BBM awarded for successfully implementing complex solution overcoming Arabic IT challenges

BBM had taken on the daunting challenges posed by Arabic calligraphy to develop and implement a purpose built solution that uses sophisticated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to scan and subsequently digitise a wide range of both English and Arabic documents. The solution, developed for a Bahrain Ministry, digitises a wide range of complex documents.

The successful implementation of this project provides real, tangible evidence of the ability to integrate the complexities of the Arabic language with an effective OCR application to create a secure digital workflow. This, in turn, sets the stage for other ministries, government organisations and business establishments to digitise their own information assets and create real value within their operations.

The project, which was implemented using Kofax Ascent Capture with Arabic support, earned BBM, already recognised as one of the largest IT solutions and service providers in the region, the prestigious "Best Partner" award.

"Information is vital for government entities and the ministry has leveraged Kofax software to maximize the value of their digitized data," said BBM General Manager Abdulla Ishaq. "Kofax continues to deliver real value and greatly reduces the cost and complexity of capturing and managing data."

"Challenges in reading Arabic such as letters that change shape and touch one another, special signs and cursive text letter shapes have always made it a complex language to recognise. Special algorithms need to be developed for the recognition and accuracy has, in the past, been a major problem," said Ishaq. "The award winning implementation of this project effectively put these challenges behind us," he added.

The Kofax software implemented in the project included Ascent Capture that automates information capture from scanned paper or imported electronic documents. Based on user-defined criteria, the entire document or extracted data is digitized, then routed to an archive, database, or the next step in the business workflow.

Powerful recognition engines and image enhancement features ensure accuracy, reducing or eliminating the need for manual entry and oversight. The Arabic OCR engine for Kofax Ascent Capture virtually eliminates the technical challenges associated with capturing and processing Arabic language content.

Kofax Ascent accelerates business processes by collecting paper documents, forms and e-documents; transforming them into accurate, retrievable information; and delivering the content into an organization's business applications and databases.

"The addition of powerful Arabic OCR and language support to Kofax Ascent Capture's capabilities has opened up a large opportunity for projects within organisations and businesses looking to capture and retrieve their Arabic documents," said DICOM FZE Managing Director Lars Jeppesen.

"BBM, a certified Kofax partner, has initiated and implemented a major Kofax project involving Arabic language support and we're very excited about building on this key technology. We see the ministry's choice as key to the strength of our product platform and we envision a huge potential for the needs of government sectors," he said.