Knowledge must be focus of digital age, media experts say

Amman: Culture and knowledge are key concepts that enrich the digital space to be useful and valuable to the public, and these two concepts must be the focus of the digital age, as a modern concept that arose with the emergence of the digital revolution, and it describes the way we measure, organize, and perceive time in our age, which is characterized by heavy reliance on digital technologies," said media experts at the first Jordan Forum for Media and Digital Communication. The experts, who included Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA), Ali bin Tamim, Cultural Program Officer at the Gulf Research Center, Zaid Al Fadhil, Frogmedia founder Jawad Al Omari, and Editor-in-Chief of Egypt's Al Shorouk newspaper, Emad El Din Hussein, gave their remarks during the second session of the forum, entitled "Digital Age from a Cultural and Media Perspective." They spoke about the importance of keeping pace with information in the digital space with the requirements and conditions of science and not th e requirements of the public. Al-Fadhil said that the characteristics of the digital age, such as speed and synchronization, made information flow quickly and reach everyone in one moment, and this aspect neglected the past and the future and gave value to the present, which created a sense of distraction and isolation from the real world and social relations. Al-Omari pointed out that this age has given an opportunity to access information quickly, as the click of a button eliminates the suffering of the past and reading for long hours to obtain certain information, adding that the characteristics of this digital age have facilitated communication with others according to certain characteristics and specific interests. Bin Tamim added that the issue in the mentality that accepts the e-book among readers has become the speed of obtaining information without making a mental effort to acquire different knowledge until reaching the required knowledge, stressing the need for knowledge to be in line with the re quirements of science and not the requirements of the public, and that there must be guidance for the public to the correct practices, to develop and prosper the culture in modern technologies. For his part, Hussein pointed out the importance of self-making and shaping awareness to build culture, which requires negating the rule that says "the public wants this", because this will is based on entertainment and not learning, underlining that culture is the solution to any dilemma facing us despite the absence of culture or cultural status through the digital space, and there is no interest in rooting the culture cognitively or documenting knowledge through this space. He underscored the importance of having strategies to make culture a major criterion in countries where intellectuals dominate the scene, especially since it is the content that plays the role in the digital age in terms of the value of the content and its originality, while the outreach is determined by the strength of the content and the type of medium that is adapted to it. Source: Jordan News Agency