Mohammed Al Fardan is an entrepreneur who founded Venturecoms to localize mobile applications from Europe and North America for use in the Middle East and North Africa region. Some of the apps he plans to offer include an interactive global phone directory, mobile health solutions, news streaming, and a travel booking engine. He recognizes that the apps will need to be significantly localized to account for differences in culture, language, and legislation. Al Fardan also hopes to spawn an entire industry around mobile phone applications and social media networking in the region.

1. 58 March 2012 BTM
The world of mobile apps has never been the same since the
arrival of the iPhone. The digital world then got more exciting
with the launch of the Apple App Store in 2008 and users have
been further inundated with apps since the advent of the
Andriod market. More than 30 millions apps are downloaded
daily worldwide, and demand is only set to peak over the
coming years.
What makes apps so versatile is that underneath every
application is a treasure trove of data, or services, or both. In
an evolving digital landscape, this information can be
leveraged well by companies to extend their business into the
hands of millions of consumers.
Bringing the latest technology to the regional market is
entrepreneur Mohammed Al Fardan, founder of Venturecoms.
Mohammed plans to localise next generation applications
sourced from Europe and North America for use in the regional
market. These apps will be available in Arabic and even
French, for geographies such as Tunisia.
With exclusive distributorships from five mobile companies in
Europe, he will initially promote and sell the modified apps
before he begins to develop in-house applications in
consultation with customers and service providers.
Apps for games, news, maps, music and social networking
have been most popular worldwide and Mohammed would like
to tap into related segments. On the anvil is an interactive
global phone directory, mobile health solutions and news
streaming as well as a travel booking engine leveraging social
media networks.
“It goes without saying that smartphones are the way of the
future. Whatever is accomplished on a laptop can also be done
on a smartphone. There’s a big demand for apps in the region
and since our requirement are different, given the culture,
language and legislation, we will have to localise the offerings
significantly,” he observes.
He has recently signed up a Canadian company for health
solutions on mobile phones and the service is ready to be
rolled out. It will provide users a contact list of hospitals,
government clinics and Ministry of Health staff, and healthcare
professionals will have access to medical records and patient
information, which will be communicated over smartphones.
Another service he’s offering includes a travel industry engine
based on Facebook, where users can check the latest hotel
promotions, tariffs and availability before booking and
receiving a confirmation on a dynamic platform. They can then
post their comments and share them with friends, and even
with the hotels they stayed in.
The revenue stream will vary depending on the application, but
he expects mobile advertisements to be a major revenue spinner.
“In place of the standard text message, we want to introduce
graphic and lively advertisements over mobiles, and even make
it interactive via links to videos and YouTube. A voucher code
embedded in the advertisement will enable advertisers to
measure the success of their campaign,” he says.The next big ticket
investment in the MENA
region is headed towards
the ICT and software
arena, believes
Mohammed Al Fardan.
businessentrepreneur
Riding the DigitalWave
xxxxxContent management,
especially data cleansing, and the
availability of app developers are
a major concern given the skills
gap in the current workforce
Mohammed Al Fardan

2. BTM March 2012 59
Mohammed hopes his venture will engender the creation of an industry
based around mobile phone applications and social media networking.
With over 20 years of experience in starting up MENA operations for
companies such as IBM, Lexmark, Microsoft and Software AG, he had long
desired to combine his involvement in technology with a venture capital
setup. That dream was realised in October last year, when he was able to
form the company with assistance from Tamkeen and blessings from the
Economic Development Board.
One of the few local ICT executives to have lived and worked in a
multinational culture, Mohammed is keenly aware of the challenges posed
to businesses such as his in the region.
Content management, especially data cleansing, and the availability of
app developers are a major concern given the skills gap in the current
workforce. He is currently working with Tamkeen to find and train Bahrainis
with the toolsets needed for this industry.
“The basic skill set is there, but when we talk of the 2030 vision for
Bahrain, a huge amount of work needs to be done on the workforce if we
are to achieve our objectives,” he says.
“At our technology training centre, we have experts from abroad to
transfer knowledge to Bahraini staff. Eventually, I would like to see some of
these youngsters starting their own businesses in the ICT sector.”
Meanwhile, he’s also working on introducing newer apps, such as one for
renewing magazine subscription on the mobile as well as a social
networking platform for planning, sharing and updating an individual’s
fitness regimen with friends.
He’s also introduced new ways of backing up mobile data over air, across
mobile platforms and multiple phones using cloud computing.
“We can store all data from your laptop, mobile phone and tablet on our
cloud. In case you lose your phone, or clean up your database or even buy
another handset, you could still access your data from anywhere and
anytime,” he says.
The cloud servers are based in Switzerland and the service is targeted at
individuals and enterprises alike.
Spawning an industry