Religious knowledge through ICT

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. 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.