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Fwd: Re: NEWS: India to emerge as global hub for developing multi-lingual computing tech




----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
Subject: Re: NEWS: India to emerge as global hub for developing multi-lingual computing tech
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 10:49:59 +0530
From: "Venkatesh (Venky) Hariharan" <venky1@xxxxxxxx>


Fred, NCST, CDAC and others have done considerable research on these areas
but I'd love to see these percolate down to the grassroots level. NCST is
working on enabling Linux in Indian languages, a development which needs to
be whole-heartedly encouraged and supported. Linux may have its limitations
as a desktop Operating System, but  I feel that it can be a blessing for
developing countries where average per capita incomes can be below the cost
of the Windows OS itself!

If you read this article carefully, you'll notice that hardly any concrete
proposals are mentioned in it.

Venky



----- Original Message -----
From: Frederick Noronha <fred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Cybercom <CYBERCOM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <s-asia-it@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 11:02 PM
Subject: NEWS: India to emerge as global hub for developing multi-lingual
computing tech


>Sounds good... but can someone enlighten us as to what is the actual
>practical position on the ground? FN
>***************************************************************
>
>India to emerge as global hub for developing multi-lingual computing
>tech
>
>by Sumeet Chatterjee, India Abroad News Service
>
>New Delhi, Jan 23 - India has the technical expertise and skilled manpower
>to emerge as the global hub for the development of multilingual computing
>technology which will facilitate greater human interaction with computers,
a
>senior government official said Tuesday.
>
>"India can emerge as a global hub for developing language technology which
>is an important tool in bridging the digital divide," Vinay Kohli,
secretary
>in the ministry of information technology, said while addressing a seminar
>on technology development in Indian languages (TDIL) here.
>
>According to Kohli, the market potential of multilingual computing
>technology in India is Rs. 1.20 to 1.25 billion over a period of five
years.
>
>Kohli said that the government has decided to join hands with research
>institutions to focus on development of computing technology in different
>languages to promote the use of information processing tools for languages
>studies and research.
>
>"While English is spoken by less than five percent of the country's total
>population, there are 18 constitutionally recognized languages which are
>spoken by a major part of the population," he said.
>
>Om Vikas, head of TDIL Program in the ministry of information technology,
>said India's competence in the long term would lie in developing language
>technologies for other countries.
>
>"Chinese will be number one in language-wise world population by end of
2050
>at 1.384 billion, followed by Hindi at 0.556 billion, up from 0.316 billion
>in 1996," Vikas said adding that the industry should explore the
possibility
>of developing technologies in Indian languages and integrate them for
>innovative user products and services.
>
>Vikas said in a multi-linguistic country like India people should be able
to
>use computers and other IT systems in there own languages and drive
benefits
>of enhanced productivity and better quality of life. "National excellence
in
>the millennium shall be determined by the extent to which information
>technology can deliver its potential in local languages," he said.
>
>S. Ramani, director (research and development) of software development firm
>Silverline Technologies, said that the issue of intellectual property
rights
>acts as a major roadblock in the development of multi-lingual computing
>technology in India.
>
>"While getting a product patented in India is counter productive because
the
>same program can be developed in some other country using a different
>language. A world-wide patent is usually very expensive in terms of effort
>and cost," he said.
>
>According to Ramani, computer assisted translation has the potential to
>emerge as a profitable IT-enabled service in India in the next couple of
>years.
>
>-- India Abroad News Service
>
>
-------------------------------------------------------