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UAE working with other countries to develop Arabic domain names
UAEnic, the entity which oversees domain name issues in the country, is working with counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to develop domain names in the Arabic language, confirmed a top official.
A pilot project is already on in these three countries.
In the UAE, the Arabic domain name will feature '.emarat'. At present there are Arabic websites, but no domain names. The new project will let the domain names be keyed into the system in Arabic.
"There are a lot of people who feel disadvantaged because they do not have access to Arabic language domain names," said Abdullah Hashim, general manager of UAEnic and head of the working group overseeing the Arabic domain name project.
The official was speaking ahead of Gitex 2004, the Middle East's premier IT exhibition, which opens today. The event's retail component, the Computer Shopper, opened yesterday at the Airport Expo complex.
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"Through our pilot project, we are testing out the scheme through select government departments and other organisations. We have invited entities from other countries in the GCC to participate in the venture. There is also talks with the global Internet standards entity - Icann."
On the technology front, the Arabic version currently only operates on the Netscape platform.
Hashim confirmed talks have taken place with Microsoft's local office to get its Explorer service to offer support to the Arabic domain name.
"Based on the feedback to the pilot programme, we are in a position to launch full Arabic domain name capability in the UAE in the near future," the official added.
"But there have to be more service providers in the other countries within
the region."
Source : http://www.gulfnews.com/
