Obviously, for many people the strong sense of patriotism kicks in and they naturally become defensive. And who could blame them? Does anyone really want to be told that they should have been born elsewhere, even if it is based on statistical data?

To add fuel to the fire, the Economist Intelligence Unit has released an extensive study ranking all countries of the world against one another. Without boring you with irrelevant figures, here’s a map of the world as we know it. Thanks to the Washington Post, it contains a relatively clear colour coding guideline that ranges from deep blue to dark red.

If you’ve been waiting for a silver lining here it is. The UAE turned out to be one of only countries in the Arab world to have a shade of blue – which even as the most pessimistic of people would agree is quite an achievement.

The study relies on eleven separate variables; when encapsulated include ““which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.” Poverty, violence and lack of freedom – according to the study – shape the worst countries in the world to be born in.

Nowadays, internships and freelance work are available in abundance even in a country like the UAE – where some form of visa is required at all times and almost 90 percent of the population consists of expatriates. High school and university students flock to any and all chances to surround themselves with experts of the field that they one day wish to be a part of.

Naturally, part of the hike in its popularity is a push from educational institutes. The other is a fear that when they graduate they’d find it difficult to find a job on account of having no experience and lastly, it is social media’s ability to spread information.

But how popular are internships in the Middle East? How many of them are paid ones? What’s the experience like?

Below is an infographic from Bayt.com, a popular job site based in the region. It provides clear and comprehensive information on internships in the region. (click to enlarge)

Would a user perhaps be more likely to recommend content on Twitter than on MySpace and if so, is it convenience or is it a deeper intention behind it? A rather comprehensive info-graphic outlines the important points and strong areas of social media consumption across the Arab World; covering Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, Tumblr, Visua.ly and MySpace.

How does each social media platform affect a user’s behaviour and how much value does it add to their experience? Believe it or not, there is an illustration of 1 percent of users that say they have never heard of Facebook before.

Chimigi, Iran’s first online research panel releases an extensive info-graphic to remedy the lack of insights available.

One of the results of its syndicated study points out that over half of Internet users in Iran use Facebook and 37 percent are on Google Plus. Amir-Esmaeil Bozorgzadeh, Managing Partner of Conovi – parent company behind the research panel – says that online users in Iran are keen to participate and keep apace with everything digital.

“Iranians are among the highest consumers and producers of online content in the region,” he says.

*Source

*Source: HP

You can love or hate the social networking giant but the fact is that in spite of their struggle to scrape the crumbs of the global advertising pie with fat Google sitting in the arm chair devouring slice after slice, they still remain a relatively powerful media platform.

In the info-graphic below, their relatively new method aimed at promoting their ‘power of advertising’, Facebook labels itself as a very engaging place and that the social network receives globally 3,200,000,000 likes and comments on a daily basis. Now, whether you are a Twitter fanatic, Kipp doesn’t know but that has got to be a staggering number right? I wonder why they don’t mention the number of dislikes a day…

Too bad that over 15 percent of online traffic is driven by bots though. Yes, we said it. But to be fair, Mashable said it first and in all fairness, they were talking about online traffic in the United States, but why should the Middle East or any other major region be any different?

Without further ado, we present to you some food for thought in the form of an image.

Even if you don’t wish to share certain parts of your social and personal life, people can trace it. Either you choose to completely erase your digital presence, tie your privacy setting ropes tight or simply behave yourself on the web.

A rather interesting info graphic, courtesy of column five media and jobvite.com shows that approximately 86 percent of potential employers may search and look into your social profile. What they find is up to you, there is no doubting that, but you may just find that the impression it leaves could make or break you.

You may not want to be judged nor think that it is fair for others to judge your ability and professionalism by viewing posts linked to your social life. However, employers often fear that potential employees hide behind a fake mask of professionalism and good ethics while showing their true colours elsewhere. Besides, they just want to make sure they are making the right choice. Is it wrong? Who’s to say…

Well, at least that is what we thought until we saw an infographic which outlined how much of land the world’s population would need to live in if everyone lived like a handful of countries. The infographic is produced by Tim De Chant from Per Square Mile, a blog about density and population matters. In order to compile this infographic, he got data from, the National Footprint Account from the Global Footprint Network-which uses peer-reviewed research by founder Mathias Wackernagel. The National Footprint Account is calculated by considering sub-footprints with regards to ‘cropland to carbon to urbanization to fishing grounds.’

