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

Audience

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.

Edmon Chung

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.

Mark Durdin

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.

Nodumo Dhlamini

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.

Theresa Swinehart

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.

Marielza Oliveira

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.

Moderator

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.

Moderator:
So, my name is Jarong, I work for ICANN, I’m the head of the Asia-Pacific Office, I’m based in Singapore, and today’s session is on multilingual internet, a key catalyst for access and inclusion. So, with me, we have two on-site speakers and three speakers speaking remotely, so I’ll introduce them. So, on my right is Mr Edmund Chung, he’s our board member from ICANN and also CEO of DotAsia. And on my left is Ms Teresa Swinehart, our Senior Vice President for Global Domains and Strategy from ICANN. And joining remotely, we have Dr Marielle Oliveira, she’s the Director for the Division for Digital Inclusion Policies and Transformation Communications and Information Sector from UNESCO. And also Ms Nodumo Vlamini, the Director for ICT Services and Knowledge Management, the Association of African Universities. And also, last but not least, Mr Mark Durden, he’s the Key Project Manager from SIL International. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me, my esteemed speakers, and also our participants for today. Now, let’s dive in, we only have an hour, with a pretty interesting topic. So, can I invite Edmund to first help us frame the issue of multilingual internet. Edmund, can you share about language, do you think it is a barrier to access? And at a high level, talk about what are some gaps or problems, particularly pertaining to access, such as internationalised domain names, which is using domain names in local scripts, as well as the related issues of adopting internationalised domain names. And a broader question to this, perhaps, is at a high level, do you think this is a policy problem, a technical problem, or a socio-economic problem, or all of them? Over to you, please, Edmund.

Edmon Chung:
Thank you, Jarung. Anything we discuss here is all of them, right, at IGF. But I guess, as Jarung mentioned, to ask me to start by framing the question, it’s really, I think the title today is really important. And I will start by saying that a fully multilingual internet really is the foundation towards digital inclusion. And that’s, you know, I think that’s very important. And if you look at the world, there are over 6,500 languages, you know, around the world. Many of them, over 2,000 of them actually here in Asia, where we are. And yet, today, on the web, almost 60% of the internet’s content is still in English. So really, a multilingual internet, I believe, is essential for digital inclusion, because the next billion who’s coming online do not have English as their first language. And that’s, you know, that’s the issue we have. That’s the topic we’re talking about. And the kind of the doorway to access information, and also one of the key kind of starting point for people utilizing the internet, is our domain names and email addresses. So really, having internationalized domain names and internationalized email addresses is a foundation for development of content and services in local languages. So in that, you know, taken in that context and in the digital inclusion context, we really see that, we can really see that universal acceptance of internationalized domain names and email addresses is really about language justice. It’s about marginalized language communities impacted by language barriers. And here we’re talking about people, you know, accessing the internet, and also as a beginning of accessing information on the internet in their local language. Again, you know, domain names and email addresses is maybe a very small part of it, but without which the multilingual internet is not complete. And speaking of language justice, I think the next speaker will talk more about it, but I think, put in a perspective of the UN, we are in the international decade of indigenous languages. And that’s an important way to frame this question as well. And I’m seeing in the audience, my friend Yudo there, that talked to me about having the Java, Javanese language to be expressed on the internet and in internationalized domain names. These are some of the things, because I think this is what we’re talking about. And the ICANN community, I think we have been working very hard for many years, working through these technical standards, the linguistic and script policies to ensure secure and stable introduction of internationalized domain names on the DNS. But can we do more? The answer is, of course, yes. We do need to do more, and yes, we can do more. Today, there are about 1,500 top-level domains on the internet, and only 10% is actually using other languages other than the alphanumeric A to Z 0 to 9. Actually, no 0 to 9, sorry about that. Top-level domains don’t include numbers. But the point is, only 10% are internationalized domain names. And out of the 350 million domain names registered worldwide, only 1%, about 1%, is internationalized domain names. So registries and registrars do need to work harder to ensure their systems are fully universal acceptance and IDN-ready. And this is also even for non-IDN-related, so even for registries and registrars not offering internationalized domain name services, it’s important for their systems to be ready for internationalized domain names and email addresses, because your registrant, even if they’re registering an English domain name, could be using an internationalized email address, right? I mean, that’s what we are talking about in terms of universal acceptance. So it is a technical implementation issue, back to Jaron’s question, but it will require policy intervention. I believe governments need to demand in their tenders for IT systems, for example, that systems be IDN email-ready. Schools and universities should include internationalized domain names and email addresses as basic protocols for networking 101, for example. And we need other stakeholders to join in the work, and that’s why we need to talk about it here at the IGF, because we need a movement, and this movement for language justice really starts here in the internet governance community. So I guess I’ll, you know, and finally I wanted to just note that, of course, just the internationalized domain names and email addresses themselves does not solve the multilingual internet issue, of course not. I mean, but it is a foundational component, because without which we cannot realize a fully multilingual internet, and, you know, this will require a multi-stakeholder approach to address the different issues that is beyond ICANN and the immediate community’s reach in many ways. And the key aspect, I believe, is to really get the end users and the community to realize that this is not just a matter of convenience or cool domain names and email addresses, but it is about realizing a sustainable multilingual internet that cares about language justice.

