Multilingual Internet: a Key Catalyst for Access & Inclusion | IGF 2023 Town Hall #75

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The analysis consists of multiple arguments and stances on different topics. One argument is presented by Elisa Hever from the Dutch government, who raises concerns about the lack of significant progress in International Domain Names (IDNs). Despite the constant reiteration of their importance, Elisa questions why there has been little development in this area.

It is mentioned that resolutions pertaining to IDNs have already been introduced by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for quite some time. Elisa suggests that governments and the business community should play a more active role in driving progress in the field of IDNs.

Another topic discussed is the role of language-based data in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

It is asserted that AI heavily relies on substantial language-based data to learn and function effectively. This reliance on language-based data makes it difficult for AI to be applied to lesser used or minority languages if the necessary data is unavailable.

The argument suggests that as AI requires a large amount of language-based data, its growth and application may be limited for lesser used languages.

One observation made is the lack of support for indigenous languages in global digital platforms.

It is highlighted that Indonesia has over 700 indigenous languages, with over 30 languages using non-Latin scripts. The speaker’s attempts to register an International Domain Name (IDN) with ICANN for the Japanese and Balinese languages in Indonesia were denied based on specific requirements not being met.

This lack of support for indigenous languages raises questions about the inclusivity and support provided by ICANN. It is further critiqued that ICANN’s denial of the IDN application was based on the languages not being used as official communication or administrative languages.

The language requirements for IDNs are seen as a ‘chicken and egg’ problem, where support for the languages is limited due to their lack of recognition, and their lack of recognition is partly attributed to the lack of support.

Efforts are being made to address the need for digital tools to support indigenous languages and cultures.

Collaboration with ICANN and other entities is being sought to develop a label generation role for these languages. By providing access to International Domain Names, it is believed that indigenous communities would be able to engage with digital platforms and enhance their cultural presence.

However, further details or evidence about ongoing efforts in this area are not mentioned.

Another point discussed is how to encourage the private sector to prioritize language inclusivity when developing technology. Although an argument is provided, no further details or evidence are given to support this point.

It remains unclear how or why the private sector should prioritize language inclusivity in technology development.

Lastly, the analysis highlights the challenges faced by the deaf and hard of hearing community in relation to auto-captioning services. It is argued that the community faces censorship when relying on auto-captioning services.

An example is given of Lydia Best, who calls for uncensored auto-captioning services. The argument suggests that the deaf and hard of hearing community should be provided with uncensored auto-captioning services to ensure equal access to information.

In conclusion, the analysis presents various arguments and stances on different topics.

It raises important questions about the progress and support in the field of IDNs, the limitations of AI in relation to language-based data, the lack of inclusivity for indigenous languages in global digital platforms and ICANN’s approach, the need for digital tools to support indigenous languages and cultures, the encouragement of language inclusivity in technology development by the private sector, and the challenges faced by the deaf and hard of hearing community with auto-captioning services.

However, some arguments lack supporting evidence, and further details are required to fully understand the ongoing efforts and potential solutions in these areas.

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The discussion centers around the importance of establishing a fully multilingual internet to foster digital inclusion and promote language justice. Presently, while there are over 6,500 languages spoken globally, approximately 60% of internet content is in English. This poses a challenge for the next billion internet users who do not have English as their first language.

Therefore, it is crucial to develop a more inclusive internet that caters to the linguistic diversity of its users.

A fundamental aspect of achieving language justice is ensuring universal acceptance of internationalized domain names (IDNs) and email addresses.

However, several obstacles must be addressed to make this a reality. Currently, only 10% of top-level domains are internationalized out of a total of 1,500 domains. Furthermore, out of the 350 million domain names registered worldwide, only 1% are internationalized. This emphasizes the need to increase adoption and usage of IDNs.

Technical and policy requirements also pose challenges to achieving universal acceptance.

It is necessary to have the appropriate technical infrastructure in place to support IDNs and email addresses in different languages. Additionally, policy interventions are needed to ensure that stakeholders recognize and prioritize the importance of language justice.

Demand and support are also significant factors.

Suppliers providing IDN registrations often do not perceive sufficient demand, necessitating government intervention to overcome this issue. Governments can play a vital role by integrating universal acceptance readiness into their tender processes and system upgrades. By making it a requirement, they can incentivize the adoption and support of IDNs and email addresses.

Education is another crucial factor in promoting the use of IDNs and email addresses.

Currently, these are often treated as mere add-ons rather than being incorporated into the basic protocol. One suggestion is to teach these elements as part of Networking 101, which would help normalize their use and promote greater inclusivity.

Furthermore, the dominance of English on the internet has implications for artificial intelligence (AI).

