The
programme aims at facilitating access to digital content, its use and
exploitation, enhancing quality of content with well-defined metadata, and
reinforcing cooperation between digital content stakeholders. It will tackle
multilingual and multicultural barriers.
The Programme addresses specific market areas where development has been slow:
geographic content (as a key constituent of public sector content), educational
content, cultural, scientific and scholarly content. The Programme also supports
EU-wide co-ordination of collections in libraries, museums and archives and the
preservation of digital collections so as to ensure availability of cultural,
scholarly and scientific assets for future use.
In a first four-year period (2001-2005), eContent is budgeted 100 mn EUR to
improve cross-border access to and use of public sector information and to
enhance content production in a multilingual and multicultural environment. A
mid-term evaluation of the programme found that its benefits were significant.
Therefore, a second phase is underway - eContentplus Pro-gramme covering the
period 2005-2008. It is expected to ease the barriers to the cross-border use of
European digital content like languages, multiple standards, cultural
differences and different administrative traditions.
With penetration rate of just 29 per
cent—limited to the most affluent Thais—internet penetration
in Thailand has not yet reached critical mass. The key
barrier facing most potential internet and ICT users in the
country is the lack of Thai-centric content. To address
this problem and help spur interest in the internet,
companies such as Microsoft, Terra Lycos and M-Web have
begun initiatives to incorporate Thai into their program and
portal designs. M-Web in particular, by purchasing the most
popular Thai portal, Sanook.com, intends to incorporate Thai
content on its websites and browser software. Improving
knowledge of the English language may also be a means for
the Government to increase accessibility.
Success Strategy:
Little
Horus is the first Egyptian website especially designed for children.
The website consists of over 700 pages of information and illustrations that
address children between the ages 6 to 15 in both Arabic and English. Little
Horus provides a comprehensive journey that transcends Egypt's 7000 years of
civilization into an educational and cultural experience for children, adults,
educators and professionals. Not only this, but Little Horus also offers
children games, fun and entertainment to suit all ages. The site offers a
variety of portals that provide a contemporary view of Egypt through Pharonic,
Coptic, Greek and Modern civilizations. Little Horus prides on its achievements
of more than 12,000 children from over 54 countries visit the site daily, and
receives more than hundreds of messages per day. Teachers and students from
several countries use the site as an educational reference material.
Target group:
Children and Youth
Partners:
The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy,
The Arab Cyber Education (ACE), The Arab Film & TV School, e-Knowledge, The
International Plant Genetic Resource Institute, The Middlesex University – UK,
The Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), The World Bank Institute
Awards:
Winner of the Cable
& Wireless Childnet International Award, Category “Best Achiever of the
internet Society of Egypt (ISE)” 1999 Annual Award
Source:
WSIS Stocktaking Database and
the website of the activity
Rice-Plant Chef-d’oeuvres on the web - Japan
Success Strategy:
Inakadate-village is really a small village in Northern part of Japan, which has
only 2,512 households with population of 8,900 in its 22.31km2 land. Inakadate decided to make the difference with rice plant compositions on a
rice field! Furthermore, the local community committed to share the experience
with people all around the globe by going digital.
Rice is a main culture for Japanese rural people. A long and rich tradition of
rice breeding stands behind. Agriculture is still the industry of predilection
for the local community. In order to keep the tradition but also make it popular
and attract curiosity, local authorities and citizens found a way to exhibit and
valorise it.
Since 2000, every year a field is chosen as well as a leitmotif of the
initiative. Pictures are taken periodically to allow the follow-up of the
evolution of the field. A website specially designed to disseminate the images
was created and developed remarkably. This comes to show that the small size
could not be a constraint for creativity and ingenuity.
Notwithstanding, the Inakadate rice chef-d’oeuvres are a good example of local
content as a fruitful outcome of a local community& local government
partnership.
View Inakadate creations:
Partners:
Village Council, village community
Source:
"Inakadate-village" website (Japanese only)
See more pictures
of this year's art on the rice field
week by week
here.
N.B. All of the web pages listed above are machine translated by
Alatavista
Development of Armenian Unicode System
Success Strategy:
To commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet,
UNESCO, through its project Initiative B@bel, and the Matenadaran Institute in
Yerevan have launched a project to enhance access to information in the digital
environment for the Armenian language. Started in 2004, the project aims at
developing a Unicode compatible font to overcome some current constraints in the
use of the Armenian language in fields such as modern print and digital
publishing.
Currently there are many Armenian fonts, which use non-standard encoding systems
which can make information exchange between users, for example e-mail,
unreliable. Many of the available fonts have only limited styles and do not
offer the possibility of recreating the rich detailed design features of the
languages such as can be seen in older traditional Armenian manuscripts. This
poses certain challenges and limitations for publisher and contemporary digital
graphic artists. The project will therefore seek to address such esthetical,
legal and standardization issues. Particular attention will also be given to the
training of local font designers and working with local institutions to raise
awareness of good practices.
Today, some 3 million inhabitants of Armenia use the Armenian language. There is
also a culturally aware Armenian diasporas of around 4 million persons many of
whom still write and speak Armenian. It is expected that this initiative will
facilitate online information exchanges and content creation in Armenian and
contribute to the preservation and promotion of the Armenian culture in the
digital environment.