Moderator:
Thank you, Edmund. I really like the key word about language justice, and here at the IGF, I remember there was a side event I attended on the soft launch of a network for social justice and digital resilience. And I think, you know, just tying in one of those themes, really having a multilingual internet being about language justice is also a form of social justice. Now, let’s move on quickly to our next speaker, Dr. Marielsa. So, Marielsa is from UNESCO, and can you share about the background of multilingualism at the UN, and where are we today?

Marielza Oliveira:
Are there any recent multilingualism initiatives by the UN or UNESCO? Over to you, please. Thank you very much. Hello, everyone. Particularly our dear ICANN colleagues, with whom the UNESCO team has been working to advance multilingualism in cyberspace. I’m really happy to join this session today, as this is a very important topic to me. And I apologize that I’ll have to leave soon to another commitment, but let me share some thoughts with you. First, I love that the previous speaker was talking about language justice, because this is really about realizing a human right to freedom of expression and access to information. So, you can’t really share your thoughts or seek information if you cannot do it in your own language. And since its invention, the internet has been acknowledged as a really powerful tool for societal progress, a source of information, a means to exchange products and services, but it has also been recognized to have the ability to empower individuals, particularly granting them, enabling and upholding the rights to access to information, expression, and so on, while simultaneously amplifying the voices of marginalized groups. However, we must accept the current reality is that an estimated 37% of the world population, or close to 2.7 billion people, are still not taking advantage of the internet’s transformative power. And this means that there is a barrier that separates a large part of humanity from the pool of knowledge in the form of digital resources. And as more and more services are going digital, as noted by the UN Secretary General’s recent report, we are faced with the pressing challenge of connecting the next one billion users to really benefit from the digital processes. And that means that we must up the ante in providing digital services to the indigenous and underserved communities that have struggled for a long time with limited access and representation in the digital sphere. And the lack of multilingualism in cyberspace is an essential aspect of achieving, part of the big barrier for achieving digital inclusion. And in 2003, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the recommendation concerning the promotion and use of multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace. It is a landmark provision, and the recommendation provides a framework for the member states to adopt legislation and other measures that are conducive to the promotion of multilingualism in digital ecosystems. And this includes forging new partnerships, facilitating mechanisms for multilingual domain, names and associated tools, content and process. And UNESCO and ICANN have a longstanding partnership on this front, and even this session has been, you know, proposed on our collective understanding that the technology deployed still has to catch up to this progress to allow for digital inclusion in multilingual communities globally. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that not only new technologies have to be innovated, but the communities must also be brought closer to the ongoing digital transformation. And this can be done only if we address the glaring deficiency of linguistic diversity on the Internet. And so, as one of the co-leaders in the implementation of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages that goes from 2022 to 2032, UNESCO is playing a pivotal role in this, in championing the preservation, promotion, and revitalization of indigenous languages worldwide. There is a global action plan which highlights the importance of fostering favorable conditions for digital empowerment, freedom of expression, media development, access to information, and language technology. And this is where ICANN and UNESCO have been working together to bring synergy to their efforts. Collectively, we must really prioritize making Internet platforms and applications accessible to people with diverse linguistic abilities and thus ensure, really, universal participation and inclusion. And here, let me just say that the interplay between languages and universal acceptance is complex and multifaceted. While achieving universal acceptance of languages is unquestionably essential, like the previous speaker mentioned, a foundation, we must also focus on the creation of digital tools, products, and services tailored specifically to the needs of underserved communities and currently unserved communities. And it’s incumbent upon UNESCO and ICANN to create a tool for universal acceptance, one that encompasses the notion of universal inclusion and remedies this deficiency in Internet linguistic diversity. And so, I’d like to say to all our participants today, I urge all of us to maintain a real awareness of the Internet’s immense potential as a tool for positive transformation and for us to work together to unify, innovate, and advocate for multilingualism and universal inclusion. So, I hope that we all will be working together. So, thank you.

