Relevance of Unicode to e governance
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This document discusses the importance of Unicode for e-governance in India, highlighting the country's linguistic diversity with 122 languages and 2371 dialects. It outlines the challenges posed by the lack of local language support, the introduction of Unicode as a standardized encoding system, and the adoption of Unicode by the Government of India and various state governments for effective data representation. The document calls for a comprehensive plan to transition to Unicode and ensure compatibility across all platforms and devices.
Relevance of Unicode to e governance
- 1. Relevance of Unicode to e-governance India has 122 major languages and 2371 dialects t.n.c.venkata rangan CMD, Vishwak Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Former Chair, International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil Place photo here
- 2. Linguistic Diversity in India • According to Census 2001 India has 122 major languages and 2371 dialects • One Language –many script • Many Language –one script • Out of 122 languages 22 are constitutionally recognized languages
- 3. Challenges • Lack of availability in local language has been a reason for slow progress of ICT & benefits not percolating down to common man
- 4. Encoding - Introduction • Computers at their most basic level just deal with numbers • Store letters, numerals and other characters by assigning a number for each one. • Single 8-bit characters sets, limited us to 256 characters max.
- 5. Why a Standard Encoding? • Ensure sharing of information • Help seamless interoperability of data across e-Governance applications • Developers from any part of the globe could interact through the application
- 6. What is Unicode? • Unicode was initiated in 1987 by Joe Becker from Xerox and Lee Collins and Mark Davis from Apple • Provides a unique number for every character, for any • Platform • Program • Language • Visual rendering (size, shape, font, or style) is done by other software, such as a web browser or word processor • 107,000 characters covering 90 scripts • Supported by other standards bodies including ISO, W3C, IETF, ELRA and BIS
- 7. Adoption by GoI in E-Governance • All 22 Languages including Tamil has represented and included in UNICODE by TDIL, Govt. of India • In Nov 2009, Expert Committee on Technology Standards for Indian Languages & National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) under DIT has notified in Gazette of India that “Unicode 5.1.0 and its future versions as standards for e-Governance Applications” - http://bit.ly/u-expert & http://bit.ly/u-goi
- 8. Adoption by states in E-Governance • In August 2008, Kerala Government issued a GO on use of Unicode in Government Offices. http://bit.ly/u-gok • Recently, West Bengal Govt. and SNLTR has decided to accept UNICODE 5.0 and upwards as the standard for data representation and encoding for Bangla. http://www.nltr.org/SNLTR/ • In June 2010, Tamil Nadu Government has announced “Unicode shall be the main 16-bit encoding to be used in all applications where support for Tamil is available” http://bit.ly/u-gotn • On 27 Jul 2010, Maharashtra state Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced government will shortly introduce Unicode system for easy access of Marathi langauage across the world
- 9. Road Ahead • Take stock of all existing legacy, proprietary, 8-bit encodings used in Data, Documents & Applications • Plan and execute to convert to Unicode • Develop & Procure all new systems & applications in Unicode • Ensure all new documents and data are in Unicode • Ensure Unicode & Indic Languages are supported in all PCs, Mobile Phones & Embedded devices
Editor's Notes
- #7: தமிழ்: எண் 2944 முதல் எண் 3071
- #8: http://egovstandards.gov.in/egscontent.2009-12-01.8466358843/at_download/file Headed by Prof. Rajeev Sangal, Director, IIIT, Hyderabad http://egovstandards.gov.in/egscontent.2009-12-29.6248244073/at_download/file http://www.tn.gov.in/gosdb/gorders/it/it_e_29_2010.pdf
- #9: Bengal http://methopath.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/unicode-adoption-for-bengali-the-change-is-happening/ http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Home?language=bng http://www.nltr.org/SNLTR/