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Doha – Qatar

The events of the 4th Arab Digital Content Forum started in Doha today under the theme; “The Future of Arabic Content on the Internet.”. The forum is organized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications until Oct. 7 under the auspices of the League of Arab States in collaboration with Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) of Qatar, the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) and the ITU.

In his opening remarks to the virtual event, the President of Communications Regulatory Authority of Qatar Mr. Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai said that since the Internet has become the largest place for available information, using the Arabic language on the Internet nowadays requires fundamental informational tools based on Arabic language computing and analysis accurately and academically and among those tools are the search engines and dictionaries.

He added that the State of Qatar has executed several initiatives supporting and promoting the digital Arabic content such as and the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic and the Media, Culture and Heritage National Digitization Plan, which aims to develop a vibrant digital ecosystem through which future generations can tap into their past and create new expressions of Qatari culture on the global stage. He said Qatar also issued Law 7 of 2019 on Protecting the Arabic Language.

Director of the ICT Department at the League of Arab States (LAS) Khaled Wali stressed the importance of developing the online Arabic content to reach out the largest possible number of users in the Arab world.

The forum will tackle six main topics on the reality of Arabic digital content, the importance of Arabic digital content during crises, the future prospects of e-learning in the Arab region, the role of Arabic digital content within a smart nation, the Arabic digital content and entrepreneurship amongst youth and the advancement of the Arabic digital content.

The forum is held within the framework of implementing the decision of the 18th Round of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers, which decided to organize the Digital Arabic Content Forum yearly, and the ITU Arab Regional Office plan of action 2015.