Tashkent (GNP) – International media executives, researchers, broadcasters, and technology experts have gathered in Uzbekistan for the International Media Forum, Islamic Civilization: A New Perspective – New Discoveries, running from August 24 to 28 across Tashkent and Samarkand. The five-day event focuses on developing modern, digital-first strategies to convey the rich intellectual, scientific, and cultural history of the Islamic world to contemporary global audiences.
Organized by the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, the forum addresses the need to move historical narratives out of traditional academic and museum environments. Discussions center on leveraging streaming services, artificial intelligence, immersive virtual platforms, podcasts, and social media to reach younger, mobile-first demographics while ensuring historical accuracy.
Speaking at the forum, Sherzod Asadov, Press Secretary to the President of Uzbekistan, noted that the event provides an essential platform for international dialogue on preserving a shared human heritage. Klaus Strans, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Euronews, highlighted Central Asia’s role as an intellectual crossroad and called for stronger collaborative ties between global media networks and the region to address the historically limited international coverage of its cultural contributions.
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“History must not remain confined to archives,” said Firdavs Abdukhalikov, Director of the Center for Islamic Civilization. “Our goal is to utilize modern media tools to highlight Islamic civilization’s foundational contributions to science, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy, while reinforcing values of peace and tolerance.”
The assembly also featured key contributions from international media figures, including Tareq Yousef Al-Shumaimry, Editor-in-Chief of The Times Kuwait, and Reaven D’Souza, Executive Managing Editor of The Times Kuwait, who emphasized the importance of human-centric storytelling to make historical legacies relevant to 21st-century audiences.
To ensure long-term impact, the Center for Islamic Civilization announced an educational partnership with the University of Journalism and Mass Communication of Uzbekistan. The collaboration aims to train emerging journalists to combine rigorous historical research with modern digital storytelling techniques.
