The Loghati platform: A digital bridge between languages

“One of the great challenges in the Arab world is the Arabic language,” said Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. “The Arabic language is poetic, but it risks being marginalized because it hasn’t modernized to meet today’s challenges. We need to revitalize the language.” Her Highness was speaking to a delegation following a presentation of Loghati, an integrated e-communications solution developed by Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP).

As part of the event, QSTP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with partners in Italy that will launch a series of projects to demonstrate the influence of Arab culture on Western culture. Through the use of the Loghati platform, the resulting studies have the potential to facilitate new research, develop new works and publish new books.

Loghati – which means “my language“ in Arabic – allows the creation of virtual libraries comprised of ancient and modern texts, where each document is a multi-dimensional information repository that can be accessed, amended, instantly translated from Arabic into other languages and back again. Loghati also has the ability to host audio and video content in its virtual library, creating a multimedia interface for knowledge previously unavailable to millions.

Loghati was developed by QSTP and is the second homegrown technology outside the energy sector developed in Qatar and commercialized internationally. It is an integrated system built upon an innovative architecture of artificial intelligence that continuously develops as users interact with the platform.

Sheikha Moza, who spearheads initiatives aimed at developing innovative technology and skills to support Qatar’s transformation from a carbon-based economy into a knowledge-based economy, attended the unveiling of Loghati in Rome. During the presentation, a demonstration of Loghati showed how it can facilitate the publishing of multilingual versions for all written text and foster unprecedented cross-cultural exchange and collaboration between researchers, academics and institutions, which helps build the foundation for a knowledge-based society.

“The Arab tradition for transferring knowledge, particularly among Bedouin people, was by word of mouth and the direct interaction between people. Loghati is the 21^st century version of this tradition. This platform allows anyone to interface directly and seamlessly with great Arab works from anywhere in the world,” said Dr. Tidu Maini, Science and Technology Advisor and Chairman of QSTP.

Scholars, semantics experts, and government officials praised Loghati’s potential to bridge communication between people of diverse nationalities and to preserve and promote great works that would otherwise be unshared due to language barriers.

The Galileo Museum in Florence, a museum focused on the history of science, has big plans. “The language that will be used in the museum is interactive, relying significantly on information technology. Of course the fantastic Loghati platform developed by QSTP provides the ideal opportunity to spread throughout the world all the achievements by the Arab civilization,” said Professor Paulo Galluzzi, Director of the museum and Professor of the History of Science at the University of Florence.

“I have seen the Loghati platform at work and have been very impressed. I have been exposed to IT in the last twenty years and can see the very high level of contributions that Loghati will provide to improving communication and understanding between cultures.”

Sheikha Moza welcomed the numerous opportunities for shared knowledge, culture and expertise with the researchers, officials and academic institutes in Italy. She expressed her support for projects that foster greater understanding between people across the world.

Loghati will help to preserve the Arabic language through the publication of information in several formats, such as scientific books and other new works. Giunti Publishing House, publisher of Pinocchio, discussed how it will make sure Loghati projects are sustainable, by creating publications, books and e-books with the outcomes of the research using the technology. Giunti Publishing House will partner with QSTP, Amuser-QSTP B and In Lucina i Associati on this project.

“Our publishing group is very interested in building a bridge between west and east – Italy and Qatar – through culture, science and education,” said Dr. Sergio Giunti, Chairman of Giunti Publishing House. “Loghati will better help us to exchange experiences, to share knowledge, to enhance friendship, to highlight the deep-rooted relations between the Italian and Arabic world, as well as to build partnerships.”

Universities in Italy and around the world are expected to take an exceptional interest in the Loghati platform, as it will be a useful tool for professors to upload their lectures, and for students to make their own annotations. QSTP has previously signed a MOU with the Polytechnic University of Torino, who intend to use Loghati to provide its multicultural student community with e-support to access the content of lectures.

In this most recent MOU, the Universita Orientale Napoli, the world’s oldest state university, will use the Loghati platform to enable the promotion and exchange of information related to preserving cultural heritage. In the archives of the university, lie hundreds of manuscripts and documents of Arabic text, most of which are unknown to the world. Loghati will be used to digitize and translate these manuscripts on Arab culture and innovation and in doing so provide a new platform for shared learning and discovery.

Also partnering with QSTP in the new agreement is The European Center for Study on Normans (CESN). CESN will use Loghati for research activities on the history of the Normans and their relationships with the Arab world. The first known example of such cooperation has been the translation of a book on falconry titled ‘De Arte Venandi Cum Avibus’ written by Frederic II, Roman Emperor and founder of the University of Naples. CESN will use Loghati to facilitate research studies on the works of Arab and medieval Latin culture.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Her Highness Sheikha Moza was taken on a tour of the museum, which is the site of the most ancient publicly owned museums in the world.

 

Advertisement