While technology has allowed us to do more things and do them better, a gap still remains between the potential of technology and its actual utilization to improve our lives. This notion was very frustrating to Saudi entrepreneur Fouad Al-Farhan, who decided to do something about it. He reached out to his friend Sami Al-Hussayen and they started Rwaq – an online education platform to provide free academic courses in Arabic covering different fields and specializations. Rwaq means gallery in Arabic. The name is a nod to the galleries of the major mosques in the Muslim world where students used to gather in circles around teachers to study different sciences. The site was launched last September and currently offers 15 MOOCs – short for Massive Open Online Courses, on topics ranging from religion and psychology to arts and social media. Mr. Al-Farhan said they have “tens of thousands” of users and are currently in talks with five universities interested in licensing the Rwaq platform to launch their own online education initiatives. With the Saudi government spending around $50 billion on education annually, Mr. Al-Farhan said the sector is ripe for disruption, as the widespread use of technology is very visible in fields like e-commerce and media in the region but still largely missing from the education sector. However, he reckons it’s unlikely for that “disruption” to come from the government or big corporates. “Creativity and new ideas come from startups and entrepreneurs,” he said. “It is almost impossible for government and big organizations to overcome their bureaucracy and hierarchy to come with new ideas and creative implementation.” That’s why Rwaq is not envisioned as a pure business-minded startup, but also as a social entrepreneurship project. “Yes, it is a tech startup in the end, but we also want to have a social impact,” he said. Online education in the region has experienced a notable push in the last few months. In November, Harvard and MIT-backed edX announced an agreement with Queen Rania Foundation in Jordan to create a MOOC portal for the Arab World. Similar projects such as MenaVersity and SkillAcademy have been launched in Lebanon and Egypt, respectively. Mr. Al-Farhan said they have been overwhelmed by the positive reception to Rwaq from the public and education institutions. All courses available on the site are free, and academics who give the courses are also donating their time, but he said the startup will be making money through licensing their platform and providing services and consulting for it. He also said that they will be looking for investors soon in order to continue growing the company. “We will definitely take outside investment,” he said. “It is a matter of months for us.”
