SECOND

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• SECOND
• Internet Gouvernance Forum
• MEETING
• DIVERSITY TRACK
• Rio de Janeiro
• 13 November 2007
• 4pm -6pm

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Daniel PimientaUniversité Antilles
Guyanepimienta_at_funredes.orgNETWORKS
DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONhttp//funredes.orgLan
guage Culture OBSERVATORYhttp//funredes.org/L
C
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MEMBER LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY NETWORK EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEEhttp//maaya.org
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Linguistic Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace

• A framework to understand the complexity of the
  digital divide.
• Its application to the understanding of the
  diversity issue.

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My statement In 3 sentences

• There are many diversity issues
  beyond
• It is a transversal matter crossing all
  digital inclusion picture.
• It rises complex problems which need to
• receive more focus if we pretend to build a
  truly inclusive Internet

IDN
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APPLICATION OF THE PREVIOUS ICT4HD FRAMEWORK
TO CULTURAL LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

• HOW DOES THE HURDLES TRANSLATE IN TERMS OF
  LANGUAGE (AND CULTURE)?

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1-ACCESS/INFRASTRUCTURE

• Technological neutrality is a
  myth.
• Interfaces concentrated most of the problems
  related with diversity.
• Accesibility approaches required.

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2-ACCESS/AFFORDABILITY

• Universal access shall include consideration for
  pricing coherent with the level of revenues of
  the target population
• Lenguages cultures of poor segments of
  population (basically in the South but also
  immigrants in the North)

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3-ACCESO/SUSTAINIBILITY

• Telecenters organization scheme shall be
  coherent with local cultural practices.
• ? Telecenter as a community centered place with
  obvious cultural and linguistic implications

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4-ACCESS/LOCALIZATION

• Access shall be in mother tongue and be natural
  to ones culture.
• ? IDN
• ? Keyboard layout
• ? Alphabet codification (Unicode)
• ? Online dictionnaries, language correctors
• and other support softwares
• ?Automatic Translation
• ?Web design style

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5-ACCESS/LITERACY

• Universal access . to shared knowledge
• If Internet is for every one,
• then basic functional literacy shall be first for
  every one

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6-USE

• Here starts the requirements for
• digital literacy
• ? Digital literacy a learning process while
  Unesco has shown the importance of the use of
  mother tongue in education.

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7-TECHNOLOGICAL OWNERSHIP

• Digital and information literacy is probably the
  highest challenge of inclusive Information
  Society
• Time to switch paradigm!
• ? How would I really get ownership of a tool
  which does not understand my mother tongue with
  training package in a foreign language?

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8-MEANINGFUL USAGE

• Content production, virtual communities, social
  applications
• ? In my language and coherent with my culture

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9-SOCIAL OWNERSHIP

• Culture Ethics of
• Network Information
• are not culturally neutral
• ? a process of sincretism with local cultures
  shall develop for ownership to happen

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10/11-EMPOWERMENTSOCIAL INNOVATION

• The closer we get to Human Development the more
  the importance switch into culture.
• ? What is the semantic of empowerment and
  innovation in my linguistic/cultural context?

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12-HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

• We will only get close to this goal if peoples
  participation has been a reality along the
  process
• ? What meaning has participation and how does
  it get real in a given cultural context?
• ? Does real participation exists if a language
  different form mother tongue is imposed?

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The cyberdiversity challenge.

• Triggers two type of reactions
• This is too complex. Lets be pragmatic and
  just do everything in English
• This is such a complex and key issue that we need
  to start early and dedicate more attention and
  resources.

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DIVERSITY CHALLENGE

• If you are a type 1 person,
• just think about Ashby theorem (system theory)
  and how it applies to the situation of our
  planet, its ecosphere and its human beeings.
• ? Reducing diversity is jeopradizing our chance
  to evolve and adapt.
• ? Internet duty is to worry about diversity if
  it is really for every one.

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Lets think again and revamp the Babel myth in
light of system Theory and today World challenges!
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Orkun
MERCI
Toda raba
Gracias
Thank you
Mese ampil
Abhar
Salamat
Obrigado
Amesegnalhu
Shukran 
Dhonnyobaad
Dekuji 
Adjarama
Doh jeh
Ngue penù
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REFERENCES

• http//funredes.org/presentation
• http//funredes.org/mistica/english/cyberlibrary/t
  hematic/Paradigmatic_Divide.pdf
• http//funredes.org/english/publicaciones/index.ph
  p3/docid/469
• http//portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID20882
  URL_DODO_TOPICURL_SECTION201.html