Two new infographics have been released last week about social media and how it is effecting employment and entrepreneurship in the MENA region. The infographics were based on report produced by the Governance and Innovation Program (GIP) at the Dubai School of Government, in partnership with SAP MENA, who conducted a regional eight country survey to measure perceptions on the impact of social media usage on economic empowerment, employment and entrepreneurship in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The report aims to provide decision and policy makers as well as businesses leaders with answers to the following questions:
- What is the impact of social media growth on job creation, economic growth and support for entrepreneurship in the Arab region?
- How can governments adapt their developmental policies to this growth to better contribute to economic empowerment, citizen satisfaction and social inclusion?
- Can the emerging generation of empowered Arab youth translate into a sustainable culture of innovation?
Report Approach:
The report was produced by a combination of structured, Web-based questionnaires and focus group meetings that were carried out in the eight Arab countries mentioned above. The survey specifically examined the usage of social media and, specifically, perceptions about its impact on job creation, employment and entrepreneurship in the region.
The survey was conducted between March and May 2012, and included 4,754 respondents of which 331 (or 7%) identified themselves as entrepreneurs. The average survey response rate was 86.4 percent.
The survey respondents were chosen among Internet users according to a specific profile, which mirrored the demographic makeup of each country. Consequently, the typical respondent profile was a young professional (60% of respondents were between the ages of 18 and 30), primarily in the private sector (42% of respondents). The public sector (16%), the third sector (3%) and enterprise owners (7%) were also represented, along with university students (13%) and the unemployed (20%). The gender spilt was approximately 40/60 (female/male).
Additionally focus groups were conducted in Egypt, Kuwait and the UAE for further in depth exploration of survey responses in these countries. These meetings contributed to clarifying and contextualizing the overall picture, and adding anecdotal evidence to our findings.
Results: