Blogging Workshop In Qatar- Google provides solution to Arabic transliteration problem

Creating content in Arabic script requires either learning the Arabic keyboard layout or using onscreen keyboards, which are useful but limited by the speed at which one can click the mouse.

As a result, producing online content in Arabic script has mostly been limited to a small number of bloggers and commercial websites.

Google recently launched an exciting solution to the transliteration problem, from Roman into Arabic script.

Speaking to Media persons at the Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology workshop on Saturday, head of Engineering Google Inc (MENA), Ahmad Hamzawi said, “Transliteration is a technique that is used to do phonetic mapping of words written in one script (e.g. Arabic) to another script (e.g. Roman).

While using Roman transliteration may be adequate for a lot of purposes (chatting), it leaves a lot to be desired from the perspective of people who prefer to read and write the language in its original script.

Jeramiah Owyang, a partner at Alimeter Group, opened the session with blogging strategy.

He said, “Humans beings are essentially social creatures.

We maintain our social networks through contacts, connections and affiliations.

A blog is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other websites.

Blogs range from the personal to political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.” Blogging is not very popular in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region because of the lack of Arabic content, he said.

There are 4000 blogs in Arabic language.

Arabic is the eighth most-used language on the Internet.

Nineteen percent of bloggers in the region are critical to terrorism.

Sixty-four percent people blog on domestic issues and news around the region.

Owyang said its important to integrate your blog with other social networks tools like facebook, twitter, delicious, dig etc.

Shabina Khatrisi, an American freelance Journalist in Doha, talked about her experience in starting as a professional and personal blogger.