Currently, 57% of web content is in English, resulting in AI systems predominantly being English-based. This limits the capabilities and inclusivity of AI technologies. By promoting the use of IDNs and email addresses, content and services in different languages can be encouraged, making AI more inclusive and diverse.

The foundational infrastructure of the internet is essential for the development of multilingual content.

The Domain Name System (DNS), created in 1983, serves as the backbone for the internet infrastructure. Without a well-developed DNS, it becomes challenging to create and access multilingual content effectively.

The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has initiated a universal acceptance program to address these issues.

This program aims to bring about significant changes and upgrade ICANN’s internal systems to be universal acceptance ready. However, implementing universal acceptance faces challenges due to technical and policy requirements.

Additionally, ICANN is addressing the issue of indigenous languages through ongoing policy development.

It is important to revisit the label generation process in light of the international decade of indigenous language. This demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and the recognition of the importance of preserving and promoting indigenous languages online.

Edmon Chung, an advocate in this field, believes that relying solely on market forces will not be sufficient to support indigenous languages and universal acceptance, as market failure may occur.

Therefore, policy intervention is necessary. Intervention could involve providing funds or enforcing requirements in tenders to motivate stakeholders to prioritize language justice and universal acceptance.

In conclusion, establishing a fully multilingual internet is crucial for achieving digital inclusion, language justice, and sustainable development.

Universal acceptance of internationalized domain names and email addresses is a key step in this process. However, challenges related to technology, policy, and demand need to be overcome. Education, government support, and enhanced infrastructure are also necessary to promote inclusivity and diversity in internet content and services.

The ongoing efforts by ICANN and the recognition of indigenous languages demonstrate a commitment to addressing these issues. Ultimately, policy intervention is crucial to ensure that universal acceptance becomes a priority and facilitates an internet that caters to the linguistic diversity of its users.

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Multilingualism and universal access to the internet are crucial for achieving digital inclusion and reducing the global digital divide. Astonishingly, around 37% of the world’s population, equivalent to approximately 2.7 billion people, currently lack internet access. This staggering figure highlights the urgent need to address this issue and ensure equal opportunities for all to participate in the digital realm.

One of the main obstacles to achieving digital inclusion is the lack of linguistic diversity in cyberspace.

This problem disproportionately affects indigenous and underserved communities, who face difficulties in accessing digital services due to the absence of their languages online. Recognizing this challenge, UNESCO and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) are working collaboratively to promote multilingualism in cyberspace and develop a universal acceptance tool.

This tool aims to facilitate access to online resources for individuals, irrespective of their native language, thereby promoting universal inclusion.

The impact of linguistic diversity in cyberspace cannot be overstated. Addressing the lack of multilingualism is not only vital for digital inclusion but also holds the potential for significant societal progress.

The internet is globally recognized as a powerful tool for positive transformation. However, for the 37% of the world’s population who remain disconnected, this potential remains untapped.

The overall sentiment towards promoting multilingualism and universal access to the internet is positive.

It is crucial to prioritize indigenous and underserved communities in the provision of digital services. By bridging the linguistic gap and ensuring equal internet access for all, we can make substantial strides towards achieving SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

In conclusion, promoting multilingualism and universal access to the internet is essential for achieving digital inclusion and reducing the digital divide.

The efforts of organizations such as UNESCO and ICANN to address the lack of linguistic diversity in cyberspace are commendable. By developing a universal acceptance tool and focusing on underserved communities, we can unlock the vast potential of the internet for positive transformation and uplift the billions of individuals currently left behind.

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The analysis highlights several key issues related to internationalised domain names and universal acceptance adoption. It points out that technical issues persist in parsing certain email addresses, as demonstrated by Gmail’s struggle to recognise a Thai email address. This exemplifies the difficulties that users face with internationalised domain names.

Another important point raised is the need to support more languages, especially indigenous ones, in order to improve universal acceptance.

It is noted that the Khmer label generation rules currently do not support most indigenous languages of Cambodia. However, there is hope as the software developed by Mark’s team has been able to correct most of the mis-encodings in the Khmer script.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights the crucial role of wide adoption of label generation rules for the uptake of internationalised domain names.

It mentions how Mark registered a spoofed KhmerScript.com domain as proof that the rules aren’t widely adopted. It is also mentioned that many Asian scripts have multiple ways of encoding visually identical words, which creates potential for spoofing.

The computing industry is called upon to support recommendations around universal acceptance, and the analysis acknowledges those who have already contributed to this cause.

Furthermore, it encourages the rest of the computing industry to start supporting these recommendations.

Engaging with open-source communities and major industry vendors is seen as a key step towards enhancing the accessibility and usage of less dominant languages in digital spaces.

