Government to inspire and encourage the innate innovation and entrepreneurship of its citizens. 10. Embrace the new online outsourcing models being established on the Web by identifying and focusing capital to create specific strategic sectors to cater to this new demand. Are these easy tasks? Indeed, not. Changing deeply encultured beliefs is never easy, but we’ve seen it take place in China,Viet Nam, Japan and other cultures that rejected “outsider” technology.We know that attitudes can be changed. The best hope for change lies with the younger people in Middle Eastern societies – those willing to embrace modern technology and improve on it, those willing to engage businesses across boundaries.The word wide web has eliminated national boundaries. If the Middle and Near East wish to engage the world, it will occur through the use of technology. It will occur through the development of web-based businesses – entrepreneurial endeavors that create a solid merchant or middle class.This is the glue that holds any society together. The longer the countries of the region wait, the more difficult it becomes to catch up.Thus, there is urgency in implementing changes in the accessibility of technology. If the Middle East wants to maintain its standing in the world community, now is the time to take the steps required to move nations into the new millennium. The word wide web is here to stay.And like the trade caravans that crisscrossed the region centuries ago, digital, web-based technologies are the trade routes of today. It’s time we engaged the world through technological means. It is the future of Middle East commercial development and growth. It is the future of our young people who will write a new and better future for themselves and for the world.