Bangladesh to digitally preserve 40 ethnic languages

The government's ICT division has initiated efforts to preserve and digitise 40 ethnic languages, including 14 endangered ones. To further this initiative, a discussion meeting titled 'Font and keyboard construction of ethnic languages of Bangladesh' was held on May 7, 2023, at the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) seminar room of ICT Tower in Dhaka. The meeting was presided over by the Project Director of the "Enrichment of Bengali Language in Information Technology through Research and Development" Project (EBLICT). The event was attended by poets, writers, technologists, and common language representatives from various languages, including Chakma, Marma, Santal, Mro, Tanchangya, Telugu, Dhakaiya Urdu, and Thar.

In his speech, former director of BCC Mohammad Enamul Kabir emphasised the need to protect cultural heritage and diversity while digitalising. Professor Muhammad Zafar Iqbal stressed the importance of protecting and developing ethnic languages for generations to come. Mahbub Karim, the project president, discussed the challenges and uncertainties in the digitisation of ethnic languages and expressed hope for cooperation in the initiative. Resource persons from different languages spoke about the problems they face while using digital platforms in their own language, and offered recommendations to expand the opportunities of using their languages.

The Bangladesh Computer Council under the ICT Department has been implementing the 'Digitization of Ethnic Languages of Bangladesh' initiative since January 2022. 37 out of the 40 scheduled languages have already been sampled, and the construction of fonts and keyboards for languages with their own alphabets has been started. If successfully implemented, this effort will ensure the presence of ethnic language speakers in the digital world by enabling them to use their mother tongue on the keyboard.

The software company Dream 71 Bangladesh Limited is providing technical support in the implementation of this component.