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Government should constitute an "Inclusion Framework for Local Languages" under Digital India - Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Paytm
Apr 28, 2022
New Delhi, April 28 2022: There is a need for a vibrant and strong local tech ecosystem, said Mr Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paytm.
Speaking at the special session of the Digital Bharat 2022 - a three-day virtual event organised by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Ministry for Communication, Government of India and industry chamber FICCI, Sharma said that technology is critical for any nation's reputation, sovereignty, and self-dependence in his address. He alluded to countries which use technology in their local languages.
"Inclusive technology is a foundational requirement for a nation", he said, adding, "language should be the primary barrier that needs to be crossed for any technology inclusion agenda".
Mr Sharma suggested that industry associations like FICCI should approach the government to enact an inclusion framework for local languages under the Digital India mission. The framework should mandate, among other things, that email addresses could be set up in local languages, leading to acceptance of local languages in user signups, emailing systems, and URL indexation.
He further added that domain registrars should provide recommendations to buyers on the availability of the domain in local languages and stressed the need for setting-up incentives for driving domain registrations in local languages.
Dr Ajay Data, Co-Chair, IT and ITeS Committee, Chairman of UASG, ICANN, and CEO, Data Xgen Technologies Pvt. Ltd moderated the discussion and said, "There are several gaps that need to be filled for India to develop a strong multilingual internet platform, and Universal Acceptance can create a bridge between these gaps to bring the next billion people online".