So what did De Chant find? Well, the infographic speaks volumes so we will just get around to it, shall we? Here it is:

Rather alarming, isn’t it. As De Chant writes on his blog it is importance to consider not just the immediate physical footprint of a country but also the land requirement including the ‘farmland, transportation networks, forests and open space that recharge fresh water sources like rivers and aquifers.’ So essentially, if all 7 billion of the earth’s population lived like the way we do here in the UAE we would need a whopping 5.4 times more land than we currently have on Earth. Yikes.

Isn’t it interesting that 15 percent of people in the UAE say they have moved to cheaper property in the last 6 months? This is just one of our many findings of our half-year reviewed. We teamed up with YouGov to find out just how good the year has been for you. While 82 percent have complained about a significant increase in food prices, 75 percent say they think the economy will grow or remain stable for the rest of the year. For more rather insightful findings, check out our nifty infographic.

Kipp was curious. With the help of our friends at YouGov we asked 1,518 people in Saudi Arabia and the UAE about their attitudes towards environment. It turns out, the state of our planet ranks at number six on people’s list of concerns, after unemployment (62 percent), war (55 percent), poverty (50 percent), the financial crisis (47 percent), human rights (39 percent).

What is even more interesting is, over 67 percent of those surveyed said they would be more environmentally conscious if there was an incentive. For more insights on our selfish attitudes towards the environment in this part of the world, have a look at our nifty infographic.

The findings are rather interesting. Did you know that about 41 percent of those surveyed thought there was little to absolutely no clarity in the labour law—an interesting statistic to keep in mind when you consider the 62 percent in the UAE and the 48 percent in Saudi who claim their company follows the labour law to some extent.

1 in 5 people earning Dh6000 a month or less, say they have been asked to go on unpaid leave. Considering the legality of the issue-it is probably interesting to note that 34 percent of all those asked to go on unpaid leave in the last year, have been asked to take 4-5 weeks or more.

For more please check out our nifty infographic down below-click on it for a larger image.

So with all this rather untimely hullabaloo about the power of social media, Kipp along with our sister publication Communicate decided to put the questions out there to get a sense of just how receptive folks in the GCC are to following brands on social networking websites.

The findings? Pretty shocking, if we may say so ourselves. Take for instance, the fact that over 55 percent of those surveyed said they do not currently follow any brands on social networking websites. Or how about the fact that only 28 percent said they would look to Facebook to find out more about a particular brand?

Check out our groovy infographic for more.

With the help of our trusty old friends at YouGov, we were working off a hunch (not from personal experience, of course dear boss) about employee’s online activities while at work. So what did we find?

Turns out a lot of people use the internet for personal non-work related purposes. Almost two thirds of those we surveyed admit they access social networks at least once a day, half say they email or chat and a third even use video or voice chat.

Now, whether this is a good or bad thing—is a completely different question.

We recall a particular study titled “Impact of Cyberloafing on Psychological Engagement” by Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim of the National University of Singapore which found that, “web browsing can actually refresh tired workers and enhance their productivity, compared to other activities such as making personal calls, texts or emails.”

Anyway, check out our cool infographic below this article for more:

For starters only 22% say they own property in KSA and  even less a mere 14% say they own property in the UAE. Kipp thought it would be more, but over half of those who said they bought property said they bought off plan, a fifth bough during construction and a third after the property was finished.

Now for the juicy stuff, about a third of those who had property in the UAE said they had defaulted on their payments.  What is more, over 48% claim they lost money on their properties.  Things seems to be a lot better in KSA where only 17% claim they have lost money and an encouraging 56% say they have made money on their previous property. In fact, the property regulations in Saudi also help make people feel more secure about buying property than they do in the UAE: which is why around 69% in KSA say they would consider buying property in Saudi.

For more findings, check out our funky inforgraphic down below:

Kipp found out all kinds of crazy things about phone usage, when our friends at YouGov surveyed over 1,500 people in the UAE and KSA. Some of the more interesting findings include-a healthy 10 percent of people say they download ten or more apps a month. 10 apps! Unsurprisingly getting cheaper internet access is the number one complaint mobile phone users had and with 1GB data package going for no less than Dh100-odd, it really is no surprise.
Anyway, check out our nifty inforgraphic on the matter. Click on it for a larger nicer better view.

