CAIRO - The further integration of Arabic language capabilities in Internet and other technological architecture will grant millions access to the digital world, Microsoft and Google executives said. As devices and applications become more ubiquitous in less developed countries, their content will grow and an embryonic e-economy should flourish, they said. "(Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer and I a few years ago talked and believed Arabic would be an increasingly important language," said Craig Mundie, the Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer. "And yet, because of the way the Internet was evolving, it wasn't a language that was getting a lot of use." But while Arab world Internet use since 2000 has grown faster than anywhere else and access costs have shrunk, content still punches below its weight and ad spending remains tiny.
