[Indic-computing-users] A workshop on Language, Technology and Culture

[jnshah <jit...@vs...>]

DRAFT
An
Appeal to Initiate
Consultation on
Culture, Language and Technology


There is need to facilitate a concerted effort to bring about an 
awareness among public on Lnaguage technologies. They are having an 
impact on culture and literature . It is important to formulate  future 
strategies to enrich our people and our culture. It is  therefore 
necessary to facilitate meeting of  the Cultural leaders, Literary 
leaders and Technology leaders together into consultation.

IndLinux, C-DAC, VJTI and IIT Centre For Language Technology Research 
are  the natural  Technology leaders . IIT-B  had also organized a 
recent conference on Universal Knowledge and Language in Goa , Nov 2002.

It is necessary to invite interest from the other fields.  
It is proposed that a  conference be organized in the middle of June 
2003. The same may focus on Marathi and may include Gujarati/Hindi if 
found necessary.
To arrive at what should happen in such a conference , and on a 
continuing basis later on,  we wish to bring people in contact with each 
other.

The issues that come to my mind are

Language technology :
Tools : Office tools,  Fonts, converters, editors, operating systems , 
translating aides, UNL
Resources : Dictionaries, lexical resources,  
Standards: script, transliteration,
Application in Education : Translations from English, creation of 
internationalized packages that can be translated into English
Application in other areas, : preserving cultures
Strategies : popularizing of tools, Inter-lingual transliteration 
standard, Free software, enabling affordable computers  
 
Cultural:
             Impact as of now
Future trends
              Saving/preserving  dying languages and corresponding culture

Literary:
            Impact on literary movements
            Creation of content using technology that may sustain
            Creation for global consumption/market
            Translation from other languages  

Those interested in being in the loop, participating in the conference, 
contributing at the conference, and participating in informal caucus 
discussions may so indicate to

Jitendra Shah: jit...@vs...
Kumar Ketkar:



CC : With a request to those in the media to publicise the appeal
(following are those who had attended a 1 day workshop in IIT-B last April)


Vinayak Parab (Loksatta) vin...@vs... 24717677
Sameer karve (Mah Times) sam...@ho... 22731175, 25928131
AnilShaligram(free lance, IT) ani...@ya...    5363122   
      AnilTakalkar (Sakal) ani...@ho...   7572961 9821313620   
      ArunTikekar (Loksatta)    2731175Fax Fax4717653  
      AshokDatar(Marathi Vidyapeeth) fo...@vs...  4449465 6182541   
      BharatRaut (Mah Times)     Fax 2731175Fax  
      GeetaDesai (Mumbai Samachar, Gujarati) sam...@vs...   2045531
      80662122045501Fax9820703561
      HarshavardhanPurandare mum...@ya...  4448351     
      Kumar Ketkar(Loksatta) ket...@ho...     3008851 9821524131
      Mahesh (Tarun Bharat) Sarlashkar s_m...@vs...        
      Mahesh Vijapurkar (Hindu)    
      Meena Karnik(Akshar Prakashan) me...@bo...  4449072 
4446194   
      Nikhil Wagle(Mahanagar) nik...@ho...  449072 4449669   
      Nikhil Vaidya (Alfa TV) va...@ze...  6971234     
      NiluDamle (free Lance) dam...@re...    4304720   
      PrafullaMarpakwar (loksatta) pra...@ho...  4717677
      4143838  9869014105
      PrakashBal( Free Lancer) pr...@bo...    5369984   
      Pralhad Jadhav (Dir Publicity, MS) pra...@re...  
      2024961fax:6456074   
      RaviPandharinath (Dictionery author)     ?5720224   
      Shabnam Minwalla (TOI) smi...@ya...        
      Shivaji Phulsundar (DoorDarshan) ddr...@bo...  4984672 
5340994  
       
      Smruti Koppikar(Express News)    4717677     
      SundarLatpute (Maharashtra)     4111044   
      Suresh Nadkarni (dr, Free Lance) drn...@ya...        
      Vidyadhar Date (TOI) dat...@ya...   2353535 6424799   
      VishwanathSachdev Navbharat Times (Hindi)     ?563535352731889Fax  
      Yuvaraj Mohite (Mahanagar)      8750073Fax4465103