Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently hosted the first Universal Acceptance Day, which aimed to promote an inclusive and multilingual internet. India was chosen as the flag bearer this year to promote and promulgate Universal Acceptance of digital inclusion.
During the event, experts discussed bridging the digital divide and methods to connect non-internet users in a bid to promote digital inclusion, according to a statement from MeitY.
India’s diverse user group
India is home to more than 18,000 dialects, making it imperative to build emails and websites in native languages, said MeitY Additional Secretary, Bhuvnesh Kumar. Experts attending the event were in agreement about a multilingual internet being essential to achieving equal access to information and bringing onboard 500 million broadband users in India.
“India is the perfect example of diversity and I can’t think of a better nation to lead the dialogue on acceptance, inclusivity & bridging the digital divide,” said Global SVP & Chief Corporate Affairs & Public Policy Officer, Dr Subi Chaturvedi in a statement. “Internet needs to be made inclusive to enable women to get online, use digital tools and services, and contribute to the global economy,” he added.
As per Chaturvedi, through universal acceptance is the first step towards a safe, secure and accessible internet and will bring in the next billion users online.
Edmon Chung, Board Director, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) suggested that top-level domain names in local languages and scripts would be vital to promote multilingual internet systems.
The event was organised by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) an internet peering non-profit under MeitY.
