Universal Networking Language Opening Speech
Ismail Serageldin
Thursday October 29, 2009
Event:
Universal Networking Language
Abstract:
The mission of the UNL program, initiated within the United Nations and devised by the Universal Networking Digital Language (UNDL) Foundation, is to enable all people to generate information and have access to cultural knowledge in their native languages. UNL is an artificial language attempting to replicate the functions of natural language in human communication.
In July 2004, partnership with UNDL was established and an agreement was signed in favor of BA to host the Ibrahim Shihata Arabic-UNL Center (ISAUC). The Center is funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) in honor of the memory of Dr. Ibrahim Shihata, an international jurist and expert on international development and a great promoter of Arabic culture. ISAUC will play the major role in designing and implementing the Arabic component in the development of this language and will act as an active language center for Arabic. A team conducted by UNDL was formed with members from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and qualified linguists from Egyptian universities.
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Biography:
Ismail Serageldin, Director, Library of Alexandria, also chairs the Boards of Directors for each of the BA's affiliated research institutes and museums. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts which includes the Institut d'Egypte (Egyptian Academy of Science), TWAS (Third World Academy of Sciences), the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is former Chairman, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, 1994-2000), Founder and former Chairman, the Global Water Partnership (GWP, 1996-2000) and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), a microfinance program (1995-2000) and was Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Serageldin has also served in a number of capacities at the World Bank, including as Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (1992-1998), and for Special Programs (1998-2000). He has published over 50 books and monographs and over 200 papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Cairo University and Masters' degree and a PhD from Harvard University and has received 22 honorary doctorates.
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