Moderator:
Thank you so much, Marielle. So, we’ve heard a couple of technical terms in some ways. So, internationalized domain names, which are domain names in different scripts beyond the English alphabet, and also the term universal acceptance, which is in software and applications to universally accept these domain names Now, let’s move on very quickly to Teresa. Teresa, can you share about ICANN’s work? Just now, Marielle just mentioned UNESCO and ICANN in close collaboration. But can you share more specifically about ICANN, like ICANN’s work in relation to internationalized domain names and universal acceptance?

Theresa Swinehart:
Please. Brilliant. Well, it’s great to be here and to be having this conversation. I think, as Edmund said, we need a movement and we need awareness. With the amount of languages spoken in all the different regions of the world that are not reflected in ASCII character sets or perhaps have a longer variation to the right of the dot, we need to afford the ability for those to be used and play a strong role in this and partner with others. A couple areas, how it’s anchored within the construct of the mission. The IDN work, or internationalized domain name and universal acceptance, is recognized both in the strategic focus and it’s included in our strategic plan. Our strategic plan, and the reason this is important, is developed with community input and really looking towards what the future is. It’s based on the analysis of trends and where the future goes. That’s compiled and then brought to the board and the board looks at what the final strategic plan is but also puts it out for awareness to the community. So it’s really an all-inclusive process as we do this. So the fact that IDNs and universal acceptance are anchored within the strategic plan for the 21 to 25 is an important factor and we anticipate it to be reflected likewise in the next iteration. Importantly, it’s also an element that’s reflected in our interim CEO’s goals very strongly. So again, important to show that we are taking this work that we’re doing seriously but also that this is really what the future is about and that’s important for ICANN’s mission and mandate in serving the public interest. Moving more specifically, with regards to internationalized domain names, there’s a couple areas. More on the operational technical side, the working on tables to make sure that if it’s registered it’s following a certain table and making sure that those tables are compiled. If we look at the policy side, there’s work within the generic name supporting organization with regards to policies for internationalized domain names on the right of the dot and within the country code supporting organization there is further work on what was a policy to enable initial country code top-level domains to be accepted in IDNs. There’s further work on that to ensure that there’s policies for the future around that. So the reason the generic space is different is because it applies to the generic top-level domains rather than the country top-level domains. So there’s quite a bit of policy work there. We also have a team that very specifically is going out to the community and working with them on both the table work, how to create awareness, how to look at this from a technical level, how to ensure trainings around that. So we partner with different groups in different regions around the world. If we look at universal acceptance, we work very well with what’s referred to the UASG, so the Universal Acceptance Steering Group, which is a group that has been active in this space, but also working with UNESCO, working with other organizations around the importance of the ability for platforms and for the ability of email or web addresses to be able to resolve so that you know that they actually go there. And again, we’re working on the technical side of trainings, participating in partnership with others to help awareness about both the issue but also problem-solve on the technical level. On universal acceptance, in addition, last year was the first Universal Acceptance Day in which more than 50 events across 40 countries brought awareness around the importance of universal acceptance. That was attended by about 9,500 people. But if you look at the ripple effect of that in the shared experience, plus the awareness in the media around it, it was a start. We’re looking forward to holding the next Universal Acceptance Day in 2024. And with that, looking forward to partnering with other organizations and platform providers in order to create a movement and create awareness around things. And we don’t do any of this alone. We can’t, we have a limited remit in this, but we are one of the elements to that and to partner with others. And finally, if I can just touch on the next round of the introduction of new top-level domains, so when we open up that opportunity for the introduction of those, looking very much at ensuring that those who wish to register a name in internationalized domain name character sets, so something that is not ASCII, or something that might require ensuring universal acceptance, but in ASCII character sets, we’re doing quite a bit of awareness-building around that in cooperation with the fact that we will be opening another round. And that round could afford the opportunity for all language groups or different regions of the world that currently do not have a presence, so to speak, but would like one, to have that opportunity to do it, but also that technically, it will then also resolve in the system. So those are just a few examples of some key work areas, and look forward to the conversation.

Moderator:
Thank you, Theresa. So let’s hold on to the piece about the UA Day, because I think that it ties in with what, so far, all the speakers are saying, a movement, like a call to action. I feel that’s something we can really work on at this session. So let’s move on to the other speakers. First, let’s go to Mark. So Mark, from your background, you’re more of a technical person, so I’ll ask a more technical question. So what technical issues, in your experience, are you seeing in relation to internationalized domain names and universal acceptance adoption? Mark, over to you, please.

