King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language (KSGAAL), in collaboration with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO) and the Tunisian Association for Educational Initiatives, is organizing the fourth annual Arab Code Week 2024. This event, running from May 1 to May 7 under the theme “Smart Arabic Language Applications,” aims to enhance the skills of children and individuals with disabilities (ages 6 to 18) across the Arab world and anyone interested in programming and technology. The goal is to create an engaging educational environment that teaches participants the basics of coding, principles of command engineering, and applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in serving the Arabic language while highlighting the importance of understanding programming in today’s world.

Dr. Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Washmi, Secretary-General of KSGAAL, stated, “By co-organizing the Arab Code Week event, KSGAAL reaffirms its strategic role in any project and initiative that effectively supports the Arabic language. By developing AI technologies for Arabic Natural Language Processing locally and globally, we seek to raise awareness among beneficiaries in these fields. The event highlights our expertise in developing scientific and research tools and linguistic computing applications.”

The fourth edition of Arab Code Week focuses on AI and the emerging field of “Command Engineering.” Students will be trained to utilize large language models like ChatGPT to create illustrated dictionaries, produce stories, or develop other applications.

By organizing Arab Code Week, KSGAAL is fostering cooperation with ALESCO to contribute to disseminating an inclusive coding-for-everyone culture. The event features participation from public and private educational institutions across the Arab world, schools for children with disabilities, clubs and associations from various Arab countries, parents, students, teachers, university and college students, and anyone interested in programming.

To participate in the 2024 Arab Code Week, registration is required through the official website (here). A single track is designated for each age group: children under 12 will be producing an illustrated dictionary, a digital story, or any digital work (website, application, game) using command engineering available on some AI platforms; the 12-15 age group will produce a short film or any digital work (website, application, game) using command engineering or programming languages; and the 15-18 age group will produce a digital work (website, application, game) using programming languages. For students with disabilities, the tasks include creating an illustrated dictionary, a digital story, or any manual or digital work (website, application, game) that enhances the status of the Arabic language, using command engineering available on some AI platforms.

The 2024 Arab Code Week is part of KSGAAL’s ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation with relevant international organizations, such as ALESCO. This collaboration includes a range of joint projects in the field of language policies in the Arab region to enhance the use of the Arabic language and employ computational linguistics in building linguistic dictionaries. These efforts extend to projects with a shared focus, Arabic language teaching programs for non-native speakers, and improving the skills of native speakers.