Of course, the multi-cultural nature of the workforce in the UAE has other implications aside for management style. When asked ‘Do you feel that different nationality factions in your office cause problems at work?’ An overwhelming 47 percent of expats said: “No, I’m used to it and get by anyway.” An interesting finding considering the racially biases that already exist in the workplace. it isn’t uncommon for companies to include a preference for a particular nationality as part of the job description. “American, British, Westerners ONLY”

In a survey conducted with over 1,506 people in Saudi and the UAE by our good friends at YouGov, we bring you some interesting insights about the corporate culture here in the Emirates. Did you know that 1 in 5 people said they felt that managers in the UAE ‘rarely listens to employees.’ Although, it isn’t all bad- overall job satisfaction is fairly high (72%) and goes up as employees get older. Perhaps another interesting insight is employees rank receiving professional training as almost as important as a bonus (83% vs. 87%). How many employees actually receive a bonus is another question. But until then check out groovy infographic on understanding the Drone Zone. Click on it for a larger version.

But instead of ruin it for you, we are going to let the figures do the talking. Have a look at our infographic on the very same. Click on it for a larger image.

From anecdotal experience, Kipp has spotted a trend when it comes to insurance and expats. For the largest part of the expat’s life, he depends on his employer’s coverage for health insurance. And then when he retires or is forced to retire, he ends up paying a much higher premium as per the rate charged for seniors. We wanted to put our hypothesis to the test, and so with the help of our chums at YouGov Siraj we asked residents of KSA and the UAE about their attitudes towards insurance.

The results, unfortunately weren’t too surprising. Most aren’t too ready for that rainy day. Check out our infographic on the subject and tell us what you think.

With the help of our good friends at YouGovSiraj, we weren’t too surprised to find out that despite the change in the online shopping landscape, residents in the UAE and KSA still prefer to buy online. And when they do plan on buying stuff, it isn’t the daily deals websites that see all the traffic. In fact classified sites like Dubizzle are the most visited (63% in the UAE) where 42% have also bought something from.

Check out our infographic below to see the rest of the survey results. (Click image for a larger view)

And with the region still bruised from the global recession, companies are either offering minimal salary packages or not hiring at all.

So what are the job hunters going through right now? What about people who have jobs and what to make that change?

According to this week’s Pulse Populi, graduates from 2010 and 2011 are significantly more likely to still be without work and constantly on the lookout for a job—a dangerous indication of an increase in unemployment rates.

Disappointingly, working in the public sector is still the primary goal for most UAE nationals, which is probably why they show the highest percentage (56%) of feeling a lack of confidence in finding a new job when compared to Saudi nationals as well as expats in Saudi and UAE. They are most likely not considering positions in the private sector and choosing to pit against strong competition for the few public sector seats.

Meanwhile, those who are working in the private sector are lot more confident about the prospect of finding a new job. This is most likely attributed to the confidence that comes from having a database of contacts that may be able to give them a lead in to a new job.

Check out our infographic below to see the rest of the survey results. (Click image for a larger view)

Check out our infographic below: (Click to see larger image and for printing)

And so in collaboration with our lovely friends over at YouGovSiraj we bring you some insights into the spending habits of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as illustrated in the infographic below. Here are a couple of tidbits from the survey:

Insight #1: A no-brainer really, but worth a mention: both respondents in the UAE and Saudi say they spend more during Ramadan. What’s interesting is that while just over half of the UAE respondents (53 percent) say they spend more, well over 75 percent in Saudi say they spend more during Ramadan—of course, part of this this could be a result of the UAE’s more expansive expat population. And while buying groceries and food, top the shopping list for most, charity follows close, with 84 percent of in Saudi and 73 percent in UAE say they spend more time and money during Ramadan on and to charity.

Insight #2: Here’s something nifty: just under half of non-fasting UAE residents (49 percent) say they like to go out to restaurants and hotels for iftar even though they are not fasting. Not a big deal, right? Except when you consider it within the larger picture. When asked where they prefer to break their fast, 97 percent of those fasting say they preferred to break their fast at home or at the homes of family and friends. So get this: only a measly 2 percent of those fasting during Ramadan say they prefer to break their fasts at restaurants and hotels.

So what with the gigantic tents, special iftar offers going for as much as Dh290 at the Burj Al Arab, it really gets you thinking…who are the restaurants catering to after all?

So Kipp and YouGovSiraj wanted to know what exact do customers value when it comes to communication with a brand and what how bad does it have to get to drive them into the arms of competitors.

Check out the results below in this week’s infographic. One of the more interesting points is that only one percent use social media as a way to connect directly with brands—most (51 percent) still prefer talking to a representative on the phone. Maybe this could also mean that social media identities of brands just aren’t visible enough for people to here to even know that they can contact these companies on social media platforms but for now customer service through social media seems like a space that’s sorely lacking.

As you’d expect “friendly staff” was on top of pretty much everyone’s list in terms of what makes their customer service experience satisfactory. Except, 65 percent of Western expatriates in the UAE have put quick problem solving as the number one factor for making a customer service experience satisfactory.

