Omar Christidis: There's no reason why the next big thing shouldn't emerge from the Arab World

mediaME talks to Omar Christidis, Vice President of IBAG and the Founder of ArabNet, about the region’s web industry event, the aim of the event, the obstacles entrepreneurs face in the Arab World and the ways of which ArabNet 2011 can bridge people together to solve these problems and find permanent and effective solutions.

Q. Kindly introduce yourself and your company IBAG.

I am 28 years old, grew up in Beirut, did my BA and MBA at Yale, worked at Booz & Co and I am now the Vice President of IBAG and the Founder of ArabNet.

IBAG is an events management, marketing and promotion company founded in 2000, with more than a decade of experience in crafting professional events. IBAG has organized conferences and exhibitions across the region in a range of sectors-from Islamic finance, infrastructure and construction, to waste management.

Q. Tell us what motivated you to launch ArabNet last year, and whether or not you were surprised by how well it has been received, and how this motivates you now going into this year’s event.

ArabNet emerged as a result of two things, first is the fact that the Arab web market has been fragmented, and many experienced industry professionals weren't connected with their peers in other countries. Second, there has also been a disconnection between the young entrepreneurs, who own ideas and startups, and the investors and business leaders who have the experience, resources and relationships that would help those entrepreneurs succeed. That is when I realized that those people need to be brought up and gathered in one place.

I started talking to people about ArabNet in October 2009, about 6 months prior to the first event, and I received very positive feedback from the first moment. The time was ripe for the industry to get together, and this became clear as the momentum and excitement about the event built up, and people from across the region—professionals and entrepreneurs—got involved. The tremendous success of ArabNet 2010 confirmed that the web industry needs a platform—a place to gather, exchange information and build relationships.

Q. Tell us about ArabNet’s performance as an event last year.

I'll answer with some statistics about ArabNet 2010:

Over 500 people from 13 countries across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley have attended
More than 2,000 unique users visited the Live microsite; allowing users to stream the conference in real-time, as well as monitor and participate in the twitter conversation and SMS voting
40 Ambassadors, 11 Supporting Partners, 12 Official Bloggers, and 20 Media Partners, helped spread the word about the event across the region
20 entrepreneurs pitched their ideas and startups and connected with investors and media
Leading global and regional companies, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo!Maktoob, Cisco, Aramex, Bank Audi, TwoFour54, National Net Ventures and many others spoke at the event and sponsored it
Over 10,000 tweets in the two days of the conference, making #ArabNetME a global trending topic on twitter
Coverage by regional and international media, including CNN, Al-Jazeera, and others

Since last year, one of our startups has secured funding, one is in late stage financing negotiations, two are being incubated, and one is cash-flow positive and growing and hiring very quickly!

Q. As you prepare for the second edition of ArabNet, what main improvements and additions have you planned for this year’s event?

We have ambitious plans for ArabNet 2011, which will be a 4-day festival of digital, to take place in Beirut on March 22-25.

The event will feature:

A Developer Day, dedicated to cutting-edge technical discussions
A two-day forum that will include successful elements from last year, like the Ideathon and Startup Demo, as well as new discussion formats, such as one-on-one interviews, in-depth workshops and rapid-fire Q&A sessions
More than 80 speakers from leading regional and global dot-coms
A Community Day that will engage the general public in talks and workshops to raise awareness about the web industry

Q. What was the impact of the ArabNet Roadshow? Tell us about the countries you passed through, the response you got and how this grass-roots effort supports the event.

In preparation for the big conference in March 2011, ArabNet launched a first-of-its-kind initiative this year: the ArabNet RoadShow, an ambitious 3-week bus tour across the region to connect with the region's promising digital entrepreneurs. Our bus made stops in Damascus, Amman, Jeddah, Riyadh, Doha, Dubai and Cairo, and we held workshops to train and inspire entrepreneurs in each city we visited. To give you a big-picture sense of the RoadShow in numbers, we covered 4,381 km by bus, had more than 40 expert lawyers, investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders as speakers, and engaged more than 1,500 attendees in our workshops.

The RoadShow was really important for finding promising entrepreneurs, generating excitement about the web industry and creating a regional sense of community. It also allowed us to build relationships with leading corporations, universities, NGOs and governmental organizations that will participate in ArabNet and make it a diverse regional gathering.

Q. As a major influencer in the region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, what’s your personal opinion regarding the general state of Arab technology entrepreneurship today compared to other regions of the world? What makes our region different?

One of the powerful things about the web industry for me is that it’s a level playing field. The market is global, the barriers to entry and starting costs are low, and tech-savvy young people have a competitive advantage. There's no reason why the next big thing - Google, Facebook or GroupOn - shouldn't emerge from Lebanon, Jordan or Saudi Arabia.

The Arab internet sector is one of the fastest growing in the world, and between 2009-2014, Booz & Co expects broadband penetration to increase by an average of 60% per annum. Digital advertising spend (somewhere between 2% to 4% according to the agencies I've spoken to) is significantly below international benchmarks and is expected to grow rapidly. Booz estimates that it will reach $900 million by 2014. At the Abu Dhabi Media Summit in March 2010, Eric Schmidt declared the MENA region to be Google's fastest growing, both in the number of new users as well as revenues.

Q. Could you generally tell us about the typical obstacles that stand in the way of Arab technology entrepreneurship? And which countries are effectively tackling these issues with specific initiatives?

There are a number of challenges that we need to tackle to better equip Arab entrepreneurs. The first hurdle is the limited seed funding and support/mentorship available for entrepreneurs who are just starting off. This is beginning to be addressed by initiatives like Meydan and Oasis500 in Jordan, and the recently launched Flat6 in Cairo. Beyond that, there are various cultural barriers, including risk aversion and the need for financial security; the influence of family and the importance of family businesses; the significance of traditional jobs for social standing. There's also the challenge of data - there's not enough statistical information about the web industry publicly available for entrepreneurs to understand and analyze the opportunities around them. At ArabNet, we're working with our partners and speakers to release fresh data to help address this problem.

Across the region, government, NGOs and universities are establishing programs to promote tech entrepreneurship. In Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), has recently launched the Saudi Startup Community to boost digital entrepreneurs in the Kingdom. Similarly, in Doha, ictQATAR is in the process of launching a comprehensive incubator program focused on digital content projects. In Jordan, the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship is a leading NGO working to strengthen the ecosystem of entrepreneurship. In the UAE, Dubai Internet City runs regular DemoCamps for web entrepreneurs to present their new startups and connect with investors, and TwoFour54 is building a hub for media and content entrepreneurship in Abu Dhabi.

Q. Could you share with us some information regarding the main supporters and sponsors of ArabNet 2011 and regarding some of the main speakers and any major initiatives to be announced at the event?

ArabNet 2011 is being held under the patronage of his excellency, Michel Sulaiman, the President of Lebanon, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Lebanon, and partnership with Audi Bank, Aramex, Google, National Net Ventures, TwoFour54 and MBC Group.

ArabNet this year will address hot topics in the web industry, including group buying, mobile apps, streaming/rich media, and social media marketing. Some of the top new speakers this year include Peter Kellner, Co-Founder of Endeavor Global; Mike Butcher, Editor of TechCrunch Europe; Reshma Sohoni, CEO of Seedcamp, Abd Faisal Haq, Managing Director of Groupon Middle East.