The launch of the Digitally Disadvantaged Languages Subcommittee by the Unico Consortium, along with the international decade of indigenous languages, provides an opportunity to raise awareness and collaborate with these communities.

It is also highlighted that the promotion of universal acceptance and internationalised domain names in an accessible format is crucial to raise awareness among software developers.

The analysis notes that software developers often perceive ICANN as low-level, resulting in universal acceptance and internationalised domain names being overlooked. Accessible information on these topics is crucial to clarify common questions and better inform developers.

Finally, the analysis suggests evaluating the support level of universal acceptance in prominent internet powerhouses and end-user software.

This can help identify gaps in terms of universal acceptance support and facilitate improvements to open-source communities, even without waiting for commercial priorities.

Overall, the analysis emphasises the importance of addressing the technical issues related to internationalised domain names and universal acceptance adoption.

It calls for support from the computing industry, engagement with open-source communities, promotion and awareness campaigns, and evaluation of universal acceptance support in prominent platforms. By addressing these issues and implementing the suggested recommendations, it is believed that universal acceptance can be improved, leading to greater inclusivity and accessibility in digital spaces.

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The speakers in the discussion emphasized the importance of a fully multilingual internet for digital inclusion and language justice. They highlighted the fact that there are over 6,500 languages worldwide, with over 2,000 in Asia alone, and yet almost 60% of the internet’s content is still in English.

This creates a significant language barrier for the next billion internet users who do not have English as their first language. Therefore, a fully multilingual internet is seen as the foundation for achieving digital inclusion and language justice.

To ensure a multilingual internet, the speakers argued for the need for internationalised domain names and email addresses.

They mentioned that domain names and email addresses are the starting points for people utilising the internet, and without support for different languages, the multilingual internet is incomplete. Currently, only 10% of top-level domains on the internet use languages other than the alphanumeric A to Z.

Therefore, internationalised domain names and email addresses are seen as essential for achieving language justice.

The implementation of a multilingual internet requires both policy intervention and a multi-stakeholder approach. The speakers highlighted that governments should demand in their tenders for IT systems that the systems be IDN email-ready.

Additionally, schools and universities should include internationalised domains and email addresses as basic protocols. This implies that policy intervention is necessary to drive the adoption of multilingual internet practices.

The speakers also recognised the potential of the internet as a tool for positive transformation and societal progress.

They suggested that advocating for multilingualism and universal inclusion is necessary to harness this potential and ensure that no communities are left behind. However, they also pointed out that a significant portion of the world’s population, estimated to be around 2.7 billion people, are still not taking advantage of the internet’s transformative power.

This creates a barrier between these communities and the vast pool of digital knowledge available.

UNESCO and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) were mentioned as organisations working together to enhance digital inclusion and multilingualism in cyberspace.

Their partnership aims to bridge the language gap and ensure that internet access and content is available in multiple languages.

The discussion also explored the computing industry’s role in supporting universal acceptance. It was suggested that the industry should support the recommendations made for universal acceptance, which would contribute to greater inclusivity in terms of language diversity on the internet.

In addition to language barriers, AI bias was identified as another challenge.

Due to the dominance of English in online content, AI systems tend to favour English and may have biases against other languages. This highlights the need to address language inclusivity concerns in AI development.

The open-source community was recognised as a potential ally in improving language inclusivity.

Collaboration with the open-source community could raise awareness and drive the adoption of multilingual practices in software development.

The involvement of the Unico Consortium in engaging industry partners was seen as an important step in addressing the issue of digitally disadvantaged languages.

The consortium, made up of major industry vendors, is working to promote language inclusivity and support underserved communities.

The discussion also touched on the low level of awareness among software developers regarding universal acceptance and internationalised domain names.

It was noted that accessible documentation and guidelines are lacking in this area, and there is a need for clear and accessible documentation to engage the open-source community.

The speakers highlighted the importance of developing local digital content and awareness in the digital world.

Governments and businesses were urged to take initiatives and promote local digital content, as the lack of local language content can hinder engagement with the online world. Creating consumer awareness and linking the preservation of culture and languages to the digital world were seen as ways to generate demand for local content.

Overall, the speakers urged a movement towards a multilingual internet that promotes digital inclusion and language justice.

They emphasised the need for policy intervention, a multi-stakeholder approach, and collaboration with various stakeholders, including governments, industry, and the open-source community, to achieve this vision. By addressing language barriers, promoting universal acceptance, and developing local digital content, the internet can become a truly inclusive and transformative tool for all.

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The analysis reveals that internationalised domain names (IDNs) have the potential to address several significant issues in Africa, including accessibility, inclusivity, and language preservation. IDNs facilitate accessibility in native language scripts, ensuring that individuals can access the internet in their preferred languages.

This breaks the language barrier and allows more people to benefit from the opportunities provided by the internet.

