Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, yesterday launched the new version of the National Cultural Encyclopaedia during a visit to the Federal Government stand at GITEX 2015 in Dubai.

Sheikh Nahyan said the launch of the largest online encyclopaedia on the UAE's history, leaders, culture, heritage, progress and intelligentsia at GITEX, underscores the ministry's desire to use the GITEX as a global platform for technology.

'The active participation of the ministry in this year's GITEX comes within its tireless efforts to deliver the UAE Vision 2021 for transformation towards smart services and customer satisfaction as well as to achieve the National Innovation Strategy by harnessing advanced technology to promote and provide cultural services consistent with the progress the UAE has reached in all walks of life,' he added.

He indicated that the project of the National Cultural Encyclopaedia is the first of its kind that targets the full documentation of the data of the citizens of the UAE, in addition to documenting all the creative works produced by Emiratis intellectuals and creators. It also documents information and data of active cultural institutions active in the state, and information and data and achievement of figures, writers, poets, artists and creators for the purpose of providing this history to the world, along with preserving its output, and appreciating its achievements.

The project seeks to be an interactive encyclopaedic platform for the cultural and artistic achievements in the UAE, in accordance with the cultural vision of the State enshrined in the principles and provisions of Vision 2021, and conforming to the vision of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development of leadership in the cultural and societal development of prosperous Emirates, in order to achieve its mission of improving the cultural and community awareness, and strengthening the national identity and heritage revival.

It aims to achieve the following: ? Listing and archiving of cultural literary and artistic Emirati works.

Listing and archiving the data of Emirati writers, intellectuals and artists.

Listing and archiving the data of cultural, artistic and creative organisations in the UAE.

Listing and archiving of the data of cultural, artistic and creative awards in the UAE.

Listing and archiving the data of events, activities, festivals and cultural, artistic forums in the UAE.

Documentation of Emirati heritage and culture to enhance national identity and promote community awareness of the importance of preserving the incorporeal cultural immaterial heritage.

Introducing the creative literary Emirati achievements at the Arab and world levels.

PROJECT SCOPE Subject: The project aims to cover the cultural scene in the United Arab Emirates as a subject, and the culture in the context of this project used in is broad, rich and most established meaning, which covers the following sub-fields: literature, composition, performance art, theatre, and cinema.

Time: The project deals with any cultural material within the framework of its subject, language and location since the oldest date as possible to stand the limits of the first phase of this project at the date of the launch of the website of the encyclopaedia, and then the information update will be more accessible and easy without the need to return to the procedures conducted at the beginning of the establishment of the project.

Location: This project taking from the UAE as the major axis revolves in its orbit being an entity of power and privacy, that does not deny that there are some treatments of cultural products in all parts of this country in a balanced manner, and also does not prevent the project from placing the culture of the UAE in their natural context on the Gulf, region and global levels.

Language: This project aspires to be in six languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Russian), which represents the six official languages ??in the world; giving the outputs of this project global fame and spread, and writes the Emirati cultural scene in more than one language. However, the launch of this project will begin in Arabic and then in English. Efforts after that will be to translate the original product.
Source: WAM