Challenges of building an Arabic information society

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers, November 19, 2007 -- The Arab world has so far allocated only 0,5% of its GDP to scientific research, says professor Jallal Chawki from the University of Algiers during a conference with the theme 'On The Road to an Arabic Information Society'.

According to Professor Chawki, 0.5% represents 22 Arab countries and that translates to a mere 6,000 books per year in which 2% are devoted to scientific matters, whereas Spain as a pertinent example of progress produces 10,000 books with a particular focus on scientific aspects.

Meanwhile, professor Larbi Ould Khelifa president of the Algerian High Council for the Arabic language, has questioned the failure of Arab states to establish an information society despite their resources.

He said there must be a way of finding consensus for Arab states to have a regional common strategic approach to the issues of the information society.

Professor Khelifa also said it was possible for Arab countries to benefit equally from the global information society while keeping to their cultural differences and civilisations.

The road to progress and development, underlined Khelifa, starts with the conviction that the strength of the state relies on the strength of the society and there is no intellectual life without freedom, good governance, security and justice.

However, Dr Hassen Hanafi, of the Social Sciences Department at Bouzareah University in Algiers spoke of the danger to implement blindly information in the Arab world and in the wrong manner.

He said, "we have to differentiate between what is knowledge, what is just information and how to analyse and cope with it".

Dr Hanafi regretfully pointed out that , "information has become goods, knowledge has become an industry and economy whereas education tends to be more money orientated."

In her part, the director of the Algiers based Arab League Institute of Translation, Ms Inaam Bayoudh pointed out that it was important for the Arab nations to seize the huge opportunities being offered by the new information networks to develop a high quality of life for all citizens.

She added, "information made on the web" does not mean necessarily you have to be lazy and swallow everything without objections, on the contrary, she argued, "you have to assess, analyse and apply the information in the right manner."

There was also a heated debate on democracy, and good governance during the conference.

Challenges of building an Arabic information society

[Bent_Bladi]

sigh... it wasn't a challenge some hundred years ago.... heck, we were the leaders..... shou sar?