Mark Durdin:
Thank you, Zhirong, for your question, and thank you for the invitation to join this panel. I’m quite excited by the goals of universal acceptance, not least because my organization, SIL International, works primarily with indigenous and ethnic minority communities, around 1,000 different communities around the world. And so this is very important for the communities that we’re working with. It’s essential to their engagement with the online world, with the rest of the world. So I’d like to share a story, first of all, about my experience just this year with internationalized email addresses. So a little earlier this year, I downloaded the 2022 Universal Acceptance Readiness Report in PDF file. And in that report, I read that only 10% of email systems currently meet the needs of universal acceptance. So out of curiosity, I clicked on the Thai email address example in the PDF just to try it out. And if you want to try it, it’s on page 11 of that report. And Gmail popped up its compose window, but it had a completely garbled, like mojibake email address in its to field, which meant that that just wasn’t going to work. So I wasn’t going to give up that quickly. I right clicked on the email address in the PDF and copied it to my clipboard and paste it into Gmail. And no, it still didn’t work. All I got was a string of dots with an at sign in the middle. So finally, I actually selected the text of the email address in the PDF file with my mouse. And I copied that to the clipboard and I was able to paste it into Gmail and try it out. But that still didn’t work because it turns out that the mail host for my personal domain does not yet support the SMTP UTF-8 mail protocol. And so the test email bounced. Now I did eventually get it working by sending it from my Gmail address, but I’m supposed to be some sort of expert in the area. And if I can’t get it working without trying that hard, I think our community of users worldwide are going to have a very poor experience. So we really do have a long way to go. And in some areas, the computer industry moves very quickly, but some of these things seem to take a very long time. And I really don’t think that the community can afford to wait for us. So I’ll just switch tracks just a little bit now and talk about two specific areas that are close to my heart and how they overlap with universal acceptance. And that is online security and input methods. So all the way back in 2016, I came across the label generation rules for the Khmer language of Cambodia. And I was really impressed at the level of detail and effort that had gone into trying to prepare these rules to make safe domain names in the Khmer script. Now I’ve been working with Khmer input methods, and there was obviously so much detail about spoofing attacks that would be possible in Khmer that would have been covered off in those label generation rules. And I’m going to use Khmer for most of the rest of my examples because that’s where I have the most experience. But a lot of these same principles apply to many writing systems across Asia and the world. Now, even for the Khmer script, it’s more than just the Khmer language. This is the international decade of indigenous languages, as Mariel’s pointed out in her chat comment. And we need to be thinking about all the language communities that use a particular script. Now, for Latin script, it’s many, many languages, and it’s fairly well known. But even the Khmer script is used by at least eight different languages in Cambodia today. So as an industry, we need to put much more effort towards supporting those indigenous languages all around the world. And for example, and I’m not criticizing the label generation rules group here, but the Khmer label generation rules do not yet support most of the indigenous languages of Cambodia because the rules that they’ve defined are too constrained to support the ways that those languages are working with the script. It’s a huge space with fuzzy boundaries, so we still need more dedicated effort to expand and support those languages. It was also personally disappointing to me when I found out that label generation rules have not been adopted by many major top-level domain industries, including mostvisibly.com. So to prove this to myself, I registered a spoofed KhmerScript.com domain and tested it out. And yeah, I still got that domain in my collection of useless domains. So wide adoption of those label generation rules is so important for the uptake of internationalized domain names. Many Asian scripts are vastly more complex to type and encode than Latin script, and there are myriad opportunities for spoofing attacks. So I think many of us have seen those alternate script examples like Apple.com written with Cyrillic letters. Mixing scripts is one thing, but in many Asian scripts, we don’t even need to mix the scripts to see these problems. For example, and again in the Khmer script, we’ve identified example words that can be encoded in up to 15 different ways in Unicode, but they look visually identical on all devices. And what’s worse, we found real examples where Khmer users had typed those example words into webpages in every single one of those wrong encodings. And sometimes, the incorrect encodings had more matches than the correct encodings. Now, smart input methods can help with this. So for Khmer, my team have introduced a KhmerEncore keyboard that’s powered by the software that we write that automatically corrects the vast majority of those mis-encodings. This allows us to use the software to correct the mis-encodings. This helps not just with preventing spoofing, but with any text task, searching, sorting, and so on. I’d like to say a big thank you to all of those who have contributed so far to universal acceptance and for all the progress we have seen, and particularly the IDNs that are starting to take root in many places. But I’d also like to encourage the rest of the computing industry to just slow down a little bit and listen to the universal acceptance steering group and start supporting the recommendations that have already been made.

