ICT New Tool For Promoting Cultural Heritage
By Finaz Daniel

Bandar Seri Begawan - National training session on the use of information technologies in the preservation of cultural diversity began yesterday with a series of presentations by officials from the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) lecturers.

The sessions, jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and ISESCO, were attended by some 40 participants comprising officers from the MCYS, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Civil Service Institute, and lecturers from Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) and UBD.

The three-day session is hoped to explore technical and technological requirements to work out a national action plan to highlight the prominent features of cultural diversity in the country through the use of multimedia information and communication technology.

Yesterday's session began with a presentation by Dr Susan Bastani, ISESCO expert and lecturer from the faculty of social science and economics at the University of Alzahra, Iran.

Dr Bastani's first presentation was on ICT and cultural diversity which covered the definitions of culture, cultural identity, cultural diversity, Islamic culture and ICT. Her presentation also provided an explanation on intellectual and material heritage as well as discussed the different views on the implications of technology and access for society, in particular the impact on social lives.

Her second presentation entitled 'Iran and the Internet' highlighted issues of the usage of Internet in Iran, stressing the view on the structural opportunities and constraints, Internet access and the effect of digital divide as a digital choice.

The moderator then shared the importance of the usage of information technology and explained issues and gave preparatory examples on the collection of information and data of locality and diversity.

Dr Frank Fanselow of the Department of Sociology-Anthropology at UBD conducted the second session that morning with his presentation entitled 'The Challenges of Cultural Globalisation'.

Dr Fanselow gave the participants an overview of various theories of culture and stressed that each country has a unique culture and identity that cannot be judged and must be respected. The presentation also discussed the pressures of globalisation which is motivated by economic, political and culture integration.

He further explained that globalisation involved technological evolution and volume of speed, movement of capital and people as well as knowledge, which includes the influence of global phenomenal economic impact, not only in the commodity market but also in the social and cultural aspect.

The sessions continued that afternoon with a presentation by Professor Madya Dr Iik Arifin Mansurnoor of UBD. In his presentation, Dr Iik spoke of the spread and manifestation of Islam in Southeast Asia and how the history of Islam is continuing and will never be complete.

The fourth and final presentation of yesterday's session was by Dr Hj Suhaimi Hj Abdul Karim, whose presentation described the current development of information technologies, in particular relating to the Internet and portal technologies, digital libraries, content management, digital repositories and knowledge management systems.

According to the presentation, these technologies are seen as prospects for promoting cultural understanding and the preservation of heritage. Dr Iik also outlined the current practices and challenges of applying these technologies in various cultural perspectives. The programme will continue this morning with two more sessions and the adoption of a final report. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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