Michael Slackman's article in today's @NYTimes poses some interesting questions about KAUST, its impact on Saudi society and indeed the future of the Kingdom. I've posted on KAUST recently, noting the progress it represents in its approach to curriculum and the classroom. (There are no departments, professors are given contracts instead of tenure, and most importantly, classes are Coed.) Slackman describes these as well, but questions their influence on society beyond the walls of the gated KAUST community. He cites the experience of Saudi Aramco (the company built KAUST, instead of the Ministry of Higher Education). Although Aramco has been present in the Kingdom nearly as long as anyone's been drilling oil there, its Western cultural norms do not transcend the walls of the Aramco compound.
As Slackman points out, there are many reasons for this, not least of which the conservative nature of Saudi society. It will be interesting to watch KAUST and its reception in Saudi Arabia. The question is whether this is the beginning of a revolution, evolution or just another walled garden.
Thanks to @LindaStone for a pointer to an excellent article in the National about KAUST - the King Abullah Unviersity of Science and Technology (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/).
I first learned about KAUST a few years ago, from a senior executive at Saudi Aramco. The school is intended to be the first indigenous, world-class, science and technology institution in the Arab States. Its goal is to address the serious issues in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere in the region) of the youth bulge (an enormous percentage of the Arab population is under the age of 20), the need to diversify economies, and the use of science and technology as a means to do just that, as well as to create more high-value jobs.
However, KAUST reaches beyond pure economics to culture shifts in several critical areas. King Abdullah chose to have Saudi Aramco build the university versus charging the Minister of Education with the task. That contravened the Saudi tradition of having clerics dictate curriculum as some of the conservative religious leaders made quite clear. (One cleric in particular, Sheikh al Shethri, made his complaints on Saudi television, and was promptly fired from his position by Royal Decree.)
Another, in some ways more groundbreaking change, is the introduction of COED classes. To those of us from the West that may seem very 19th century. To the Saudis this is an enormous change and questioned not just by the religious establishment but also by the average man-on-the-street.
Many Saudi scholars question whether this is too much, too fast. As my husband, @AmbassadorNed, a career diplomat who served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Saudi Arabia says, he hopes the King is not "getting out in front" of his people, who are very traditional and culturally conservative.
Whether or not you agree with the Saudi's or have empathy to their goals, you have to admit they put their money where their mouth is. With a $10B endowment they can do a lot to develop world-class programs and ingratiate themselves with the locals.
I think this is a welcome addition to the growing science and technology sector in the Arab States. The Arabic Digital Economy is nascent, with less than 1% of all online content in Arabic - less than the amount of online content in Czech. IT Ministries around the region are making headway in terms of incubators and entrepreneur programs. The problem they have is supply, not demand. They need to increase the number of local technology stars and catalyze the development of a vibrant, entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Beyond capital returns, the benefits to civil society are enormous. Every young Saudi or Egyptian who enjoys success as an entrepreneur is one less recruit for Al Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood. The President knows this, and made a point of highlighting the need to support the Arab technology sector in his June speech in Cairo.
Joe Nye called this kind of thing "soft power". Secretary Clinton calls it "smart power". Others may call it smart business - tapping into new markets that are ripe for the picking. Personally, I don't care what you call it, as long as it works!
Crowdspring posted the first of a two-part series on social media marketing tips for small businesses. A few weeks back they posted some guidelines for how to figure out whether social media can help your company (http://blog.crowdspring.com/2009/04/30/can-social-media-can-help-my-company/). These provide an excellent guide for how to evaluate and use social media.
I'd add to CloudProfile to their list of recommendations. It offers small businesses a "social media dashboard" - sort of a one-stop-shop for managing and monitoring your company in social media. And it provides an easy way to get online with a site that's very "search engine friendly" - taking advantage of techniques which make it easier for search engines to find and rank your site.
At the end of the day, for small businesses, it's all about building the business, getting customers and growing revenue. Tools like CloudProfile help take the mystery (and the effort) out of social media, so that you can focus on your business.
There's a wonderful article in today's NYTimes about the Palestinian version of Sesame Street. The article describes some of the nuanced issues that even a Muppet must balance. Beautifully written, it's at once uplifting and troubling. It's so sad that little children are subjected to the same political issues that vex their parents, and yet so hopeful that they may see beyond local strife to the common themes and aspirations of children worldwide. Congratulations to @daoudkuttab and his team for taking on these issues and mounting these wonderful productions!
Twitter has replaced the Yellow Pages for some chefs and their suppliers. An article by Chuck Sudo in today's Chicago Sun-Times highlights a new trend of restauranteurs and suppliers using social media to find customers and generate business.
"Carl Galvan, a sales representative at Supreme Lobster & Seafood in Villa Park, uses the messaging service Twitter to post photos of fish and other seafood Supreme is offering and to interact with chefs interested in placing orders based on those photos. Since Galvan started using Twitter four months ago, he estimates his sales have doubled."
Sudo notes that as technology has made communication easier and faster, a growing number of chefs and others in the food industry have taken to social media services such as Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves and their projects, interact with customers and fans, offer special promotions -- or just see what all the fuss is about.
Restaurants have long known that word-of-mouth referrals are critical for success. Social media provides another set of tools for generating and sustaining positive referrals.
Even paper-bound reviewers like @ZagatBuzz are getting into the social media game.
Services like @CloudProfile make it easier for local food and beverage companies to expand their reach and grow revenue. Leesburg Vintner (http://leesburgvintner.cloudprofile.com/) and The Four Firkins (http://fourfirkins.cloudprofile.com/) are two great examples but there are many others.
So next time you have a hankering for a cold brew or a great slice (or both) what will you do? Check out your friends tweets and yelps, or open the yellow pages?
