Product news, field notes and what we're seeing across the markets we build in, Syria's tech reopening included.
On 21 April 2026, the Ministry of Communications made the country's first Voice over LTE call — a step in modernizing the mobile network.
Launched April 14 at Damascus University under presidential patronage: a framework that finally treats tech startups as high-growth companies instead of small shops. The details deserve attention.
Eight billion-dollar startups, a decacorn in Trendyol, and a gaming scene that keeps minting exits — Türkiye's ecosystem at a glance.
Jais, Falcon, ALLaM and Fanar — the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are each building sovereign Arabic large language models.
AI features can shave hours off a workflow — or quietly torch your unit economics. Three filters we use before greenlighting an AI feature.
Syria launched an international tender for a new mobile-network license valid for 20 years, seeking more than $1 billion in investment.
No legacy banking software. No fax-era bureaucracy software contracts. No decade of jQuery to maintain. Markets that start late sometimes get to start modern.
Since the end of March 2026, fully driverless WeRide robotaxis carry paying passengers in Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim.
Abu Dhabi's flagship ecosystem now hosts 400+ startups; its 17th cohort recorded the largest intake funding yet.
If you mock screens first, your design system becomes a documentation exercise. If you build the system first, your screens become composition exercises. Guess which one ships faster.
Syrian diaspora organizations are mobilizing to support the country's digital revival — including a drive to create tens of thousands of tech jobs.
The Visa agreement isn't just about payments plumbing. Buried in it: a regulatory sandbox framework, a national fintech competition, cybersecurity cooperation, and training programs. That's an ecosystem blueprint.
The BarqNet initiative targets 85% fibre-to-the-home coverage by 2027 — a backbone for the country's digital revival.
Our engineering team works in Dubai, Damascus, Istanbul, and Tallinn. Here's how we use that as an advantage instead of a coordination tax.
A 15 km² test zone, self-driving lorries, and a target of a quarter of all trips autonomous by 2030.
Announced on the main stage of MWC Barcelona: an international tender to replace MTN Syria, targeting over a billion dollars of investment, with a 2G/3G phase-out and 5G refarming built into the plan.
Syria's communications minister spent late February meeting tech leaders in San Francisco — and left with a signed Visa agreement. The symbolism matters as much as the substance.
Saudi Arabia's stc takes a 75% stake in Syria's ~$800 million national fibre project — 4,500 km of cable, data centres and cable landing stations.
With 99% of public services online and 134,000+ e-residents, Estonia remains the working reference for digital government.
Dubai's ten-year economic agenda targets AED 32 trillion in cumulative GDP — with digital and AI as core pillars.