DUBAI, 7 September 2003 — Arab teenagers and women make little use of the Internet, described as “a worrisome sign” by a study due to be published next month by a major Arabic-language digital library.
Alwaraq.com, based in the United Arab Emirates and one of the largest Arabic digital libraries, carried out the web survey of 6,300 participants this summer in an effort to persuade governments and companies of the importance of Arabic cultural and scientific websites.
“A very low percentage of Arab teenagers (are) among the users of Arabic cultural websites,” the study found, noting “a low usage of the Internet by Arab women.”
Of the participants, 12 percent were aged between 11 and 20 years, 39 percent were in the 21-30 age bracket and 29 percent were aged between 31 and 40 years. Just 18 percent of participants were women.
The study, which is to be published in October by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia also bemoaned a shortage of Arabic-language search engines.
