Regional Training on "Localization of Mobile Platform" in conjunction with

Conference on "Policy and Sustainability of Local Language Computing in Developing Asia"

Overview

ITU 2010 repot presents that the number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide is expected to reach 5 billion in 2010. Mobile device penetration in developing countries of Asia is also increasing at a rapid pace. While current and past usage of mobile devices has mostly been for voice, there is a significant increase in text and other data services using smart-phones. However, most of the mobile devices that are currently in use only support Latin script. There is limited or no support available for many other language scripts, specifically those of developing Asia. Thus to access and use textual services in the mobile phones, their interfaces and applications must be localized. “Regional Training on Localization of Mobile” is therefore being arranged to build capacity for research in this area. Through this training the participants will be provided a step by step approach for localizing mobile phones in order to facilitate access and retrieval of information in the native languages.

Objectives

Primary objectives of the training are to:

During the course of the training, trainees will be given necessary background knowledge and hands on exercises so that they acquire essential skills required to develop localized applications on mobile platforms in general, and Symbian platform in particular.

Training Achievements

After attending this training, trainees were able to develop SMS application in their own languages. The screenshot of applications in each language are shown below:

Organizers

Center for Language Engineering
Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science
University of Engineering and Technology
Lahore, Pakistan