Moderator:
Thank you, Mark. So there are some technical areas which are important, but I think a key takeaway also is the key term of wide adoption. So, you know, for the industry, I think Mark made a very good point. You know, we’re sometimes chasing the next big thing, and then sometimes forgetting the people we’re leaving behind. And I think this is a good segue to go to Nodumo, because coming from an underserved region like Africa, do you think internationalized domain names and its adoption would help break the language barrier for access and or help to preserve languages?

Nodumo Dhlamini:
Nodumo, over to you. Thank you. Yes, thank you very much. Thank you for having me on this panel. Yes, Africa is an underserved region for many reasons that include unequal access to technology, unequal access to the Internet and information resources. Yes, internationalized domain names can assist to break the language barrier for Internet access. For the reasons that the various speakers have also alluded to, mostly because they facilitate accessibility in native language scripts, inclusivity, cultural and linguistic preservation, and also because they could facilitate the creation and dissemination of local content in our various languages. And I think that users would also find it more fulfilling to go to the Internet and use their own languages. I also acknowledge the challenges that have been alluded to by the speakers before me concerning IDNs, especially technical compatibility and that our systems are not yet all ready. The security concerns that have been mentioned by the previous speaker. And I think user education is also a major issue in terms of the proper use of IDNs and also addressing the security risks associated with the international domain names. Of course, there’s a need to create awareness so that we generate the needed demand for uptake of the IDNs and universal acceptance. And I think awareness raising will be a very important aspect of what we need to prioritize so that more people can understand what is possible. And we also need to look at this, not just doing awareness raising, but go a little further to do it as a package or as a broader strategy that will also address technical improvements and also address the issue of tools, user-friendly tools that can be adopted to encourage the adoption of internationalized domain names. And we need to work together. We need to work with industry. We need to collaborate as Internet stakeholders so that we can really generate awareness and also adoption. And the issue of local content is also very pivotal and important for the success of IDNs because people are likely to adopt them if there’s content available in their language. And as the previous speaker mentioned, implementing robust security measures to protect users from phishing and domain speaking is also extremely important. Concerning how we can effectively reach the grassroots and specific language communities which are not yet online, I think this requires a thoughtful and inclusive approach. We need to understand the local context and the needs. We must involve the communities. We must create training materials for language localization in the local languages and also consider launching offline engagements, workshops, and campaigns within the communities. And digital literacy training, for example, in Africa is also very fundamental. If communities are going to participate and adopt these IDNs, they need to be digitally literate. So we must really develop these partnerships and collaborations very carefully and address issues of access to internet, access to devices in underserved communities, provide actually subsidized internet access, and encourage communities to participate by sharing their stories and also creating incentives for communities who are actually involved in getting others online and also involved in ensuring the adoption of the internationalized domain names. And lastly, I think we need to have very good feedback mechanisms, a impact assessment strategy so that we can understand the challenges, the concerns, and also how well we are doing in this endeavor towards the adoption of internationalized domain names. Thank you very much.

Moderator:
Thank you, Nodumo. Some very insightful points, and I think it ties in a lot to what I think this session will be going towards, which is thinking about a movement or an action plan amongst us, and how do we start? And I think Nodumo mentioned a few things, like thinking about addressing the issue holistically, but at the same time, being able to reach the grassroots. Each of us then can play a part because we are part of a community locally. So I thought to seed those couple of thoughts first, and let’s go into the next segment for this session, which is, do we have any questions for the speakers or any comments or thoughts about what we’ve discussed so far? Please, over to the mic. Hi, good afternoon.

Audience:
My name is Elisa Hever, and I’m from the Dutch government, from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and a MAG member. So universal acceptance, or IDNs, is not something new. It’s been there for quite some time. And, well, I’ve been in this field for three years, so slightly longer than that we know about IDNs. And I’ve been hearing, actually, from basically day one, IDNs is an important topic. It’s a very important topic. It’s important. We need this. It’s important. It’s highly important. We really need this. And it doesn’t seem that there’s really, a big change happening up until now, at least. I do feel that we’re getting somewhere, even though there have been resolutions already in the ITU on this for quite some time. And I’m wondering how you really think that we as governments also should act on ensuring or creating more, well, how should I say this? Sorry, I’m slightly tired after a week of IGF. So what role you see for governments in this process? And which role you see for the technical, no, sorry, for the business community? Because I’m seeing ICANN here, and they are, well, more from the technical community, and also the example given about Google or Gmail and not really being instrumental in this. I wonder which role you see for that sector. Thank you.

