Abu-Ghazaleh: Knowledge Production and Localization Should be an Integral Part of the International Knowledge Environment

DUBAI ---- December 23, 2014 ---- Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum/ UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the First Knowledge Conference entitled “Empowering Future Generations” was launched at Grand Hyatt Dubai Hotel.

High-ranking officials, decision makers, experts and opinion leaders took part in the event.

The Conference aims at raising innovative ideas on development of mechanisms to disseminate and transfer knowledge, and consolidate efforts through bringing together, in an annual and international gathering, innovative minds and specialists in methods of disseminating knowledge.

In his statement, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) affirmed that knowledge production and localization should be an integral part of, and should mutually interact with, international knowledge environment. “Our supreme objective is to internationally disseminate our knowledge in accordance with the international standards,” he said.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh highly praised His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s decision to invest one and quarter billion US dollars in the development of the Internet infrastructure to provide a nurturing environment for knowledge and smart technologies, thereby enhancing the opportunities of national knowledge creation.

According to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, TAG-Org will launch TAGEPEDIA, an Arab digital encyclopedia, which will promote the ranking of the Arabic language on the Internet in terms of content from No. 28 to No. 4. TAGEPEDIA will be an available portal to produce national knowledge. It is expected to include one million Arabic digital, authenticated, audited, useful, and inoffensive entries. In being as such, TAGEPEDIA will be completely different from the Arabic content on Wikipedia, with manifold content compared to Wikipedia.

He also highlighted the decision taken by the Arab leaders, as they declared this year to mark the beginning of “Knowledge Creation Decade” (2014-2024) with its three themes: Alphabetical Knowledge, Digital Knowledge, and Cultural Knowledge. He then pointed out that such initiatives aims to promote the literacy projects, as illiteracy no longer relates to reading and writing, it is rather associated with the information technology skills, utilization tools and cultural knowledge as well as the outputs of education.

“Our organization will be honored to meet the representatives of the Arab governments at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo next January. We will present our proposed action plan in this meeting for the implementation of the Summit's historical decision which deserves the highest praise and appreciation,” he added.

He also stated “TAG-Org has established Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University (TAGI-UNI) as a new model of online education with new innovative methodology. "TAGI-UNI does not have its own academic programs, it rather seeks through its mission to democratize education and make accredited educational programs accessible to everyone, everywhere. For this purpose, TAGI-UNI has concluded agreements with internationally recognized universities to deliver comprehensive education to a global student body. Here, I would like to extend my greetings to His Excellency Dr. Mansour Al Our, President-of our prominent partner Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University," he added.

Moreover, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh emphasized digital education must be considered one of the national security’s components and our top priority. He presented Finland as an example, which has recently announced that teaching writing will not be compulsory in schools but instead, schools will teach information technology skills.

He concluded his statement by pointing out that the future of wealth creation will be increasingly achieved through knowledge creation. The world’s most popular 13 brands have become knowledge trademarks after being commercial, industrial and banking companies in the past. "Apple" trademark comes out on top of the list instead of "Coca Cola" after the former’s value jumped to $120 billion. Google ranked second with a value of $ 108 billion , followed by Facebook and Amazon, etc. Wealth in the future will be owned by those who create knowledge through knowledge techniques.

The Conference witnessed the launching of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Knowledge and Knowledge Index as well as the launching of the Arab Knowledge Report, 2014- Youth and Localization of Knowledge, an initiative between Mohammad Bin Rashid Foundation and UNDP.