[A12n-forum] IUC25 & African ICT - opportunity in DC

["Don Osborn" <dzo@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The 25th Internationalization and Unicode Conference (IUC25) that will be
held in Washington, DC in March 2004 may be of interest to members of this
list who are not already aware of it.  Its theme of "Unicode in Government:
Building a Multilingual Infrastructure" would seem to harmonize with the
emphasis in the recent African WSIS preparatory meeting in Maputo on
bringing "e-strategies" for mobilizing ICT for development into the
mainstream of government planning.

The location of the conference would facilitate participation by
Washington-based experts in ICT for development as well as - and most
importantly - representatives of African governments based there
(principally in embassies of course).

As we all know, Africa is one of the most multilingual regions of the world
and thus would seem to be able to benefit most from Unicode.  Yet awareness
of it here is limited, even among ICT experts and language specialists.  It
will likely be some time before an IUC is held in Africa, esp. south of the
Sahara (so I am given to understand), and in most other locations the
conference has been held, the potential for African participation is
limited.  This next conference in DC, therefore, would seem to offer an
opportunity that shouldn't be missed for a range of actors in ICT for
development in Africa to take part, learn, and contribute.

I should add that I'm not one of the organizers and at present do not think
I will be able to participate personally, but am interested in helping to
make what I think is an important connection at a propitious moment.

I append the conference announcement/call for papers FYI (with apologies
that the date for submission is almost upon us).

Don (writing from Niamey)

Don Osborn, Ph.D.         dzo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
*Bisharat! A language, technology & development initiative
*Bisharat! Initiative langues - technologie - développement
http://www.bisharat.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lisa Moore" <lisam@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "unicore" <unicore@xxxxxxxxxxx>; "unicode" <unicode@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 12:16 AM
Subject: IUC25 Call for Papers - March 2003 - Washington, D.C., USA


>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  Call for Papers!  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
>     Twenty-fifth Internationalization and Unicode Conference (IUC25)
>
>      Unicode in Government: Building a Multilingual Infrastructure
>
>                          See Call for Papers at:
>                http://www.unicode.org/iuc/iuc25/iuc25call.html
>
>                           March 31 - April 2, 2004
>                             Washington, D.C., USA
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  Send in your submission now!  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
>                      Submissions due: Nov. 14, 2003
>                    Notification date: Dec.  5, 2003
>                           Papers due: Jan.  9, 2004
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>      Unicode in Government    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
> This conference will focus on solutions that address the language
> and multilingual requirements of governments and industries
> around the world.
>
> Technologies built on the Unicode Character Standard make it
> feasible today to build a multilingual infrastructure that
> satisfies these requirements. This conference will examine the
> requirements and explore recent advances as well as traditional
> best-practices. The Washington DC venue was specifically chosen
> to allow discussion and peer networking around the needs of
> government including topics such as U.S. Homeland Security, and
> the European Union's challenges supporting all its official
> languages.
>
> The conference web site has more details and numerous example topics:
> http://www.unicode.org/iuc/iuc25/iuc25call.html
>
> INVITATION TO SUBMIT PAPERS
>
> The Internationalization & Unicode Conference is the premier technical
> conference worldwide for both software and Web internationalization.
> The conference features tutorials, lectures, and panel discussions that
> provide coverage of standards, best practices, and recent advances in the
> globalization of software and the Internet. The conference continues to
> provide a forum for identifying and discussing new issues in this field.
>
> New technologies, innovative Internet applications, and the
> evolving Unicode Standard bring new challenges along with their
> new capabilities. This technical conference will explore the
> opportunities created by the latest advances, how to leverage
> them, and the potential pitfalls. Their impact on business and
> the problem areas that need further research will also be
> identified. Best practices for designing applications that can
> accommodate any language will be demonstrated.
>
> Attendees benefit from the wide range of basic to advanced topics
> and the opportunities for dialog and idea exchange with experts
> and peers.
>
> We invite you to submit papers on the conference themes or topics
> that relate to Unicode or any aspect of software and Web
> Internationalization.
>
> You can view the programs of previous conferences at:
> http://www.unicode.org/unicode/conference/about-conf.html
>
> CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
>
> Conference attendees are generally involved in either the
> development and deployment of Unicode software, or the
> globalization of software and the Internet. They include
> managers, software engineers, testers, systems analysts, program
> managers, font designers, graphic designers, content developers,
> web designers, web administrators, site coordinators, technical
> writers, and product marketing personnel.
>
>
> EXHIBIT OPPORTUNITIES
>
> The Conference SHOWCASE area is for corporations and individuals
> who wish to display and promote their products, technology and/or
> services. Every effort will be made to provide maximum exposure,
> advertising and traffic.
>
> Exhibit space is limited. For further information or to reserve a
> place, please contact Global Meeting Services at
> info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> THE UNICODE CONSORTIUM
>
> The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
> development, maintenance and promotion of The Unicode Standard, a
worldwide
> character encoding.  The Unicode Standard encodes the characters of the
> world's principal scripts and languages, and is code-for-code identical to
> the international standard ISO/IEC 10646.  The Consortium also defines
> character properties and algorithms for use in implementations.  The
> membership base of the Unicode Consortium includes major computer
> corporations, software producers, database vendors, research institutions,
> international agencies and various user groups.
>
> For further information on the Unicode Standard, visit the Unicode Web
site
> at http://www.unicode.org or e-mail <info@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>                            *  *  *  *  *
>
> Unicode(r) and the Unicode logo are registered trademarks of Unicode, Inc.
> Used with permission.
>
>
>