Fortunately, there is another Arab Spring going on alongside the drama in the streets of Cairo and Damascus. It is an explosion of start-ups by young Arab techies. Ground zero is a complex of buildings here in the heart of Amman. The site was built to be the headquarters of the Jordanian Army, but, at the last minute, King Abdullah ordered the army elsewhere, renamed the complex “The Business Park,” and declared it a special economic zone. The multistory army buildings now carry big signs that say “Microsoft,” “H.P.,” “Samsung” and “Cisco.” But it’s the building labeled “Oasis500” that really got my attention.
It’s where Lawrence of Arabia meets Mark Zuckerberg.
Oasis500 is an Arab-owned high-tech accelerator, looking to nurture 500 new start-ups in Jordan. It has dangled seed money for any Jordanian or Arab who wants to create a new company here, and, like a flash rainstorm in the desert, Oasis500 has already helped dozens of Arabic-content Internet start-ups to blossom practically overnight. Only 1 percent of global Web content is in Arabic today, but 75 percent of it is produced in Jordan. The Arab world needs to create millions of nongovernment jobs to satisfy its youth bulge. Alas, though, there are no employees without employers — high-I.Q. risk-takers ready to start companies — and that is what Oasis500 is trying to multiply, fast. Without this Arab Spring, the other Arab Spring will never last. There will be no middle class to sustain it.
by Thomas Friedman (read more)
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