Religious knowledge through ICT

Tuesday March 31, 2009
Religious knowledge through ICT
By JO TIMBUONG


KUALA LUMPUR: Two years after its launch, KnowledgeGrid Malaysia will welcome a new application to its network.

Called IslamGrid, this new addition aims to promote religious understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims around the world.

The KnowledgeGrid is a national infrastructure that consists of hardware, software and services. It provides access to computing power and data for research and industrial development.

Jointly developed by applied research body Mimos Bhd, the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, IslamGrid will use the KnowledgeGrid’s infrastructure to collect,store and disseminate information about the religion and its contribution to world history.

Collating information

Work on IslamGrid started last year and it was showcased at the World Congress on Information Technology here.

“IslamGrid presently contains basic information about the religion like scriptures and prayer times but we are developing it to be even more than that,” said Associate Professor Dr Fauzan Noordin, chairman of the KnowledgeGrid Malaysia Forum.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the first KnowledgeGrid Malaysia Forum at IIUM recently.

Fauzan said the developers hope to use the power of the KnowledgeGrid to collate information on Islam from around the world.

The information will then have to be approved by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) before it is put up on the Grid.

“We need the KnowledgeGrid to collect the information and we’ll be dealing with a lot of data and using computer power to translate that data,” Fauzan explained.

He said history has shown that the Muslim world has contributed a lot to human civilisation — from ­mathematics to science and ­technology.

“This information is strewn all around the world, so we need a Grid network to find, store and ­disseminate it,” he said.

Bridging the divide

Fauzan also said developers in IIUM are also working on a user-friendly search engine that will help users search for relevant and accredited information about Islam.

“This project is funded by a RM1.5mil grant from the Science Technology and Innovation Ministry and will be available in Arabic, English, Mandarin and Malay,” he said.

Fauzan also sees IslamGrid as a part of a solution to help bridge the digital divide.

“This will be another reason to go online to look for information,” he said, adding that religious teachers and students can go to IslamGrid to access in-depth information about the day’s lesson.

Fauzan added that there is a lack of relevant religious content online and IslamGrid is expected to fill in that gap.

“With IslamGrid, users know that they are getting relevant and ­accredited information about the ­religion and its history, which I hope will help them better understand it,” he said.

Gradual roll-out

Although the developers have big hopes about developing IslamGrid, they planned its roll-out ­conservatively.

In his presentation, IslamGrid’s project manager, Kamaruddin Dolmoin said the first version of IslamGrid will be ready by the middle of the year.

“When support for it picks up, we want to introduce IslamGrid to South-East Asian nations first before bringing experts from around the world to contribute to it,” he said.

But Fauzan said that IslamGrid has already caught the attention of a larger audience who are keen to help with the project.

“We already have parties from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt interested in helping us with the project,” Fauzan claimed.

For a feel of IslamGrid, visit
www.islamgrid.gov.my.