Target group:
Armenians and Armenia diasporas members
Partners:
UNESCO’s Initiative B@bel and the Matenadaran Institute in Yerevan, Armenia
Source:
WSIS Stocktaking Database
and
the webpage of the activity
Development of Standards for Ethiopic Script
Success Strategy: UNESCO supported standardization process for Ethiopic scripts as a precondition
for local content development in languages in Ethiopia like Tigrina, Afar,
Amharic and others. Joint efforts are focusing on development of a national
standard in Ethiopic script for use by the local communities in the country as
well as by expatriated Ethiopians all over the world. This initiative is
reflecting the concern for grassroots & cultural heritage preservation and
constitutes a consistent base for further local content development and
valorisation.
The standardization process is a precondition for local content development in
languages in Ethiopia. Ethiopic is the script used to write Amharic, the
official working language of Ethiopia, as well as many other Semitic and
Cushitic languages in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The workshop aimed at discussing
Ethiopic standards need assessment, strategies for development, adoption and
dissemination of the standards, design of keyboard layout and resource
mobilization.
Target group: Ethiopian citizens and expatriates
Partners:
UNESCO’s Initiative B@bel with support of UNECA and the Ministry of Capacity
Building
Source:
WSIS Stocktaking Database and
the website of the activity
Critical Localisation - Ethiopia
Success Strategy:
An other similar initiative is underway led by national authorities. Ethiopian languages standard for computerization purposes is being developed
to enable national and international software solution providers to incorporate
the major Ethiopian languages into their localization facilities so as to enable
the community to use ICTs with their own local languages.
Target group:
Ethiopian Languages Communities
Partners:
Ethiopian Information and Communication Development Authority
Source:
WSIS Stocktaking Database
Development of Standards for Nepali Font
Success Strategy:
Improved data transfer and a wide-range of computer applications in Nepali
language are the main results of a UNESCO supported project to normalize Nepali
“Devanagari” as the standard font for local language computing that was
implemented by “Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya” (MPP) in Nepal.
In Nepal the Nepali Devanagari font (language) was utilized by some
organizations while others used fonts such as ‘Preeti’, ‘Kantipur’ and ‘Fontasy
Himali’. The various agencies had customized the software for their own
institutions and there were no common standard in the country. The lack of
standardization limited the transfer of data and information from one font to
another because various fonts had to be downloaded and kept on each and every
computer in order to open any document.
“The lack of a standard font had discouraged the Nepali IT professionals from
developing utility software such as a dictionary or a spell-checker in the
Nepali language. There was too much work involved in customizing the software
for each font currently in use”
says UNESCO’s Susanne Ornager.
On this background UNESCO supported since 2004 MPP, a non-governmental
organization promoting the use of computing in the Nepali language and the
principal archives of books and periodicals in the mother tongue in order to
develop a standard font for Nepali.
Nepal already hosts a vibrant IT sector, which is determined to respond to the
dramatic advances that are represented by the standardization of the Nepali
Devanagari font. MPP will be utilizing all the experiences gained in its past
UNESCO/CI projects to push the momentum of Nepali computing in the future.
Target group:
Nepali community
Partners:
UNESCO, the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya (MPP)
Source:
WSIS Stocktaking Database
and
the webpage of the activity
Linking Generations in the
Pacific
Success Strategy:
With the
help of local and international navigation experts, UNESCO
launched an endogenous effort to preserve
indigenous knowledge systems throughout the Pacific
Islands. As part of its “Local and Indigenous Knowledge
Systems in a Global Society” (LINKS) programme, UNESCO
worked with local communities to design a CD-ROM containing
information about traditional navigation techniques, maps,
pedagogical methods and histories of Pacific Island
communities. The CD-ROM, which serves as both a learning
and reference tool, was created to help bridge the knowledge
gap between generations in the region.
By engaging local communities, UNESCO
and its expert navigation advisors were able to compile and
analyze traditional navigational and cultural practices, and
digitize them on CD-ROMs. The project, which is mainly
targeted at youth, uses modern ICTs to help educate and
train new generations of Pacific navigators. Moreover, the
CD-ROM provides an interactive interface that helps users
learn how to build their own boats and plan routes on the
Pacific Ocean. Not only does the project help to preserve
indigenous knowledge systems and traditional methodologies
for navigation, but it also ensures the vitality of the
unique identity of the region’s peoples.
While still in its infancy, this
project reinforces the effectiveness of ICTs for the
sustainability of indigenous knowledge systems. UNESCO’s
efforts in the region also help to introduce new generations
to ICTs, which is essential for thriving in the
ever-evolving global information society.
Source:
the UNESCO website
eContent is a market oriented programme which aims to contribute to the
production, use and distribution of European digital content and to promote
linguistic and cultural diversity on the global networks. The programme
supports: Innovative and viable content projects involving multinational and
cross-sector partnerships; Accompanying measures addressing best practice,
concerted action, awareness and dissemination; market studies for visions,
insight, challenges and opportunities