An international conference on digital culture ended two days ago in Alexandria. It was the first time the conference was held in Egypt. An Israeli researcher was barred from participating in the conference. The researcher had already prepared research on electronic culture to be presented to the conference, which was being held in Egypt for the first time.
Conference Secretary General Munir Ateeba said that all members of the conference's secretariat had expressed a categorical rejection of normalization with the "Zionist entity, to underline the national constants agreed on by the Egyptian intellectuals." Gamal Yaqut, director of el-Tazawoq Cultural Palace, which hosted the conference, announced that a digital center will be established at the Palace. The center will deal with digital film and theatrical activities. The center will also work to digitalize Alexandrian literature for the benefit of researchers and the public, Yaqut said. In its final recommendations, the conference called on the General Culture Palaces Authority (GCPA) to establish an Egyptian and Arab prize for digital creativity and criticism. The conference also appealed to governments and bodies concerned with communication technology to provide education in digital culture and increase availability to computer applications. It is necessary for the GCPA and the Arab Union for Internet Writers to join forces to adopt the conference idea and hold it periodically, the conference underlined.
