Jeddah (SONNA) – The Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA) has launched an integrated digital media ecosystem comprising a range of advanced technological projects and platforms, in a step aimed at strengthening digital transformation in media operations, enhancing the efficiency of news content production, and combating media disinformation. The initiative aligns with the demands of the digital era and reinforces the role of media across the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
UNA Director General Mohammed bin Abdulrabbo Al-Yami said the ecosystem comes in implementation of the resolution issued by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers during its recent meeting in Istanbul on 21–22 June 2025, which called on the Union to intensify its activities in the fields of digital transformation and artificial intelligence, modernize the digital platforms of the Union and its member agencies, and develop the professional capacities of media professionals in member states in these areas.
Al-Yami added that the ecosystem also falls within the Union’s vision to advance joint media cooperation among member news agencies through interconnected digital projects reflecting an institutional transition toward modern media driven by innovation and smart technologies. The system provides an integrated environment that supports news production, exchange, and global dissemination.
He noted that at the forefront of these initiatives is UNA’s new website, which represents the unified digital gateway for media across OIC countries. The platform aggregates news from member states, agencies, and partners into a unified digital hub offering a modern and user-friendly experience while delivering reliable content that reinforces the credibility of professional media work.
Al-Yami indicated that the website features several advanced technological capabilities, most notably instant neural text translation into 51 languages, audio narration for news articles, a media coverage management system, an advanced search engine, and full compatibility with various devices.
He also revealed the launch of “UNA Chatbot,” an intelligent assistant powered by artificial intelligence technologies designed to provide instant and accurate answers regarding the Union’s activities and services around the clock.
According to Al-Yami, the project aims to enhance communication with audiences and deliver information directly from trusted sources. It supports multiple languages, understands different dialects, and integrates directly with other Union platforms.
The ecosystem also includes “UNA Teams,” a digital workspace designed to manage correspondence, archiving, and task organization within the Union, thereby improving institutional efficiency, accelerating decision-making, and strengthening transparency in administrative operations.
Within the framework of professional capacity development, Al-Yami stated that the Union has launched the International Training Institutes Network, a global platform bringing together training institutes, trainers, trainees, and companies within a unified professional network offering accredited training programs and broad opportunities for cooperation and development of training content. The platform supports both in-person and digital training.
He added that the Union crowned its technological media initiatives with the launch of the “Smart Editor,” an AI-powered journalistic tool trained on thousands of official news reports. The tool is capable of producing professional media content aligned with the editorial style of news agencies, accelerating editorial workflows, reducing errors, and enabling journalists to focus more on verification and in-depth analysis.
Al-Yami further noted that among the key projects is the publishing platform on UNA’s website, which allows news agencies and partners to publish their news directly through a secure and rapid protocol. This provides wide international dissemination of media content through instant translation into dozens of languages.
The Union has also launched the Member States Platform, which serves as an integrated services gateway linking the Union with news agencies across member states and providing media and organizational services including news exchange, training, management of international media coverage, media delegations, and professional development programs.
In the context of combating media disinformation, Al-Yami explained that the Union launched UNA Fact Check, a specialized platform for news verification that relies on advanced linguistic analysis technologies covering more than 120 languages. The system analyzes thousands of sources in real time to produce reliable and publishable results.
The projects also include “PalestiFact (Palestine News Fact-Check),” a specialized media tool designed to verify news related to the Palestinian issue and expose misleading narratives through the analysis of thousands of media materials and the production of multilingual professional reports based on trusted sources.
He noted that the ecosystem also includes the Media Membership Platform, which offers a comprehensive program serving journalists and media institutions worldwide through multi-tier memberships providing opportunities for training, media coverage, and participation in international events, in addition to instantly verifiable digital membership cards.
The Union has also implemented the News Processor project, an intelligent system designed to process news issued by various entities and rewrite it in a journalistic style consistent with the editorial policies adopted by news agencies, thereby contributing to standardizing editorial styles and improving content quality.
In the field of media publishing and distribution, Al-Yami stated that the Union introduced a dedicated publishing and distribution system enabling the dissemination of news and press releases to thousands of media entities and institutions through a professional mass-distribution system supporting tracking, archiving, and scheduled publishing.
The Union completed its digital ecosystem with the launch of the University Graduates Training Platform, which aims to automate student training programs and connect universities and training institutions with host training organizations, thereby contributing to the development of graduates’ professional skills and organizing the training process electronically between trainees, training institutions, and academic supervisors.
Al-Yami affirmed that these digital initiatives reflect the vision of the Union of OIC News Agencies to build a modern media ecosystem based on innovation and smart technologies, supporting cooperation among media institutions across member states and strengthening the role of professional media in addressing digital challenges, combating disinformation, and promoting reliable information at the international level.
