UNESCO and TAG-Org sign partnership agreement to build more inclusive knowledge societies in the Arab region

Paris, 10 August

UNESCO and the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), the Jordanian-based international business services company, signed a partnership agreement on Sunday in Paris to work together on the building of inclusive knowledge societies and on the promotion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support education, science and culture in the Arab region.

The agreement reflects the commitment of both TAG-Org and UNESCO to mobilize partners to build knowledge societies, notably by increasing access to and measuring the use of ICT in different sectors of society, enhancing teacher training, and promoting multilingualism and internationalized Internet Domain Names.

“The World Summit on the Information Society underscored the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach to helping people use the power of ICTs, to access the knowledge they need to improve their daily lives, and to achieve their full potential. UNESCO relies upon and welcomes partners such as TAG-Org to realize the vision of knowledge societies,” stated Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO.

“As the Arab region grows in importance, it is crucial to TAG-Org and its regional operations in the 72 offices worldwide, to provide a credible profile of data in Arabic and English on the state of the Arab countries on ICT in education, science, culture, communication, and commerce. The availability of such data will assist local governments, institutions, and international organizations to understand gaps in ICT and to take a leading role in developing ICT infrastructure and in building ICT capacity and capability for sustainment in the context of the changing global environment,” said Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Founder and Chairman of TAG-Org.

TAG-Org and UNESCO are planning to create a knowledge society portal on which such data, collected through digital surveys, digital reporting, and digital resources, will be made available.

UNESCO and TAG-Org have agreed to develop an immediate action plan for the project; prepare a strategy to enhance multilingualism and Internet Domain Names in the Arabic script; plan for implementation of UNESCO’s ICT competency framework for teachers; work together to increase the availability of Arabic content on the Internet; and cooperate on a “TAG-PEDIA” project for increased local content in science and technology, literature, history, art, and many other areas.

• Author(s):UNESCOPRESS
• Source:Press Release No. 2009-91
• 11-08-2009