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| Friday, 5 November 2004 |
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Diverse strategies to make computer user friendly for Lankans - ICTA Advisor by Sudarshana Perera The local ICT community in partnership with key government and private sector institutions will implement diverse strategies to make the computer more user friendly for Sri Lankans that would cut cross the language barrier. The launch of a trilingual computer key board is a step in the right direction and we will ensure that Sinhala and Tamil be used on software and internet content said Advisor Technology and Standards of ICTA Dr. Gihan Dias. Dr. Dias in an interview with the Daily News said that government and private partnerships to improve the local ICT industry particularly ICT literacy rate has been a recent positive development and the trilingual computer key board was implemented as a result of government and private sector collaboration. "We are in the process of obtaining SLSI certification for the instrument and have met with all the standards required. This is our first step to make computer application and software content indigenous. Countries such as Korea and Thailand use their vernaculars in using computer and in correspondence via e-mail and internet. Here, Sri Lankans could better optimise the advancements on ICT to widen their horizons in education, business and in other vital sectors", he said. "At present there are over 5,000 computers in circulation in schools throughout the country and those who are not familiar with English should be given a chance to reap the benefits of ICT. Language should not be a barrier for that task. So we are fully committed to accrue foreign expertise and knowledge for this uphill task. We are also working closely with the Korean Government and ICT community and they have extended their cooperation towards our effort both financially and educationally", Dr. Dias said. "We have also introduced "Helavadena" and Sinhala and Tamil content for some of the important packages and the institution will continue to make all efforts to ensure that the dividends of ICT go to grassroots level. We also got the support from Tamil Nadu in introducing Tamil fonts in the trilingual key board ", he said. Microsoft Sri Lanka is also in the process of converting popular Microsoft software packages into Sinhala and Tamil saying that the Worldwide software giant is committed to transform Sri Lanka through Microsoft technology. ICTA has implemented various strategies to enhance education at the school and tertiary level and to increase the number and quality of high-level ICT professionals while developing a computer-literate citizenry. The activities are also aimed to establish a multi-layered and multi-skilled pool of ICT trained staff, at workforce, professional and managerial levels. |
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