Google’s Director of Arabization Visits Birzeit University

Google’s director of language services and arabization Fayeq Owies visited Birzeit University to give a lecture on Arabic digital content and discuss possible joint cooperation with Sina Institute for Knowledge Engineering and Arabic Technologies.

The Birzeit University Google ambassadors and the Najjad Zeenni Information Technology Center of Excellence organized the visit.

Owies delivered a lecture entitled “BelArabi Ahla,” aiming to promote Arabic content on the Internet. Owies focused on the importance of enriching Arabic digital content. Owies pointed out that Google’s activities to enrich Arabic digital content are conducted through partnerships with universities, in order to create Arabic content and translate the existing content into Arabic.

Owies went on to say that Google provides training, support and programs for educational institutions and telecommunication companies in order to create and manage Arabic content. This in turn helps to keep up with recent innovations in Arabic technology. Such activity is important  because the Arabic language is the seventh most widely used language on the internet.

In his visit to Sina Institute, Owies also met with Vice President for Academic Affairs Henry Giacaman, Information Technology faculty dean Ali Jaber, director of the computer science department Basem Sayrafi, and Sina Institute director Mustafa Jarrar. In the meeting, the parties discussed cooperation between Google and Sina Institute.