FYI (pardon the crossposts)...
African Languages & ICT for Development in Africa:
Rationale for, potential of, & resources to facilitate localization
A seminar presentation, midway through the "Year of African Languages"
Thursday 22 June 2006, 2:00 - 6:00
World Bank "I" Street Building, I1-200
Washington, D.C.
During this, the Year of African Languages,* the PanAfrican Localisation
project would like to briefly examine the
importance of these languages for development in Africa with particular
attention to their use in information and
communication technology (ICT). This workshop will help raise awareness and
set the context for discussion of
African languages in ICT for development, and also introduce some resources
for localization of software and
internet content.
The indigenous languages and linguae francae of Africa have tended to be
neglected in development discourse
and practice and it has been said that international donors and development
experts generally see African
multilingualism as a hindrance for development on that continent. The
occasion of the Year of African Languages
provides an incentive to begin with a reconsideration of the importance of
Africa's first languages in practical as
well as cultural terms.
Moreover, with the increasing access to ICT in Africa on the one hand, and
worldwide exploration of the
multilingual potentials of the technology on the other, we have an
opportunity to consider how user interfaces and
internet content can optimally meet the complex linguistic profile of
African societies (without contesting the
utility of Anglophone and Francophone ICT for a certain range of users and
uses).
The seminar will include a screening of a new documentary on the "African
Languages and Literatures into the
21st Century" conference held in January 2000, and presentations by Dr. Don
Osborn, Daniel Yacob on localization
in African contexts.
The seminar is presented by the PanAfrican Localisation Project, which is
funded by the International Development
Research Centre and carried out by Bisharat, Ltd. and Kabissa - Space for
Change in Africa. For more information,
see http://www.kabissa.org/projects/panafrloc-wb-seminar.html or contact Don
Osborn at dzo at bisharat.net
* The Year of African Languages was declared by the African Union in January
2006
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