In relatively few years our lives have come to be influenced directly, and indirectly, by Information Technology. If regional languages are to prosper, they must have their rightful place in this field, hence the need for a strategic, long-term approach.
Improving the situation of the regional languages in information technology will provide a boost to those languages’ status, one of the many prerequisites noted by language planners for a sustainable future for a language. This is merely one strand in a mainstreaming consideration of the languages into areas of policy development and service delivery.
Developing coherent strategies (and technical standards for multilingual computing) for this policy area is essential; given the central part information technology now plays in the everyday lives of citizens: behind the scenes of organisations providing services to the public, via websites, appliances of all types in the home, the workplace and beyond.
The underpinning philosophy of should be that the indigenous and minority language and majority language should be treated on a basis of equality in the field of IT, without extra cost to the end user, either in terms of time finance or inconvenience. We aspire to a situation where within 5 years more people will be able to choose to use their language of choice in a wide gamut of IT facilities, in the home, the community and the workplace, both as an interface language, and to create content. We also aspire to build capacity in the field of technology through the medium of the indigenous or minority language.