Digital Arabic Content National Strategy

The National Strategy for Digital Arabic Content (DAC) in Egypt aims to address the significant underrepresentation of Arabic content on the internet. Despite the rapid advancements in information and communication technology (ICT), Arabic content only constitutes about 2-3% of the global digital content. This strategy is an ambitious initiative by the Egyptian government to rectify this imbalance, promote the Arabic language, and enhance Egypt’s cultural and historical legacy in the digital age.

Objectives

The strategy’s core objectives are multi-faceted, focusing on preserving the Egyptian identity, promoting the Arabic culture, and fostering an environment conducive to the creation and dissemination of digital content. Specifically, the strategy aims to:

1. Preserve the Egyptian Identity and Promote Arabic Culture: This involves enriching Arabic content online, preserving and digitizing heritage content, and making it widely accessible.
2. Develop a Strong Digital Content Industry: This seeks to increase the local product and serve the Arab market by leveraging partnerships with the ICT sector, promoting investments, and providing job opportunities.
3. Create an Enabling Environment for DAC: This includes developing the necessary technological infrastructure, fostering the translation and Arabization industry, enhancing human resources, and promoting regulatory frameworks that encourage competitiveness.
4. Ensure Effective Access to Digital Government Content: By making government content accessible, the strategy aims to foster transparency, encourage political participation, and improve Egypt’s international indicators.
5. Support the Production of Competitive and Creative Digital Arabic Content: This involves advancing research and innovation, promoting creativity and entrepreneurship, and developing policies that encourage a creative environment.
6. Develop a Community Culture to Enrich DAC: This aims to foster a culture that values and interacts with digital Arabic content, encouraging dialogue and interaction with different cultures and civilizations.

Strategic Pillars

The strategy is built on five major pillars:

1. Integrated Infrastructure System: Establishing a comprehensive system for the infrastructure required to produce and manage digital Arabic content, including digital repositories, electronic archiving, and the activation of digital object identifiers.
2. Human Resources and Institutional Capacities: Developing educational and training programs to build institutional capacities and human resources skilled in digital content production and management.
3. Government Content Development: Digitizing and providing access to government content to ensure transparency and improve institutional efficiency.
4. Arabic Content Development: Collecting, digitizing, and making accessible various types of Arabic content, including cultural, scientific, educational, and media content.
5. Ensuring Sustainability: Providing economic models for business development, promoting Arab and international cooperation, and fostering social development to ensure the longevity and effectiveness of the digital content initiatives.

Challenges and Implementation

The strategy acknowledges the challenges posed by weak infrastructure, inadequate legislative and regulatory frameworks, and insufficient investment in research and development. To overcome these obstacles, it outlines a detailed action plan with specific programs and initiatives, each with its own timeframe, requirements, and performance indicators.