What Kipp didn’t expect to find however is that although 27 percent of respondents in UAE and Saudi Arabia were unsatisfied with their last customer service experience, an impressive 46 percent where somewhat satisfied. Does this really mean customer service in the GCC is really improving? Or have we our standards of what’s ‘good’ been redefined by numerous disappointing past encounters?

Most interesting for companies to note is that six out of seven people would be at least somewhat likely to switch brands after a bad customer service experience—something brands should beware of.

And you know what we found? Quite a few interesting things, actually. One of them is that there are more Saudi nationals (71 percent) intent on running their own business then there are entrepreneur-minded UAE nationals (48 percent). Seeing as a majority 34 percent of our Saudi respondents work in the government, it seems the private sector is almost completely bypassed by Saudi nationals, keeping Saudisation of the private sector a distant ambition.

Even with a lot of potential for growth in the SMB sector and with the existing SMB-related organisations, most respondents are still not convinced of the ease of setting up a new business in the UAE with about 66 percent saying it would be ‘somewhat or extremely difficult’. In fact, ‘strict government regulations’ is listed as the top barrier to entry into the SMB category. This is followed by the perception that there is a saturation of global brands in the market—which, in Kipp’s mind, is more indicative of consumers’ different sentiments toward local and global brands rather than the market’s actual level of saturation. (The infographic below shows you the rest of the list of barriers.)

This sentiment goes hand in hand with the perception that most of the support goes to nationals while there is still a lack of support for expatriates interested in opening a business in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE—a whopping majority 40 percent of all the respondents feel this way, in fact.

And when it comes to online, Kipp wondered: would most of the tech-savvy region bring a strong digital presence to their hypothetical business? Rather disappointingly for us as a digital title, a majority 37 percent say that while some sales might take place online, primary selling will remain through more traditional methods. Only 13 percent say they will sell purely online. Looks like we’ll be expecting more Mom N Pop stores in the future.

Besides staunch competition from brands with global muscle, entrepreneur wannabes are grounded in the importance of having availability of finance in their aspirations to open a business. Interestingly, all the respondents—expatriates and nationals alike—say the presence of a local sponsor and access to accurate industry information remain key factors to the success of setting up a small business in the region.

Is it time then to have a committee that liaises between entrepreneur, investor and government, Kipp wonders.

Here’s some more key takeaways:

• Almost half in the UAE buy online, but less than a third do in Saudi Arabia.
• In Saudi Arabia the income bracket of $2666-$5332 showed more shopping frequency, with 54 percent saying they regularly buy online. Meanwhile, a majority those in the lower and higher income ranges (below $2666 and higher than $5332) say they have “never bought anything online”.  Alternatively, in the UAE, income ranges from $1600 all the way to above $5333 say they regularly buy items and services online.”
• The main items and services people buy online are: (1) travel products (flight tickets, hire car, hotel reservations), (2) physical products (books, clothing, electronics), (3) tickets and vouchers (dining, concert), (4) downloadable items (music, movies, MP3s).
• Only about a third of those who have used local brand websites say they have never faced any problems with them – the main problems were security, broken sites and pages loading too slowly
• The top reason to shop online (chosen by a third) is that you don’t have to go to the mall or store to buy something (even those aged 18-29, which are normally regarded as frequent mall visitors)– some people may be physically unable to get there, while others may simply dislike busy shopping centres.
• Credit card fraud and lack of trust in local websites are the top barriers to online shopping, suggesting improved security or protection might help drive online sales

Well, if our survey results from YouGov are anything to go by, not too many! When we set out to find out how the majority of people travel on a daily basis we found out that while 89 percent said they used a car only 3 percent said they used the metro.

Trying to identify the reasons behind these statistics is bit difficult? Is this is a question of convenience or prestige? If it is the latter, and the cynic in Kipp can’t help think it has something to do with it, does it make any sense that Dubai has plans to blow off an insane amount of money on a shiny new tram system?

Although Pan Jie’s unfortunate end maybe a rather drastic case, Kipp doesn’t have to look much further than our own very desk to speculate that tight deadlines and a fast-paced life can lead to employees in the UAE feeling “stressed out”.

Kipp was interested in finding out just how many people fell into our speculations, so with the help of our friends at YouGov we pressed people to find out just how stressed they are. Interestingly while over 72 percent of employees in the UAE say they are stressed, only 46 percent in Saudi claimed to be stressed. Another pretty interesting result, though understandable, is that praying was the #1 way of de-stressing outside work-with a good 54 percent saying they chose to pray to de-stress.

Find out some more interesting facts on our nifty infographic…