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Local language computing has always been a subject of debate in India. While the government bodies as well as the IT players have often talked of untapped demand, in reality they have not met with much success.

Some cite the lack of keyboards in local script as the primary problem, comparing India with China, where the use of Mandarin and availability of keyboards in local script have resulted in a deeper penetration of IT in the country. There are others who believe that software applications built for local language applications need to undergo a major change and should focus largely on user-friendliness. Solutions that allowed data entry in Indian languages were available in some form or the other, but they were not user-friendly and hence, it was always difficult to get large user groups to migrate to them.

When Bill Gates visited India in 1998, he said that the only way to bridge the digital divide was to bolster development and use technology solutions in local languages. Taking a cue from this, many organizations such as TDIL, CDAC, MAIT, etc began working on developing local language computing features in different pockets. While many of the projects did not see the light of day, some emerged successful and even formed the base for many e-governance applications.

The government has been showing a keen interest in propagating IT in vernacular languages (more a political gimmick) right since the inception of the National e-Governance Plan. While some of these local language applications have been used by government in isolated projects, the mass uptake of local languages is still to happen in the government space. Nevertheless, industry experts claim that with the ongoing IT penetration through e-Choupals, CSC, SWANs, etc, the government will continue to look at local language IT in a big way.

The market is currently driven by off-the-shelf applications for end-users such as the publishing industry and government sector. However, the, e-governance initiatives undertaken by various government bodies are expected to spur growth in the local language computing market in India.

In a report by DIT-MAIT back in 2002, the local language applications market was estimated at about $11 mn, and was likely to grow up to $64 million by 2005. However, only a fraction of the local language applications market has been catered to so far. It has been observed that a large number of entrepreneurs in this space have not been able to survive post 2003, when the size of the local language software market was projected to grow at a CAGR of 79%. This is simply because the uptake of these applications did not take place at the expected rate, says Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT.

Software Providers
While CDAC has been doing a lot of independent work around script generation and creating design standards, it has partnered with technology companies to develop the software. Apart from this many private IT players have also been working on the development of local language software for Indian government needs.

Microsoft, Red Hat, HP and IBM are among the large names that have been focusing on local language software development as part of their Indian strategy. Microsoft has been working closely with various departments of the central and state governments and public-sector organizations for the last seventeen years. The company has partnered with fourteen state governments and there are more than 300 e-governance applications running on the Windows platform.

As part of its ongoing efforts towards overcoming the language barrier to computing, Microsoft recently announced a host of custom made solutions for the Indian market. The company has introduced Language Interface Packs (LIPs) in twelve Indian languages for Microsoft Office and Windows along with forty-five additional soft (virtual) keyboards, which are free to download. Apart from this, it has extended its language functions to Windows Live. Microsoft India said the collection of tools and solutions it has now introduced is an attempt to cater to and enable the 95% Indians who still prefer their local language more than English in their work and personal life.

IBM too has been providing Lotus Notes, Tivoli infrasturcture management solutions and its WebSphere application server solutions in local languages for the past few years.

A relatively new company named FTK Technologies, focusing purely on local language solutions, recently introduced its local language software LooKeys in ten Indian languages, specifically for the e-governance sector. FTK, an Isreali company, stated operations in India in 2005 and since then has focused only on providing innovative language solutions to the local users and the more crucial government projects.

We have come up with a new version of LooKeys especially for the e-governance sector that has many additional features such as the encypted Remington keyboard which allows different typing layout functions. It allows online and offline data entry capabilities and we believe that this will cater to the needs of the government employees, said Rafi Palgi, executive manager, FTK Technologies. Apart from the Remington typewriter keyboard feature, FTK has added more application links that will prove to be helpful and interesting to the government employees. For example, the regular version of LooKeys features links to Facebook and Orkut, which helps the user communicate through the regional language on those websites.

FTK Technologies foresees a potential market of about 300 mn users amounting to about Rs 30 crore over the next two to three years. According to Palgi, this market has been taking off slowly because there has been no available solution that was comprehensive and user friendly.

Even before the LooKeys e-gov version was being developed, FTK had partnered with CDAC for the Lekhika project during 2006-07. FTKs technology platforms were integrated with Lekhika and this joint effort was targeted at the government market. However, the product has still not taken off or been deployed in the market as it still needs more enhancements to suit the Indian market needs, says Palgi. Nevertheless, it has plans to continue work on Lekhika sometime in the future.

Meanwhile, FTK is in dialog and has started engaging with the different state governments to market LooKeys. What is unique about LooKeys is that it does not require any special training as it has certain special features such as the dynamic keyboard and virtual typing.

Apart from this, it has also set up a 24/7 support center in Noida which handles technical issues as well as provides installation guidance. Palgi says that once the technology receives higher acceptance within the government segment, the company will expand the capacity of its support center. FTK is now in the process of adapting the software for touchscreen kiosks and monitors and is also looking at making LooKeys available on open source and other platforms apart from Microsoft.

Future Outlook
Despite these steps, the government and the industry players are not showing concerted efforts to push the cause for local language computing in a joint manner.

Some of the projects initiated by the government have failed primarily due to the lack of commercialization of technology and lax timelines for projects. Moreover, the majority of the players in the sector are mid-sized companies or educational institutions with limited financial muscle. Hence, they often tend to be restrained in terms of their research and development spending on new technologies.

Going ahead, the industry, academia and the government need to come together, reduce redundancies and create better standards for the development of local language software applications in the country. Supporting this view, Professor UN Singh, director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, says, By 2016, India will have a population of 500 mn with less than five years of schooling, and another 300 mn not passing out of high school. A knowledge society will be impossible unless we find innovative means of reaching these people. Localizing a mass-based and mass-use software could be a positive step forward that will have a far-reaching effect and impact.

Priya Kekre
priyak@cybermedia.co.in

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