A web-based translation algorithm offered by Translate will soon be available in Sinhala and Tamil, according to Ann Lavin, Google Asia Pacific’s Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for Southeast Asia and Greater China. The keynote speaker at this week’s SLASSCOM CXO Breakfast Briefing in Colombo, one of the main themes put forward by [...]

The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Sinhala and Tamil soon from Google Translate

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A web-based translation algorithm offered by Translate will soon be available in Sinhala and Tamil, according to Ann Lavin, Google Asia Pacific’s Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for Southeast Asia and Greater China.

The keynote speaker at this week’s SLASSCOM CXO Breakfast Briefing in Colombo, one of the main themes put forward by Ms. Lavin’s presentation was the need for careful thought when it came to the regulation of the Internet, so as to not over-regulate content and limit creativity, free speech, etc., stating that the Internet must be an “open, global, secure and resilient environment”.

At the same time, she also highlighted the fact that Sri Lanka was among a majority of countries voting positively on a controversial United Nations telecommunications treaty, proposed in December 2012, in Dubai, which detractors claim will open the door to government regulation of the Internet. However, she did note that this treaty was yet to be ratified locally, additionally requesting that the local IT industry provide some input into this area.

Commenting further at the event, Sriganesh Lokanathan, a Senior Research Manager at LIRNEasia, said this treaty was proposing the imposition of traditional telecommunications revenue generation models, such as ‘sending party pays’, on transactions. He also opined that this treaty also brought in International Telecommunications Union and state governance which were beyond its purview.

Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) Programme Director and Legal Advisor Jayantha Fernando said that, in his personal opinion, it was unfortunate that there was not enough debate on this. He also added that he thought that the Sri Lankan delegation attending the December 2012 conference in Dubai was not aware that there was an alternative being proposed by another large voting bloc.

On a different topic, Mr. Fernando also revealed that ICTA planned to soon offer, through its own web portal, data sets to be used by in the creation of applications, etc. Though these will number less than 100, according to him, the data provided will be significant, sourced via the government, with the potential to be used for a number of applications, etc.

Also speaking at the event, Senior Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa Prof. Malik Ranasinghe indicated that the way forward for Sri Lanka in the area of academia should be setting up business incubators at universities.
(JH)

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