ICT Fund inaugurates a workshop for enriching Arabic digital content whilst Google dedicates 12th December as Annual 'Arabic Internet Day'

Dubai, UAE- 12^th December 2012

ICT Fund, an initiative by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) inaugurated today a workshop that aims to enrich Arabic digital content. In the workshop, Google announced the dedicating of December 12^th every year as the annual "Arabic Internet Day". The announcement came during the 'Arabic Internet Day Workshop', held in collaboration with Google at TRA's HQ in Dubai, which discussed a number of strategies aimed at enriching Arabic digital content.

The ICT Fund has also recently dedicated AED 25 million over the next five years to support the "Arabic Digital Content" initiative. The initiative was launched recently by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. "Arabic Digital Content" seeks to develop tools and programs to enhance Arabic content on the internet by working closely with individual and institutional specialists.

"To see the level of commitment from our leadership to preserve and promote the Arabic language is both promising and reassuring" said H. E. Dr. Abdul Qader Al Khayat, Chairman of the Board of Trustees - ICT fund.

Hailing the workshop which witnessed the participation of representatives from 60 federal and local entities in addition to several academic institutes, he added "Current estimates suggest that there are nearly 359 million Arabic speakers worldwide yet alarmingly there is only 3 per cent Arabic content online. The TRA launched UAEPedia in October this year in a move that signified a real intent to tackle this problem head on and the 'Arabic Internet Day Workshop' is certainly a continuation of this effort. The history and culture of the UAE and the Middle East, is irremovably attached to the Arabic Language, it is imperative that we preserve it,".

ICT Fund and Google's collaboration comes in line with the recent launch of Arabic Web Days, a one-month long program with initiatives by both global and regional players in the MENA region to inspire users to create more content in Arabic.

"The internet plays an extremely important role in our daily life. The Arabic language is currently ranked seventh among the most used languages on the internet, and it's expected to reach the fourth place by 2015," said Samir Elbahaie, Policy and Government Affairs Manager for Middle East at Google.

"The objective of initiatives like the Arabic Web Days program is to enrich the Arabic digital content so that the web will be more relevant to what Arabic users are seeking. The Arab world is home to some fantastic content creators, and we are confident that by encouraging these talents we will see a real difference in how the 90 million users in the Arabic world interact with the web" he added.

The 'Arabic Internet Day Workshop' also included discussion about the challenges that face the digital content Arabizing process. The workshop ran through an array of activities all of which focused on promoting the Arabic language. Workshop visitors participated in training on how to contribute to UAEPedia (the online encyclopedia of the UAE); discussions around Arabic translation and Arabic domain names as well as contributing part in a Google+ Hangout session with representatives of Taghreedat; an initiative that promotes community building of online Arabic content.

The workshop also discussed the issues surrounding the registration process for all those interested in making contributions to UAEPedia. Such contributions to the website will undoubtedly help in the process of enriching range of Arabic Digital Content available online. Currently, the website homes nearly 1200 articles offering information on a number of topics ranging from geography to history, economic to language and literature. The Encyclopaedia will be a welcome boost to the work of researchers, media professionals, students and all those wishing to enhance their knowledge of the UAE.

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About the ICT Fund
The ICT Fund is an initiative of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority that aims to spur the creation of a significant ICT industry in the United Arab Emirates. To achieve this objective the ICT Fund provides targeted funding and support services to individuals, academic institutions and companies. The ICT Fund's support empowers them to develop the innovation and knowledge capital of the UAE ICT sector through education, applied and basic research, and entrepreneurship.

The ICT Fund strives to promote a culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE ICT sector and to develop linkages between industry and academia. Additionally, it promotes the involvement of UAE nationals in the realm of scientific and technology research in order to foster technology creation and development in the UAE.

The ICT Fund is driven by a strong vision to reinforce ICT as a leading sector in the United Arab Emirates' economy. The ICT Fund believes that a global leadership position for the UAE ICT sector can be attained by investing in innovative ideas that contribute to the intellectual growth of the sector, yielding measurable results.

For more information regarding the ICT Fund, please visit: www.ictfund.gov.ae

About the Arabic Web Days program
Arabic Web Days is a month long program which aims inspire the users to create more content in Arabic. The program is lead by Google, YouTube, Yamli, Vinelab, Wamda and Taghreedat in partnership with Twitter, WikiPedia, TED, Soundcloud, Ministry of Education, Egypt, TRA UAE, Dubai Press Club, UAE, and local powerhouses TwoFour54 and Qatar Foundation's Qatari Computing Research Institute (QCRI).

For more information check: www.arabicwebdays.com

About Google Inc.
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google's innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.

Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

For information about Google in the Middle East, please visit our Official Google Arabia Blog: http://google-arabia.blogspot.com/

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