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ISSUE NO 57 IN SEARCH OF THE BUSINESS MODEL

NORTH AFRICA: THE IMPACT OF ARABIC URLs

Nearly 75,000 websites to date have registered an Arabic character URL address using any of several technologies now available to bypass the Latin character-based Internet domain name system. Most addresses were registered over the past six months, since the Dubai inaugural meeting of the Arabic Internet Names Consortium (AINC). A non-profit organisation based in Los Angeles, AINC comprises member companies offering unique Arabic domain name solutions. They meet periodically to agree on standardised address suffixes in Arabic, even as they fiercely compete to win a critical mass of registrants. A frontrunner has already emerged, increasing the likelihood that its technology will become the region’s standard.

Each company offers a unique Arabic character domain name which functions as an alternative route to a website with an existing Latin character address. The companies’ differing business models are informed by their respective technologies. Providers of a front-end or "keyword" solution, which re-maps Arabic characters into ASCII code, face the formidable task of uploading the requisite software application to individual users. Providers of a back-end solution need only sign on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and backbone providers, but risk total obsolescence if an incompatible solution wins the day.

The growing prevalence of Arabic character domain names stands to boost Internet adoption across the Middle East and North Africa. Viewed in a broader context, the "Arabisation" of web content and computer interface are major drivers of Internet uptake. New users will hail mainly from the region’s lower/middle-income classes, where foreign language mastery will remain a luxury but computers will become more easily accessible. A meaningful contingent will also hail from the more affluent sphere, particularly in the Gulf states, where proficiency in English is not necessarily a prerequisite to the maintenance of a comfortable standard of living. The latter group has had ample opportunity to use the Internet but been deterred by a relative lack of Arabic-language content.

Demand for Arabic character domain names is difficult to forecast because of a major wild card: non-Middle Eastern companies wishing to adopt an Arabic name in order to address the region’s Internet users. We forecast that the market for names within the Arab world alone will be worth $126m over the next two years. (This figure stems from our research on public- and private-sector Internet adoption and the ratio of subscribers to domain names. It also accounts for a likely reduction in domain name registration fees.) Forty-five percent of the demand will come from Egypt, the most populous Arab country, where the government aims to make dial-up Internet access available free by October 1^st 2001. Another 43% will come from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Most of the remaining 12% will be divided between North Africa and the Levant, with Morocco and Lebanon contributing the lion’s share.The major back-end solution provider for Arabic domain name registration is Nativenames.net, a California-based technology and Web development company. Its business model involves the installation of an Arabic platform add-on free of charge on the region’s ISP servers. A server needs to run Windows 2000 or Arabic-enabled Windows, or use version 9.1 of Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND), an implementation of the Domain Name System protocol.

The company authorises portals to sell its Arabic domain names at the standard rate of $35, from which it takes a considerable cut. In countries where there is a single backbone provider, such as Morocco and the UAE, Nativenames need only sign on the backbone provider; the ISPs and, in turn, their subscribers, automatically fall into place.

For the countries in which additional legwork is required, Nativenames is well on its way, having signed on all but two of Egypt’s 70-odd ISPs, three out of nine in Lebanon, and five out of six in Jordan. Saudi Arabia’s Internet backbone provider and regulator, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), has yet to sign on, making Saudi Arabia the company’s major blind spot. In the two months since its launch, Nativenames has registered more than 50,000 domain names.

Of the major players in the Arabic domain names space, Walid.com, with 13,000 names registered and counting, is the leading front-end (download) solution provider. I-dns.net offers a rival back-end solution and dominates the Chinese character domain name space. Its strategy of signing on ISPs to exclusivity agreements seems to be less effective in the Arab world, however.

All these solutions may become obsolete should the powerful non-profit Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) decide to reengineer the Internet’s base character set from ASCII to Unicode. This and other eventualities may lead the current Arabic domain name solutions players to try out creative spin-off ventures, enabling them to leverage their knowledge base in other applications. Such opportunities abound in an era of blurred linguistic, cultural and national boundaries. Western governments stand in immediate need of effective transliteration solutions for immigration and naturalisation databases.

Large pharmaceutical and food companies require advanced linguistic technologies to manage massive lists of contacts, clients and employees in Arab countries. In a region where the population will double over the next 25 years, the management of names and other proper nouns is a solid growth industry.

(source: Pyramid Research via DigAfrica)

A MOBILE HEALTH SOLUTION

Health Laboratory Services and the Eastern Cape Department of Health in South Africa have developed a mobile solution to improve healthcare delivery in rural areas.A pilot project just completed in the Transkei used wireless application protocol (WAP)-enabled cellphones to allow doctors to receive detailed laboratory test results on the same day that samples were sent off. This was reportedly a first for the area, which is not served by power or telephone lines. The doctors at the six clinics involved in the pilot project are now using the cellphones extensively.

"As well as SMS, the system also has a Web and WAP interface to enable data to be input and delivered to the various people that need it. This technology requires a minimal learning curve for the staff at the clinics and gives doctors and medical researchers full access to the statistical data. As the cellphones become more Internet-enabled, this solution will expand to provide an excellent solution for these types of applications.

"The beauty of the concept is that it is simple, cost-effective and easy to roll out. We are currently rolling out the project to Transkei’s roughly 400 clinics, and we hope to roll it out throughout SA by the end of this year."

(source: Financial Gazette via Dig Africa )

MICROSOFT FUNDS WEB-BASED EDUCATION COMPANY

Microsoft has joined a US$48 million investment round for Blackboard, a company that provides software for online education providers.

(source: http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2001/0104170857.asp )

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