Moderator:
Thank you for the question. I think there are two parts to your question, so I will try to dissect it for the speakers. I heard Mariela was going to leave early. Is she still on? She’s left? Because I think one part of the question was, how can governments help in terms of the policy aspect? Mariela would be very good to address that. If that’s the case, can I first ask Edmund, then Teresa?

Edmon Chung:
The question is how much time we have, right? We can talk about this for hours. You talk about three years. Actually, I’ve been working on this for 25 years, and it is improving. What I would like to say, a few things. First, why is it important, why is it not done? Yes, it’s also because of the technical and the policy requirements, so we’re still working through the technology and the policies to make it work. We are very close to completing that, as Teresa will I’m sure add. So now is the time, is really in my view. And I think there is also the issue of the suppliers that provide… IDN registrations, for example, is not seeing the demand. And that is a problem. And why didn’t they see the demand? Well, one of the reasons is because universal acceptance is not ready yet because emails are having still, different platforms are still not supporting it. Web hosting remains a problem. So that is why we need policy intervention. That’s why we need to break this chicken and egg issue. So what governments should do? I think governments should look at ICANN. What ICANN did was a few years ago, and that, in my view, was a significant change. ICANN, for the first 20 years, have been supporting but not really doing it themselves. But since, I think it was 2015, around that time, ICANN had a universal acceptance program and it’s starting to look at its own internal systems and make it ready. And that was a big thing. I think the next step needs to be, registries and registrars need to be completely universal acceptance ready. And if I can wave a wand and the GNSO would do everything, I would ask for registries and registrars to be required to be universal acceptance ready, me being one of the registries as well. And I know it’s very difficult. It’s actually difficult because it is a bit of a long tail. The reason why it’s difficult is because some of the systems that use, every part of the system you use touches on domain names and email addresses. And therefore, the actual change is small, but the long tail thing is, the long tail is pretty long. So governments look to ICANN, the tendering process, all the IT systems that governments use, maybe you can’t ask for them to be completely universal acceptance ready, but what you can ask for is a roadmap, right? You can ask for in your tenders is to ask the question, are you universal acceptance ready? If not, what is the plan to become universal acceptance ready? I mean, that’s the one big thing. Second big thing, I think, which I mentioned earlier as well, is about the education side. The curriculum needs to be updated. When students are taught Networking 101, internationalized domain names and email addresses should be the basic protocol, not an add-on. So I think at least those are two immediate things. And of course, the government systems themselves to become universal acceptance ready. Hopefully that’s useful.

Theresa Swinehart:
I think Edmund really identified some really core actions we’d seen with government contracts in relation to IPv6 that had been successful, or at least created awareness around it and encouraged businesses from that standpoint. I think on the local community side and the education side, encouraging the generation of local content and awareness that one could actually do local content then. So I think there’s quite a bit there through both the economic and the social areas within the governments. And then also with activities in some of the partner organizations. We heard from UNESCO and others around the need for this and the value of that. I think that we often hear at the national level the preservation of culture, the preservation of languages, linking that to the digital world and the opportunities that are there from a government standpoint. I think from a business standpoint as well, there’s always the argument of, is there the demand? Well, if one’s not providing it, one doesn’t know if there’s a demand. And there might be ways to create consumer awareness, to know to ask for it and to know to say, I would like to actually be able to have this resolved in that right way because one can create the mechanism and the technology for it. And as Edmund said, we’re still developing some of the policies and ironing out some of the different areas in the trainings. But there’s the overarching awareness that one actually can have something in one’s own language, just like one can have the ask for clean air or clean water. It’s not a utility from that standpoint, but it is something that is near and dear to every single individual in how they communicate with each other. So I think some of those angles.

Moderator:
Thank you. We have more questions or comments from the floor. Let’s go to the next gentleman. Thank you.

Audience:
Hi, my name is Keisuke Kamimura, professor of linguistics and Japanese at Daito Bunka University in Tokyo. And I attended a workshop on artificial intelligence this morning. And one of the speakers mentioned that artificial intelligence needs large chunk of language-based data. Otherwise, AI does not learn by themselves. So language-based data for lesser used languages or minority languages should be available before making artificial intelligence becoming meaningful for them. Is this kind of issue related to this panel or is it going to be dealt with somewhere else or somebody else?

