ALECSO mobile apps initiative

Technological advancements in wireless and broadband networks infrastructures have promoted the widespread distribution of mobile devices. Accordingly, content and software developers rushed to adapt their products, and to innovate and create appropriate services and applications to be used in the everyday life of mobile devices’ users. Recent stats from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) unveiled that mobile broadband is the fastest-growing ICT service in history, and around 4 billion of the global mobile phone population have Internet access using their mobile devices. In light of these considerations, there is no doubt that mobile technologies are entirely changing our lives, including particularly the way we learn. Nevertheless, when trying to draw up the status of Arab mobile Apps development and use, several difficulties show up, mainly in relation to the very few available Arab mobile applications in international apps stores. Therefore, recognizing the potentials of mobile technologies and its status in the region, the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), has proposed a Pan-Arab wide mobile initiative, aiming to promote the use and development of mobile applications in the Arab world, particularly in the fields of education, culture, science, and serious games. In this paper, we present an overview of the ALECSO mobile initiative, and we describe in details its related activities and implementations.