Why Saudi Arabia Might Be The Next Silicon Valley(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Why Saudi Arabia Might Be The Next Silicon Valley
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/13/keen-on-why-saudi-arabia-might-be-the-next-silicon-valley/
4 comments
You would be surprised.
Between the 70s and 00s thousands and thousands of Westerners moved to Saudi Arabia to work in these industries:
- Oil - Defence - Aerospace
And they managed just fine for decades. In fact, there are still loads out there. Brits, Americans, Aussies, Italians, South Africans, Dutch, New Zealanders, Canadians. All of these are common nationalities to have emigrated to Saudi Arabia. Mostly, they lived in walled-off compounds which had some of their own rules or ways of working.
Source: I was born there and lived there for 12 years. I am British. Maybe I will write about this: http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787
Between the 70s and 00s thousands and thousands of Westerners moved to Saudi Arabia to work in these industries:
- Oil - Defence - Aerospace
And they managed just fine for decades. In fact, there are still loads out there. Brits, Americans, Aussies, Italians, South Africans, Dutch, New Zealanders, Canadians. All of these are common nationalities to have emigrated to Saudi Arabia. Mostly, they lived in walled-off compounds which had some of their own rules or ways of working.
Source: I was born there and lived there for 12 years. I am British. Maybe I will write about this: http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787
About 100k westerners according to Wikipedia - not a large percentage at all. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but those compounds basically hire their own security and ignore several SA religious laws. SA isn't yet a business-friendly environment for westerners, and that goes twice for Americans. Rather, some westerners are doing business in spite of a hostile environment. I would love to read about your experience and thoughts as someone who's been there, though.
I just don't see what SA brings besides the money. The industries quoted elsewhere are already existing. That isn't to say pockets of engineers might go there, but it just seems unlikely. How many uber-smart people target any of the cities listed?
My money would be on Abu Dhabi, but even then it's a longshot.
My money would be on Abu Dhabi, but even then it's a longshot.
Sorry, but Saudi Arabia being the next Silicon Valley is the second most ridiculous thing I`ve heard today,
(The most ridiculous being http://rt.com/usa/nsa-review-group-clapper-445/ )
Silicon Valley is what it is, because some of the most brilliant people from all over the world migrate there in order to collaborate and built cool stuff.
I doubt that enough smart people would migrate to a region where they, their wife or their daughters could be imprisoned for being raped. (http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2013/07/18/norwegia...)
Silicon Valley is what it is, because some of the most brilliant people from all over the world migrate there in order to collaborate and built cool stuff.
I doubt that enough smart people would migrate to a region where they, their wife or their daughters could be imprisoned for being raped. (http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2013/07/18/norwegia...)
I have known people who worked in Saudi Arabia and enjoyed it. I had a consulting job a few years ago: the customers were two university professors in Saudi Arabia who paid me to remotely tutor their daughter who was a student studying Java, semantic web, etc. I did everything remotely using Skype and it was an interesting experience. BTW, the daughter spoke highly of their culture and country - she was really proud of it. I don't like the idea of women not having fully equal rights, but I kept quiet about that since there is no reason to disrespect someone else's culture if they seem happy with it.
Lol.
As Bill Gates puts it "Saudi Arabia [is] an example of why [he] believes limiting the rights women can hinder economic growth"
"Education is bad in the middle east" so there's an opening, hmmm same in many parts of the western world yet the real silicon valley has yet to crack this one.
Most of his examples are copies of western ideas localised.
To me there real point here is there's a opening in localising software, once silicon valley cracks this idea it'll really take off.
I'm also not sure he ever even mentions 'Saudi Arabia'
As Bill Gates puts it "Saudi Arabia [is] an example of why [he] believes limiting the rights women can hinder economic growth"
"Education is bad in the middle east" so there's an opening, hmmm same in many parts of the western world yet the real silicon valley has yet to crack this one.
Most of his examples are copies of western ideas localised.
To me there real point here is there's a opening in localising software, once silicon valley cracks this idea it'll really take off.
I'm also not sure he ever even mentions 'Saudi Arabia'
-Saudi Arabia is one of the least welcoming countries in the world for foreigners.[1]
-Saudi Arabians are on average far less racially tolerant. Don't expect to see a SF-style mixing pot without conflict.[2]
-The religious laws conflict sharply with US culture and belief, and that goes twice for SF. Homosexual acts, for example, are punishable by the death penalty.[3] Non-muslims cannot worship in public, etc.
-Women cannothold certain jobs, including engineering jobs.[4]
Saudi Arabia may be the next Silicon Valley, but only for people near the Arabian peninsula who will have an easier time adapting. Westerners will continue to avoid working there until conditions improve from their perspective.
[1]2http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TT_Competitiveness_Report_2...
[2]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15...
[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia
[4]http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/183/309