Source: Al-Wafd Newspaper
Prof. Dr. Ali Mohammed Al-Khouri
The world is currently undergoing structural transformations with the rise of digitalization, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data as new infrastructures in the global economy. According to these transformations, a country’s position in the international system and value chains is no longer determined solely by traditional capital, but also by its ability to acquire and develop these technologies.
In light of this, the Arab world finds itself in an ambiguous situation; it combines a young human energy and natural reserves that qualify it for broad opportunities, but it still faces a clear gap between its policies on “digital transformation” and its actual ability to build technological and educational systems that keep pace with this transformation and turn it into a strategic gain.
At the level of digital infrastructure, the data reveals a mixed picture. While the average internet penetration rate in several Arab countries exceeded 87% of the population in 2023, with some Gulf states reaching near or even 100% penetration, other Arab regions still lag far behind, suffering from gaps in access and service quality. Simultaneously, research reports indicate that spending on research and development in most Arab countries hovers around 0.5% of GDP, compared to an average of 2-4% in advanced economies. This suggests that the existing digital infrastructure is not supported by a sufficient knowledge and research base to build a genuine knowledge economy. This imbalance between the widespread availability of communication tools and weak investment in knowledge makes a significant portion of digital activity more consumer-driven than productive.
The gap becomes even more pronounced when we consider education and the labor market. According to estimates by the International Labour Organization, the youth unemployment rate in Arab countries reached approximately 28 percent in 2023, the highest globally, with a significant proportion of young people simultaneously out of work, education, and training. These figures reveal a failure to align education systems with the demands of the digital economy. Curricula in many countries still rely on rote memorization, while the markets of the future require skills in analysis, critical thinking, programming, cybersecurity, and big data management. As the gap widens between what education offers and what the economy needs, skilled individuals are forced to emigrate, while human potential remains untapped, unable to contribute to development and production.
On a political economy level, this translates into an underutilized position on the map of the digital revolution. International reports indicate that the comprehensive adoption of digital technologies in the Middle East and North Africa could increase per capita GDP by more than forty percent, create millions of new jobs, and reduce chronic unemployment, provided policies are well-designed. However, this potential is hampered by limited spending on research and innovation, a weak legislative environment, and a reluctance to transition from a rentier state or resource-based economy to a knowledge-based and skills-driven one.
Given this context, the “Arab digital divide” cannot be reduced to a lack of modern communication networks or technological infrastructure; the issue is far more complex, as it relates to the ability of the state and society to develop knowledge, management, and education systems, which have become the defining tools for a country’s position in the global economic structure. If universities and schools in the region continue to graduate generations unprepared to navigate a world governed by algorithms and data, the result will be a widening gap and a decline in the capacity to produce knowledge and transform technology into productive value.
However, an alternative path remains open. Arab states, if they adopt far-sighted policies, can redirect their investments from physical infrastructure to “mental infrastructure”—that is, human capital as the bearer of knowledge that can be transformed into a globally competitive resource. This requires a comprehensive reform vision that redesigns curricula based on 21st-century skills, links universities with research centers and industry, and integrates lifelong learning into the labor market structure. It also necessitates gradually increasing spending on research and development to levels approaching the global average, and establishing incubators and accelerators to attract local and returning talent, providing them with a genuine knowledge-making environment.
At the policy level, this shift can be interpreted within the framework of political economy theories that view major technological moments as opening “historical windows” for the repositioning of regions within the global system. If the Arab world capitalizes on this moment, leveraging its large youth population and its existing digital infrastructure, it can move from the role of consumer and recipient to that of producer and contributor to technology creation, transforming from an import-based economy to an innovative one within digital value chains, whether in software development, content creation, or cross-border knowledge services.
Conversely, if the region remains trapped in piecemeal reforms that fail to address the root causes of the problem, and if it does not develop its educational and technological systems to keep pace with current transformations, the ongoing digital revolution will bypass it. In that case, the danger will not be limited to lost economic opportunities, but will extend to the formation of a new global division, where innovation and knowledge are produced in a small group of countries, while others depend on the output of the more powerful nations without playing a productive role. Artificial intelligence, data, and major platforms will then remain outside the Arab world, while Arab youth will remain trapped between unemployment within their own countries and limited, conditional opportunities abroad.
The responsibility of decision-makers and policymakers extends far beyond developing the education sector or modernizing digital infrastructure. The issue concerns the major choices that will determine the region’s position in a world governed by knowledge and technological power. The progress of Arab states depends on their ability to build a knowledge base; a base that produces researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, and establishes companies capable of generating technological solutions that respond to societal needs and address its rapidly evolving challenges. Educational institutions must transform into spaces for cultivating the skills required for the new economy and establish a culture of innovation and lifelong learning, so that education and technology can move from the level of development initiatives and programs to the level of pillars upon which Arab power is built.
