The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) announced, on June 17, 2023, the launch of the “ALECSO Chair for the Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy”. The announcement was made during the first Arab Regional Forum on “Metaverse and the Future of Creative Cultural Industries”, held at the initiative of ALECSO in Sousse, Tunisia, on June 17-18, 2023.
In his statement on behalf of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, Dr. Mourad Mahmoudi, Secretary of the Executive Board and General Conference, Acting Director of the Culture Department, pointed out that the launch of the ALECSO Chair is aimed at supporting and encouraging young people and start-ups that produce digital cultural content. ALECSO, he added, “seeks through this Forum to bring together Arab States’ representatives and relevant experts in order to deepen reflection and share views about the challenges, opportunities and risks associated with the digital revolution, especially in relation to culture, language, identity and cultural specificities”.
Dr. Mahmoudi stated that the Forum aims to “help government institutions, relevant actors, and content-producing companies in the Arab countries to develop strategies to take best advantage of the Metaverse and immersive technologies. It is an opportunity for participants to explore fundamental issues pertaining to the new technological revolution and its relation to cultural action in general, and joint Arab cultural action in particular.” He stressed that “Arab countries should get ready to play their role in this new digital order, especially in its cultural, scientific, societal, economic, legal and even sovereign dimensions, so that the Metaverse will not surprise us, as did the first digital revolution and social media platforms.”
For her part, H.E. Dr. Hayat Guermazi, Tunisian Minister of Culture, indicated, in a statement delivered on her behalf by Ms. Salwa Abdelkhalek, Director-General of the Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy, that “the Ministry, represented by the Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy, and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, have chosen to delve into the Metaverse and the related challenges, and to address the future of cultural and creative industries, in order to keep pace with the rapid digital developments and make best use of their benefits in the knowledge and economic fields.
The Minister stressed that the Culture Ministry and the institutions falling under supervision, especially the Tunis International Center for the Digital Cultural Economy, place the future of cultural industries amid the proliferation of new digital technologies at the core of their strategic directions for future policy formulation in this field.
The Forum brought together representatives of official cultural institutions, relevant actors, and representatives of start-ups producing cultural content, to discuss various issues related to digital technologies and their impact on the development of culture and arts industries.
