Research
Arab publishing has talent, titles and readers. It lacks a shared, trustworthy layer of market data. My research asks what that layer would contain and who could build it.
Leveraging AI for a Data-Driven Arab Book Economy
A Saudi Cultural Research Grants Program project. I am lead researcher, working with a co-researcher and an academic advisor.
The project is applied, not theoretical. It gathers, cleans and structures data on the Arab book market, and tests what AI can do with it. I think its most lasting output is the dataset. We plan a peer-reviewed article that frames the dataset around a variable-based research design.
Status. In progress. Article planned.
Market intelligence in publishing firms (MBA research)
My MBA seminar paper at the German University in Cairo is a strategic-management literature review: Market Intelligence Capabilities and Competitive Advantage in Publishing Firms. It builds on the resource-based view, the knowledge-based view, dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity. It names three research gaps.
The thesis stage will test the argument with a survey of publishing firms in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Country is a control variable. Perceived information environment quality is a moderator.
Status. Seminar paper submitted. Thesis in progress.
Open questions I am working on
- How many Arabic books are published each year, and who counts them?
- Which Arabic titles are available outside the Arab world, on which channels, in which formats?
- What does a reliable market-data layer for Arab publishing need to contain?
- Where does AI actually reduce cost in Arabic book production, and where does it add risk?
These questions feed UnIndexed.