ICT Fund, an initiative by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which supports the national ICT sector through financing innovative projects in the UAE, today signed an agreement with Khalifa University to fund a new Research & Development (RD&) project called “reCaptcha”. ICT Fund is providing financing of AED 1,045,000 (one million and forty five thousand dirhams) towards this project.

The project “reCaptcha” aims to digitize Arabic manuscripts and improve Arabic content on websites used by millions in the Arab region. It will also enable search of Arabic text, including text of manuscripts and books, magazines and newspapers and any material of historic value.

“reCaptcha” also aims to facilitate the digitization process through the participation of Internet users in the Arab world, as well as protection of Arabic-language web sites from online threats. In addition, the project will cover the digitization of Arabic text from national libraries to preserve old Arabic manuscripts that can be searchable via the Internet. This will also serve as a guide for searching for specific Arabic text or phrases within the scanned images of the manuscripts as they become available online.

Commenting on the project, Dr. Abdulqader Al Khayat, Head of the Board of Trustees of ICT Fund said, “The importance of the strategic partnership that we share with Khalifa University is in line with the vision outlined by the leadership of the UAE which calls for close partnerships with academic and technical institutions to work together to drive the development of a knowledge economy. This also translates into developing national ICT related projects that highlight the UAEs leading position in the ICT sector while giving students the chance to excel in practical disciplines related to ICT studies.”

Khayat added: “One of our main objectives at ICT Fund is to promote and spread technical knowledge amongst the UAEs academic community to further enhance the country’s education system. We do this though partnerships with academic institutions such as Khalifa University by supporting projects that showcase student creativity and innovation which are the main pillars for research and development. Furthermore, we also hope that through applied research, such projects will lead to the development of new solutions and products, that will ultimately benefit the UAE economy.”

Projects such as “reCaptcha” are in line with the “Arabic Digital Content” initiative that was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai in line with the UAE Vision 2021 that aims to establish the UAE as an Arabic language hub and in order to maintain the Emirati national identity for future generations and to promote and protect Arabic language usage in society.

The announcement took place on the sidelines of GITEX Technology Week taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibitions Center.