from DgCulture&Development: December 15, 2005 newsletter

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3. New Highlight -- Multilingualism in Cyberspace Will Assure a More
Just and Equitable Information Society
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An increasing digital divide between North and South is exacerbating the
differences in access to the Internet and to information in general, and
thereby increasing the income and wealth gap between rich and poor. This
will also affect minority cultures in a negative way, given that 10 or so
languages are dominant on the evermore-important Internet. According to
UNESCO, only 10 percent of the world's 6,000 languages are represented on
the Internet. Wherever languages dominate in any sphere of life, cultures
and sub-cultures with their own languages and dialects will be less
likely to survive and to thrive. Language is the primary vessel in which
culture is carried forward. When that vessel deteriorates, breaks, or is
taken away by force (as in the case of slavery and ethnocide in the
Americas), cultures atrophy and even disappear.

The second ox needed to pull the Internet diversity cart is affordable
access in terms of available hardware, easy hook-up, and reasonable fee
structures. Regarding the first of these, much progress is being made
towards producing a $100 computer, which could open up Internet access to
tens of thousands of villages across the globe.

Visit dgCulture&Development to view this highlight together with related
links: http://topics.developmentgateway.org/culture?intcmp=905&intcmp=905
Nearby vie 16 dic 2005 08:24:15 AST