KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Culture and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi on Wednesday inaugurated the digital archive of photographs at the Ministry of Information, which contains approximately three million historical photos of Kuwait in all fields. Acting Director of the Public Relations Department at the Ministry Jamal Al-Badeeh told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the opening of the digital archive comes in line with the ministry’s strategy for digital transformation and improving infrastructure to ensure the sustainability of this historical legacy and its preservation from damage while preserving the original paper photos and film strips (negatives).
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
Al-Badeeh pointed out that the work, which began six months ago, included re-sorting old photos, archiving them, and converting them into digital photos, with the participation of about 35 employees from the ministry. Approximately 600,000 photos have been completed so far, and work is underway to complete the rest of the photos. He explained that the history of the photos in the archive dates back to 1958, noting that an index of photos has been created to facilitate searching for any photo, as well as storing, preserving, and taking backup copies of the photos. — KUNA