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The developer community in the Arab world gains more and more attention everyday, thanks to an increasing number of competitions, conferences, and platforms. Recently, Hsoub launched Arabia I/O, an Arabic online community for everyone interested in Arabic web industry to discuss and share their knowledge.

The platform aims to provide a space for developers, programmers, designers, and geeks to participate, exchange knowledge and information, and debate. The website includes sections such as web development, e-commerce, marketing and advertising, online freelancing, social networks, and others that were tailored to meet the technical needs of the Arabic users. The founders want to fill in a gap which isn't covered by traditional forums. "Arabia I/O is a community of Arabic digital content creators, indie developers, and anyone interested in the Arabic web industry. It’s not a forum, but rather a place for the informed users who believe in the importance of sharing knowledge and constructive debate, and respect different opinions”, explains Abedalmohimen Alagha, CEO of Hsoub.

Arabia I/O, unlike traditional forums, is managed collectively by means of user ratings, so the highly rated contributions will elevate to the top of the page, and the less rated content will sink towards the bottom. The contribution is limited to members at the moment, and membership is by invitation from existing users only. According to the site, the aim of this step is to reduce spam as much as possible at this early stage, and target the informed users exclusively, in order to have a sufficient number of users who can spontaneously and effectively manage the content.

It’s worthy to mention that the parent company, Hsoub, which is based in the UK and is run by remote team members who work from different Arab countries, aims to develop the Arabic web through a number of products and services that meet the needs of the Arabic users. Its services include Hsoub Ads and Khamsat, an e-commerce website for selling and buying services in Arabia, in addition to several other products and services.