Furthermore, IDNs contribute to inclusivity by enabling the creation and dissemination of local content in various languages. This allows communities to express themselves in their native languages and ensures that their voices are heard online.

Additionally, IDNs support cultural and linguistic preservation, helping to safeguard Africa’s rich linguistic heritage.

However, the adoption of IDNs requires certain prerequisites. It is crucial to raise awareness about IDNs among internet users and promote technical improvements to support their implementation.

Moreover, user education is essential to ensure the proper use of IDNs and address security risks. This includes educating users about the potential dangers of phishing and domain spoofing and providing them with the necessary tools and knowledge to protect themselves.

Robust security measures are also necessary to safeguard users’ data and privacy.

To effectively reach underserved communities, a thoughtful and inclusive approach is crucial. This involves providing digital literacy training to ensure that individuals have the necessary skills to utilise IDNs and actively participate in the digital world.

Additionally, efforts should be made to make internet access more affordable and accessible to these communities. Subsidising internet access and exploring offline engagement strategies, such as workshops and campaigns, can play a pivotal role in bridging the digital divide.

Monitoring the impact of IDNs adoption is essential for success.

Implementing a feedback mechanism and impact assessment strategy will provide valuable insights into the challenges faced and the progress made. This information can guide future improvements and ensure that IDNs effectively address the needs of African communities.

In conclusion, IDNs can break the language barrier, promote inclusivity, and contribute to language preservation in Africa.

However, their successful adoption requires raising awareness, technical advancements, user education, robust security measures, and an inclusive approach that includes digital literacy training and subsidised internet access. Monitoring the impact and gathering feedback will help refine and improve the implementation of IDNs in Africa.

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ICANN, the organisation dedicated to Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) and Universal Acceptance, has implemented a comprehensive strategy to support the adoption and use of IDNs and promote Universal Acceptance. This strategy involves raising awareness and providing training to various stakeholders, including domain name registries, registrars, developers, and users.

Specific teams have been established within ICANN to focus on these efforts and ensure the widespread understanding and acceptance of IDNs.

In addition to its own efforts, ICANN collaborates with other relevant institutions such as the Universal Acceptance Steering Group and UNESCO.

These collaborations aim to leverage the expertise and resources of these organizations to further promote IDNs and Universal Acceptance. ICANN recognises that achieving universal acceptance requires a collective effort and believes that partnerships and collaboration are key to realising this goal.

ICANN is also actively engaged in policy work related to domain names.

Through its policy development processes, ICANN ensures that the rules and regulations governing domain names are continuously reviewed and updated to align with changing technology and user needs. By actively participating in policy discussions and consultations, ICANN advocates for the interests of all stakeholders and strives to create an inclusive and accessible domain name system.

In its commitment to fostering innovation and inclusivity, ICANN plans to open up another round for the introduction of new top-level domains (TLDs).

This initiative will provide an opportunity for all language groups and different regions to register domain names in their local scripts. By enabling the use of local scripts, ICANN aims to encourage linguistic diversity on the internet, allowing people to express their identity and culture through their online presence.

To ensure the success of IDNs and Universal Acceptance, ICANN seeks to raise awareness and generate demand.

It acknowledges that successful implementation of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) through government contracts can create awareness among various stakeholders, including users, businesses, and service providers. Additionally, ICANN recognises the significance of local community education in encouraging the generation of local content and raising awareness about the importance of inclusive online platforms.

ICANN also emphasises the need to link the digital world with the preservation of culture and languages at the national level.

By recognising the value and importance of cultural heritage, as highlighted by UNESCO and other entities, ICANN acknowledges the need for safeguarding and promoting languages and cultural diversity in the digital age.

Furthermore, ICANN emphasises the importance of creating consumer awareness to generate demand.

By engaging with end-users and providing information about the benefits and possibilities of IDNs, ICANN aims to create a conducive environment for the adoption and usage of IDNs.

In the specific context of the Javanese language, ICANN is actively working with the Javanese community to resolve categorisation issues related to Javanese script in Unicode.

The team is collaborating with the Javanese community to develop the Javanese script as a recommended identifier within Unicode. ICANN is supportive of ongoing collaboration with the Javanese community, recognising the importance of inclusivity and their expertise in resolving this matter.

In conclusion, ICANN is dedicated to the work around Internationalised Domain Names and Universal Acceptance.

Its strategy includes various initiatives such as raising awareness, providing training, collaborating with relevant institutions, and advocating for policies that support inclusive domain name practices. By opening up a new round for the introduction of new top-level domains, advocating for collaboration and partnerships, raising awareness and demand, preserving culture and languages, and supporting community collaboration, ICANN strives to create an inclusive and accessible digital landscape for all.