Edmon Chung:
Well, I think it’s very relevant, actually, when one of the things that I mentioned is that today on the web, 57% of the content is still in English. So even for general AI, it is English-dominant. So the machine would have learned that English is the dominant language as well. So I think it is a matter that is important to address. Although I’m certainly not an expert on that, but I do know that, given that, we know that there is a bias with the AI and in that part, I do participate in the IEEE working group on algorithmic bias. But back to the topic here, I guess the relevance, I believe, is that internationalized domain names and email addresses can spark the creation of content and services in the different languages, whether it’s indigenous languages or different languages. And the reason why I like to use this, remind people of one interesting fact of the internet development, the DNS, the domain name system, was created in 1983. Six years later, the web was invented in 1989. The basic infrastructure needs to be there. The basic foundations of the domain name and email addressing system needs to be there for the content layer to flourish. And I think this is gonna be true for IDNs as well. Thank you.

Moderator:
Can I do a quick segue? I know there is a queue, but I think do a quick segue to Mark. Because when we were preparing for the session, we talked about working with open source community on standards and guidelines. I think ties in back to the question from the professor about availability of data in terms of languages. So I thought, Mark, maybe we can segue a quick one to you about in terms of relevance for AI on the one hand, but really working with the open source community, is there anything we can do to get this topic and going to raise awareness and to get people to adopt?

Mark Durdin:
Yeah, thank you. I think it’s very interesting hearing a lot of this discussion, and I’m really resonating with a lot of what the other panel speakers are saying and Edmund and Ndomo. And one thing I’d like to note is that the Unico Consortium, which kind of works at a slightly different level to ICANN, the Unico Consortium has launched the Digitally Disadvantaged Languages Subcommittee, and that’s a mouthful. But the DDL subcommittee has just been launched, and it’s a real opportunity for us to engage with industry partners because the Unico Consortium is a consortium of major industry vendors working in internationalization. And so there’s a real awareness right now coming out of the international decade of indigenous languages. So let’s make sure that we are engaging at that level there. And that correlates with the perception in my part of the tech space that ICANN is very low level. You sort of deal with all of these nuts and bolts at a level where normal software developers don’t need to think about it. And so I think for that reason, for many software developers, universal acceptance and IDN, it’s not even on their radar, just because it’s like, oh, it’s all low level stuff, somebody else has already dealt with it. So I think some level of promotion in an accessible space is the kind of thing that the W3C has done very well with a lot of their standards for the web. But doing some of that kind of thing with clear accessible FAQs around UA and what needs to be done and the gaps is a really good starting spot because I’ve been doing this for a while, but I haven’t actually found a one-stop shop where I can point people to, which is accessible. There’s lots of very detailed documentation, but nothing that really says, well, this is the problem, here’s your normal questions. So in terms of engaging with the open source community, that’s a really good starting spot. I’d be really good, I remember in the UA report from 2022, that there was a big list of major products and their level of support. It’d be good to do the same sort of thing with some of the low level libraries that really power the internet, things like Curl and OpenSSL, Node and PHP and even WordPress and just have a look at how well do these products support universal acceptance and where are their gaps. And even then going through to the other end of the space, looking at end user software, things like Firefox and Thunderbird. These are places where we have the opportunity to make improvements and submit changes to those communities and support them without needing to wait for commercial priorities necessarily. And that often then drives the commercial vendors to go, oh, we need to actually match that functionality. So it’s just another prong in the strategy.

Moderator:
Thank you, Mark. So, yeah. Appreciate that. Okay, we have a queue, so let’s try to move. So let’s go to the next gentleman, please.

Audience:
My name is Yudo, for the record. I’m from Indonesia. Serve as a board member, one of the board member of .id Registry Pandi and also working as a professor at Faculty of Computer Science, Universitas Indonesia. Indonesia, I’m coming from a country with more than 700 languages. Out of those 700 languages, we have identified more than 30 of them and actually use a non-Latin script. One of the language that spoken by many people in Indonesia is actually Japanese language, spoken by 60 million people in Indonesia. And we also have Balinese language. Everyone knows Bali. And the language is spoken by more than 3 million people in Indonesia, mostly in Bali. So, three years ago, we submit an IDN application, international domain name to ICANN. And the motive or the background of it is simply to serve the underserved community, to preserve the indigenous language and also to give universal access to them. Unfortunately, it was rejected by ICANN. As Teresa mentioned, there are several requirements, technical and also political. Now, I mentioned two of the political requirements mentioned in the document. Number one is that the panel, you know that ICANN simply just give it to the expert panel and then they will review the application. They mentioned that the Japanese language is written today only in Latin-based characters except for scholarly, historical and decorative purposes. And then there are also requirements that mention that the language must be used as an official communication of the relevant public authority and also serve as a language of administration. So, if you look at those two requirements, it’s like chicken and egg. I mean, if the language is actually served as the language of administration as used by the public authority and commonly used, then it is actually not an underserved community in my point of view. So, we think that by providing the IDN for Japanese, Balinese, then the people will have a room to play digitally because for non-digital work, I think UNESCO and my government and also Dutch government, if you mentioned University of Leiden actually has done lots of work for our manuscript. So, to make us happy, we are actually currently intensively communicate with ICANN, with Professor Sarmat and also PTNAN to develop the label generation role for the Japanese, Balinese and Pagan. But with those two requirements, because in Indonesia actually since 1928, we have an oath that we will use Bahasa Indonesia as the national language, but we still have those more than 700 indigenous language. So, we are not like India who actually they put most of the languages in their constitution. So, we just actually support very much when India is actually apply for the IDN. So, as long as we still have the requirements, I don’t think ICANN is actually very serious in the inclusivity, underserved community for the people who actually they don’t speak English or they don’t use common language like Japanese, Korean and also Chinese.

