Under the patronage of HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh Guest of Honor at the “Digital Arabic Content” Workshop

08 Mar 2012
This workshop is significant for us as we are in the process of launching TAGIPEDIA which is considered an Arabic free, open and credible encyclopedia. We abided by strict regulations to avoid deficits of the Wikipedia in terms of classification and search - Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh

AMMAN --- March 8, 2012 ---Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) hosted on Tuesday a specialized workshop entitled “Arabic Digital Content: Challenges and Opportunities”.

The workshop held under the patronage of HRH Princess Sumaya Bint El Hassan, president of El Hassan Science City and head of the PSUT Board of Trustees was organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Jordan Computer Society (JCS) and Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) in addition to the University.

In the workshop’s several sessions, participants tackled related topics including a study of the current status of the digital Arabic content, content indicators. Initiatives to enrich the Arabic content on the Internet, TAGIPEDIA, challenges and obstacles that encounter the development of the Arabic content, opportunities and industry of the digital content among others.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Overseas Corporation (TAGoCorp), the Guest of Honor, delivered the key speech at the opening session during which he extended his gratitude to HRH Princess Sumaya for her patronage and ongoing support and to the University for hosting the workshop.

“There is a deficiency in the Arabic content on the Wikipedia and a large part of it is not useful and incorrect. Therefore, several Arab initiatives emerged as ours that contributed in the growth of the Arabic content that reached 77.000 entries in 2008, and augmented to 117.000 in 2009, and reached up to 170.000 in 2011,” HE Abu-Ghazaleh said.  

“This workshop is significant for us as we are in the process of launching TAGIPEDIA which is considered an Arabic free, open and credible encyclopedia. We abided by strict regulations to avoid deficits of the Wikipedia in terms of classification and search,” he added.

He reiterated that the total of the Arabic content on TAGIPEDIA has reached up to 200.000 accurate information accumulated in a short period of time while the total of the content on Wikipedia doesn’t exceed 170.000.

Abu-Ghazaleh stated that TAGIPEDIA aims to become a cultural and knowledge reference for all Internet users and it helps develop and e-knowledge society that takes part in knowledge making.

TAGIPEDIA has a search system developed by the e-Solutions Department at TAGoCorp and it will be launched in coordination with the Minister of Information and Communications Technology HE Basem Al Roussan by the end of this year.

Though the Arabic language is one of the six official languages in the United Nations, and yet it ranked 27 in 2008 in terms of the number of subjects on the Wikipedia

Abu-Ghazaleh noted that TAGIPEDIA is part of the University of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (UTAG), the first university of its kind globally in terms of programs, e-education means and international education network adding that “we will also launch a specialized education news agency to become a source of information in this evolving sector in addition to creating our own TAG Cloud to include our activities and educational programs.”

Moreover, PSUT President Dr. Issa Batarseh presented the attendees with a brief about the University’s programs and achievements.

From his part, Engineer Azzam Shweihat, JCS chairman of the Board of Directors, stressed that the digital Arabic content is a very significant issue and the current status of this content doesn’t go beyond movies, songs and the social networks.

Prominent attendees included: Dr. Anas Taweelah (Systematix), Mr. Mohammad Ameen Al Abbadi (Jordan Department of the National Library), Dr. Saed Habash (ESCWA). Engineer Husni Al Khoffash (Microsoft), and from Princess Sumaya University: Dr. Edward Jaser, Dr. Waleed Salameh, Dr. Daowd Daowd, Dr. Ashraf Al Qadoumi and Dr. Izzeddin Hattab. 

Meanwhile, Head of the Web Development Department Mr. Ramez Quneibi delivered a detailed presentation on TAGIPEDIA; preparation phases, the content, its quality and its accuracy.