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IT growth through localisation of software

The first day of the twin seminar sessions ended today with a panel discussion on 'IT growth through localisation of software'.

The speakers were Dr S Ramani, director, National Centre for Software Technology; Anupam Saurabh, group coordinator, GIST R&D, C-DAC

T O D A Y

• Q&A: Sanjay Kumar • Jon DeVaan's keynote • The Net infrastructure • Q&A: Dr D Packard • PCs or NCs? • Sites and servers • The localisation issue

and Nashsoft Systems Private Limited Managing Director K Narendra Kumar.

The topic was discussed within a limited framework: Whether we need localisation of software or not? What do we need to localise? And what are the key inhibitors and motivators to localisation?

Dr Ramani opened the discussion with the view that localisation of software is an instrument for growth of IT and that at the same time IT in trading has become so critical that there is a need for its rapid expansion.

The key aspect, in his view, is to enable the people who cannot own computers, to also have access to information and the Internet. In short, have an 'IT Taxi' through suitable 'info kiosks'.

What we need to do, according to Dr Ramani, is to localise applications. The operating systems localisation, in his view, will be automatically done, given the business prospects, and that is a given. The key inhibitions to localisation is the perspective that it is not attractive from the business paint of view, he felt.

Anupam Saurabh of C-DAC is optimistic that localisation will grow along with the growth of IT and feels the main reason for slow localisation is the impression that English is enough to do business in India.

The non-English potential is rarely considered. Another inhibitor is the large concentration of IT use in cities, leading the non-urban people to feel that IT is not really essential to them.

The great motivator for localisation, according to Saurabh, is the existence of compatible standards for using Indian languages.

He suggest that to begin with, a terminology for user interfaces and commands must be standardised.

Kumar, in a rather passionate discourse, reviled the lack of effort on the part of Indian companies to advance the cause of localisation.

It took his company very little time, he said, to put up the national flag on the Windows wallpaper and 'Sare jahan se achha' on voice mode for use by any one who wanted to start with localisation.

Voices can be used effectively, apart from the keyboard, for localisation is different languages, he claimed. Kumar also dwelt on the high degree of personalisation possible (as an extreme measure of localisation) now that the hardware capabilities are in place "one can talk in one's language and in the way one talks", he concluded.

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