Moderator:
Thank you. Thank you. Before we go to Teresa to address it, because we only have three minutes, let’s not leave anyone behind. Let’s go for the question from on remote as well. Then let’s try to use the remaining time to wrap up. Yeah.

Audience:
So, this is a question from Amit Paria. How would the private sector be motivated to develop tech with language inclusivity as their priority? Okay, this one, would Mark or Emma want to take it? Hold on first, then we get the lady over there, please. Thank you. Thank you, panel. First of all, congratulations to anybody who is working tirelessly to improve access to languages digitally. Both AI and automated speech recognition. But at the same time, a plea. My name is Lydia Best and I am from the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People. And many of you know that I am a deaf person. And many of us rely on sometimes auto-captioning services. And the plea is, can you please make sure that we actually don’t get censors? Because often auto-captioning censors language. What hearing people can hear, we don’t, especially swear words. We also want to know if somebody was swearing. Thank you.

Moderator:
Thank you. All right, we have two minutes, maybe one minute for Teresa to view those question. And then maybe Emma can do a quick one for the remote participant. Thank you.

Theresa Swinehart:
Yes, and we can also follow up offline on this. But my understanding is that, I was just checking with a colleague, that we are working with the Javanese community to develop the LGR. And I believe you’re part of all of that work. And that one of the areas is that the Unicode categorizes the Javanese as a limited use language. But we’ve also requested to start working with a Unicode listed as a recommended script identifier. So hopefully that work will continue to bring progress to this issue, of course. And that will also help us with the process for new applications. So rest assured, work is underway as we’re trying to resolve the different areas. And we look forward to your continuing efforts on that. So thank you.

Edmon Chung:
I guess I will quickly add to that as well. We’ll very much encourage you to bring this up again at the ICANN public forum in Hamburg. But two things quickly, the IDNCC PDP, the policy development process is actually still ongoing and is addressing some of the issues that you’re saying. The second thing is, maybe we should ask ICANN to revisit the label generation process in light of the international decade of indigenous language. And if we embrace that, that would work well. In response to the question on the private sector incentive, I think we’re looking at an issue of market failure and therefore just relying on market forces is not gonna work, especially when you’re talking about indigenous languages and supporting universal acceptance that have a very long tail. So in that sense, then it really requires policy intervention and it’s either motivation as in giving you money to actually get it done, or the other way is a kind of quote unquote penalty or requirement, which is what I mentioned earlier, requirement in tenders. So I think those types of policy intervention would be useful.

Moderator:
Thank you. All right, we’ve run out of time, but this has been very engaging in terms of the discussion and very insightful comments from our speakers on the panel. And to wrap up, I’d like to ask everyone just to give it a think in terms of inclusion for multilingual internet. Let’s say if you are more of a technical person like Mark, if you come across a website that doesn’t accept domain names or emails in other scripts, what can we do to raise awareness about it to let the software developer or the company know that they should fix it? This will help to generate awareness. And also let’s say you are from a academic institution, we have professors here, students here, also Nodumo who shared, how can we include in the curriculum for our students to know about this space so that we can be more inclusive? Even for end users, you know, are there websites or software that you use day to day? And have you thought whether they can accept domain names or emails in other scripts? Let’s think about it. And perhaps the next time we come back, we can share some progress instead of just saying that it’s very important, very important, but perhaps next year when we come back, we can actually share some progress we’ve made together one step at a time. So with that, we’ll close for today’s session. Thank you so much for participating and help me thank my speakers. Thank you.