17 With the advent of digital manufacturing, FabLabs are spreading around the world. These are key elements of the maker revolution. Jordan also has a strong focus on providing the right facilities such as incubators and fab labs to its entrepreneurs, and Jordan is the 5th best place in the MENA region to start a business37. Therefore, Jordan is in a strong position to lead the maker revolution. It is in this connection important that Jordan embrace an open source system to allow internal and external resources to access information, technology and talent, as a way to trigger competitiveness and become a real leader of the maker revolution regionally. However, there are currently challenges in Jordan related to the bureaucratic challenges of introducing new technologies such as 3D printing. It is important that these challenges are overcome to reap the full potential of new technologies and to create the best conditions for makers in Jordan. CREATING AND INTEGRATING SOLUTIONS FOR CONTENT PLATFORMS FOR THE ARAB MARKET Content and digital commerce solutions are not new trends, but persistent trends. At the same time, very little content is actually available in Arabic language and the region still has a large potential for growth in eCommerce uptake. The best guesstimate of the actual content available in Arabic is around 3%, according to MIT38, whilst on average, 60 % of Arabs prefer digital content to be in Arabic39. In 2015, Jordan’s eCommerce market was worth 40 million USD, and the eCommerce market in the MENA region is projected to double its value by 202040. Jordan has strong knowledge and long tradition in the field of online content and eCommerce, as a large percentage of digital content and e-commerce engines are either based or have back-offices in Jordan41. This means that there is a huge gap in supply and demand and that Jordan has a competitive advantage in addressing this gap. Jordan’s strength lies in building the platforms and technologies that manage e-content and eCommerce. Content creation per se can continue to grow in parallel but is not perceived to be of high impact compared to the volume and level of content created in other Arab countries focusing on digital content as well (such as Egypt and Lebanon). However, with Jordan focusing on building platforms and technologies for managing content, there might be a potential for regional partnerships with Egypt and Lebanon, where much content is created, to support these countries in managing and digitizing the Arabic content. REACH2025 – JORDAN’S DIGITAL VISION AND MISSION The REACH2025 vision is based on Jordan’s strengths and opportunities for responding to the current digital strengths and for making Jordan relevant in the global digital economy. 37 http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings 38 https://www.technologyreview.com/s/535591/the-online-language-barrier/ 39 http://www.wamda.com/2015/06/gaps-digital-arabic-content-sector-infographic 40 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247836 41 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/opinion/friedman-jobsatarabiadotcom.html?_r=0. The figure from this source is not repeated in the text, as there are no certain figures on the exact percentage. | REACH 2025 ACTION PLAN – ROADMAP TO EXCELLENCE