Multilingualism in Cyberspace Conference Concluded in Bamako (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Multilingualism in Cyberspace Conference Concluded in Bamako
http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=65081&src=0

/noticias.info/ - Essential steps to ensure that a language, that is not
yet represented on the Internet, is included in cyberspace, were
identified at the conference on “Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity
and Participation of All in Cyberspace" that UNESCO and partners
organized in Mali’s capital Bamako last week.

The over 130 participants from 25 countries concluded that there is a
need for written national language policies that must address the issue
of language in cyberspace. They stressed that standards are crucial to
create, access, disseminate and preserve multilingual content in
cyberspace, particularly in endangered and lesser-spoken languages.

Participants also pointed out that local content is critical to foster a
multilingual cyberspace and to ensure that members of all communities
can share in the benefits of cyberspace. In this context , the role of
libraries and archives to sustain linguistic diversity should be
fostered, for example through promoting reading and making content in
local languages available, both in analogue and in digitized form.

The role of the media, particularly local and community radios and
emerging web media, should be strengthened to foster language
diversity, especially using endangered and lesser spoken languages,
particularly those with predominantly oral traditions. Although the
meeting focused on “cyberspace” it was noted that the media has a vital
role to play, whether in localizing terminology or in building
capacities that are relevant to the ability to participate in the
digital world.

Measuring and monitoring multilingualism in cyberspace are crucial to
the development of languages policies and analyzing their impacts.
However, the present statistical services including data collection and
analysis are insufficient.

The Conference, that was recognized as one of the thematic meetings of
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), was organized by
UNESCO, together with the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) and the
Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie (AIF), in cooperation
with the Government of Mali.

UNESCO will submit the conclusion of the conference to the World Summit
oin the Information Society.