Kanoo Signs Pact With Sabre

Kanoo Travel has signed a multi-year renewal contract with and Sabre Travel Network Middle East. This move reaffirms Kanoo’s preference for the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS).

“Kanoo Travel has used Sabre solutions for several years and our multi-year renewal agreement allows us to further extend our partnership with a technology and content provider whose growth strategy is driven by a committed presence throughout the region. This has created tremendous value for our agency community far beyond competitor offerings,” said Abdullah M. Abo Khamseen, executive general manager, Kanoo Travel.

The agreement enables travel consultants to gain access to enriched functionality through the MySabre web-based booking tool that combines traditional products bookable in the Sabre system, such as airlines, car hire, hotels, cruise and rail, with content from the Internet and third-party suppliers. Travel consultants across Kanoo Travel’s network are also being trained by Sabre’s specialized trainers on the company’s latest and enhanced solutions and ongoing support is also accessible round-the-clock through the company’s telephone help desk facilities in both Bahrain and Dubai.

“Sabre’s powerful booking engine provides access to the latest e-ticketing technology that enables reduced ticketing costs, swifter customer service and a new business channel as the region becomes more technologically networked and Internet enabled. The company’s strong commitment to the agency channel and its establishment of regional headquarters in the Kingdom of Bahrain and branch operations regionwide are a perfect match for a rewarding future together,” added Abo Khamseen.

Arabic Glossary for Digital Printing

OKI Printing Solutions has completed a standardized Arabic Glossary that defines technical terms for the business of supporting, using and managing professional digital printing devices. The OKI Arabic Glossary is being made widely available by OKI as an open standard definition and has already been shared with a number of key stakeholders in the region.

“The teams at OKI Middle East have found that there is little comprehensive definition of the terms, acronyms and technical phrases that have built up around the digital printing revolution in English, let alone in Arabic. We first started to develop this glossary to meet our own needs for a standardized set of Arabic definitions and the project has grown from that. We believe it is important to define a widely accepted Arabic nomenclature for this industry and hope this will inspire other industry groupings to follow suit,” said John Ross, GM, OKI Printing Solutions Middle East.

The OKI Arabic Glossary is backed by several key authorities, including the Dubai Chamber of Commerce Special Interest Group on Printing, the American University in Dubai (AUD) IT faculty and Arabic language technical writers including Waleed Al-Asfar, former IT editor of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. The glossary defines and explains over 120 technical phrases in English and Arabic, giving standard translations for each phrase, term or acronym.

According to Al-Asfar, one of the region’s best known Arabic language technical writers, “This is just a first step in the development of a standardized technical Arabic. There’s more to do, but it does point the way forward in terms of public/private sector cooperation in defining the language of technology in Arabic.”

To quickly spread the word on the effort and solicit feedback, the OKI Arabic Glossary is also being made available to academic institutions around the region through AUD’s own partner program.

“This is an important effort to establish elements of a living, technical Arabic in an area of technological innovation, movement and growth. We see it as an inspirational project for others to adopt and follow,” said Dr. Khalid Khawaja, chair of the IT program at AUD. “We are discussing AUD’s role in acting as a repository for this and similar industry-led efforts to define a standard technical Arabic for other areas of informatics.

OKI has posted the Glossary on the Internet at www.oki.com/arabicglossary.htm. The OKI Arabic Glossary is intended as an “open source” endeavor, to be made available to all stakeholders on an open, copyright free basis. In the short term, OKI plans to manage the core glossary and update it according to input from around the region, but in the longer term the company plans to bring the glossary to an independent body to own and manage as a standard Arabic lexicon.

Software AG to Open Riyadh Office

Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO of Software AG, announced during the press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh that the company would be opening a representative office in the Saudi capital as a base for growing Software AG’s business in the GCC.

A memorandum of understanding and cooperation has been signed between Software AG and Al-Faisal International Academy under which the company will provide the technology needed by the academy for its training programs.

Streibich noted that Software AG has had clients in the Kingdom for 25 years including Samba and the Islamic Development Bank. He is delighted to be working with Al-Faisal International Academy and urged more Saudi companies to investigate the options offered by German technology.

“Software AG provides software solutions designed in Germany that are capable of building effective technological infrastructure in many sectors including the economic, industrial and financial sectors,” said Streibich. “This software has proved highly efficient in Europe and now we will be launching the same solutions in the Gulf market through our new Riyadh office.”