Multilingual Internet Crucial To Bridge Digital Divide In India: MeitY Addl Secy

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) Additional Secretary Bhuvnesh Kumar on Monday said providing a multilingual internet user interface would be a crucial to bridge digital divide in the country.

Speaking at the curtain raiser of the 2-day event on Universal Acceptance Day, Kumar said, “The country has the most internet users but it must be noted that language barriers also make it a base of the largest numbers of non-users who do not speak English. It is very important that we not just provide internet services but also create emails and websites in native languages.

Being organised on 27 and 28 March, the Universal Acceptance Day event is aimed at driving collaborative efforts for inclusive and multilingual internet. The unique initiative was lauded by Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar as well.

The first day of the event witnessed the presence of dignitaries and thought-leaders including Edmon Chung- Board Director, ICANN, Ajay Data - Chair UASG,  Jia-Rong Low- Vice President & MD, APAC, ICANN, Anil Kumar Jain- CEO, NIXI, Asha Nangia- Scientist G  (MeitY), T Santhosh- Scientist ‘E’, Internet Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Nitin Wali - Senior Director of Stakeholder Engagement, ICANN, and others who shared their views with students, developers, researchers, content creators, participants and other guests.

“Providing a multilingual internet user interface is crucial for bridging the current digital divide. Through Universal Acceptance, we can connect with non-internet users and promote digital inclusion across the country and the world,” Kumar added.

Speaking during a session, Jia-Rong Low, Vice President & MD, APAC, ICANN said, “UA will break down language barriers to help bring the next billion people online. We need to work together to raise awareness for industry particularly the Indian tech companies to accept domain names in diff scripts. I am confident that India's vision for a multingual Internet will come to fruition and be a success case for the world.”