The ArabDev foundation was formed by its member NGOs, in Egypt and the Arab region, to use information and communication technology (ICT) to promote existing development projects and for innovative developmental initiatives. ArabDev builds the ICT capacity of poor communities and local grassroots organizations to help them attain better work and life opportunities.

ArabDev is established on the principle that working with and through local NGOs, using their existing developmental capacities and established linkages with local communities, is the most effective way to disseminate and employ ICT. This collaborative approach is a cost effective way to build telecenters or establish ICT projects that stand alone without links to other developmental activities. ICT in this context becomes an additional input to help advance the existing developmental initiatives furthering progress in the region.

ArabDev accomplishes this through the deployment of information technology for:

Poverty Reduction of local communities by creating local, regional and global market linkages made possible in part through IT tools.
Skills Development Training of unemployed youth, women and men focusing on IT, to enhance people’s skills in their local marketplace and to build the capacity of local grassroots organizations to fight poverty and social inequity.
Dissemination of developmental information on a national and regional basis to provide access to useful information, share ideas and objectives across region, and allow diverse experiences and lessons learned to be known and applied by a wider group of people working for sustainable community development.
Creation of linkages between NGOs, that help bridge the communication gap between grassroots organisations and promote collaboration for more successful developmental work.
Supporting developmental advocacy through the use of ICT.