Kultur und IT -Einfluss der Kultur auf die Verbreitung der Informationstechnologie in der Arabischen Welt

The starting point for this thesis was the provocative conclusion reached in 2002 by the initial Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It stated that the countries of the Arab world were deficient with respect to the spread of information technology (IT), ranking behind even the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. This statement was followed by comments from the chairperson of the AHDRs’ advisory board: “If these deficits persist, the Arabs will not be able to make it”. At the time, many commentators were of the opinion that the Arab world was at a standstill, despite various efforts to the contrary, and that they would miss a key opportunity with IT and the chance to participate in globalization if no significant changes were to occur in the years to come. On close consideration, it has been suggested that the Arab culture (including religion and language) is a significant factor impeding the adoption of IT in the Arab world. Several approaches have been used in this thesis to explore the cultural theme in detail. Central to this are two empirical studies (one quantitative, the other qualitative), both of which are concerned with Egypt; in this context both IT students and representatives of successful software businesses were interviewed. Furthermore, an in-depth examination of the AHDRs, their authors and their reception has been conducted. Hence, this thesis addresses the relations between culture and the adoption of IT in the Arab world. It is based on the potential of an intercultural understanding and on the assumption that the legitimacy of culture-specific traditions is open to scientific discourse. The conclusion is that culture is no hindrance to the adoption of IT in the Arab world. Rather, it seems that an interaction of a bidirectional and multicausal nature is at work. Moreover, it appears that Islam could even further the diffusion and adoption of IT. Furthermore, the present study suggests that the Arab world is by no means at a standstill concerning the acquisition of IT but has rather experienced an upswing in the past five years and that Egypt is currently even positioning itself successfully as a new offshore IT center.