[Fsf-friends] SITEWATCH -- Indic Computing: Design Axes for the Indian Language Computing Market

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

URL             :  http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net/designaxes
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   [12]The Indic Computing Project > [13]Design Axes for the Indian
   Language Computing Market
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Design Axes for the Indian Language Computing Market

Joseph Koshy

   The Indic-Computing project

   Copyright =A9 2003 by A. Joseph Koshy

   $Date: 2003/04/30 07:23:50 $

   Abstract

   Despite nearly four decades of work, computing in local languages
   remains unavailable to the common man in the Indian subcontinent. In
   this article we identify seven core issues, namely [14]power,
   [15]usability, [16]interoperability, [17]locality of information,
   [18]value addition, the effect of [19]social structure and the quality
   of the supporting [20]development ecosystem, that need to be addressed
   before pervasive Indian language computing can become a reality. We
   analyse a few existing projects and show that the levels of success
   achieved by these is consistent with their tackling of these seven
   core issues. Finally, we present a ``road map'' for making computing
   pervasive in Indian society and list the areas where the
   [21]Indic-Computing Project hopes to make a contribution.

   Document status: Third draft.
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   Table of Contents
   1 [22]Introduction
   2 [23]The Design ``Axes''
   3 [24]Analyses
   4 [25]Road map
   5 [26]Acknowledgments

1 Introduction

   The so-called ``digital divide'' remains a yawning gulf today for most
   Indian citizens. In a country with over one billion citizens, 99 out
   of 100 do not use computers. Numerous organizations have attempted in
   the past to increase the penetration of information processing
   technologies in the Indian sub-continent. Until date, these efforts
   have been relatively unsuccessful (see [27]the sidebar The Case of the
   Missing Market). Local language computing has not made inroads into
   mainstream Indian society.

   We believe that this situation has arisen because prior efforts have
   not taken cognizance of the core characteristics that underlie the
   Indian context. Rather unsurprisingly, these characteristics turn out
   to be different from those in the so-called ``developed''
   societies--in other words, a successful product or service for the
   Indian subcontinent has necessarily to be designed differently from
   one aimed at a ``developed'' market.

   The major contributions of this article are as follows:
     * We identify seven core areas that a computing technology needs to
       address before it can succeed in the Indian context.
     * We provide a model explains the lack of success of prior
       initiatives to bridge the digital divide. The model can be used to
       evaluate the impact a new technology would have in the Indian
       context.
     * We offer for discussion, a ``road map'' for pervasive Indian
       language computing that has a higher probability of success than
       current efforts..

   The Case of the Missing Market

   Estimates of the size of the Indian language computing market vary
   widely. A survey conducted by the [28]Indian Institute of Information
   Technology, Bangalore described the existing Indian language market as
   predominantly DTP and print driven, with a market size of about INR 64
   Crores (INR 640 million).

   However, an article in the [29]June 24th, 2002 issue of DataQuest,
   author Yograj Verma estimated that the potential size of the Indian
   language market to be as large as INR 65,260 Crores (INR 652.6
   billion). According to this estimate, the potential size of the
   indigenous market rivals that of the existing ``export oriented''
   software industry.

   In reality, computing infrastructure has yet to make significant
   headway into Indian society. The use of computers remains an
   essentially urban phenomenon, mostly restricted to the English
   speaking elite in the country. There clearly is a gap between what the
   market could be and what today's market players are able to provide.

1.1 Target Audience

   This document has been written with the following audiences in mind:
     * Planners designing computing infrastructure for developing
       societies. Many of issues highlighted here would be present in
       other developing societies, and the solutions developed would be
       of use there too.
     * Software developers and development managers interested in
       developing software for the Indian language software market.
     * Educationists, especially those in Indian technical colleges.
     * Open-source developers attempting to add support for Indian
       languages to open-source software.

1.2 Prerequisites

   Awareness of the technical issues in Indian language computing is
   assumed. The reader wishing to refresh his or her knowledge may find
   tutorial sections of the [30]Indic-Computing Handbook, and some of the
   questions and answers in the [31]Indic-Computing FAQ to be of help.

1.3 What this article is not

   A few statements about what the article does not cover would also be
   in order.
     * The article does not cover the benefits that a pervasive computing
       infrastructure brings to Indian society. It also does not go into
       the issues of the appropriateness of information technology; as
       with all tools, the use of information technology would be
       appropriate in certain contexts and inappropriate in others; the
       judgment call on this matter would need to be taken by the
       stakeholders involved.
     * We do not identify specific end-user solutions that are needed in
       the market today. Though there are many opportunities that we can
       see, discussing these would be out of scope for this article. In
       this document, we sketch the broad architectural characteristics
       that successful solutions in the Indian context would possess.

1.4 Structure of this document

   The rest of this article is structured as follows:
     * In [32]Section 2 we look at the seven core issues that need to be
       solved before any computing technology can succeed in a
       large-scale in the Indian context.
     * We then analyse a few existing projects in [33]Section 3 in the
       framework of our model.
     * [34]Section 4 lists some of the next steps that need to be taken
       up before pervasive computing can become a reality in the Indian
       context. This section also provides the rationale for the tasks
       that the Indic-Computing project has taken up.
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