Yes vry true language problem is one of the biggest barrier in our country.people in backward areas dnt know english.basically all these problems comes with in low enducational background problem.so vry firstly efforts should be applied on educational background improvment specially in rural areas so that people in those areas can become aware with internet benefits n can make use of them.
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sonam dixit, Assistant system engineer, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
| 12 27 2009 13:15:46 +0000
With regional languages it will definelty help to accelarate the penetration of the internet in India and will help to reach out to the masses. Internet is mostly about information and communication, which a person would like to use in a language he/she is more familiar with.
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Arup Chakraborty, Managing Consultant
| 12 27 2009 11:08:28 +0000
I read in the recent article in times of India that over a billion people are poor who do not have access to basic needs and India give home the the vast majority in the 1 Billion. So when there is a problem for necessity, there is no question that government must pitch in to see that like food, knowledge must also be available to one and all and moving regionally plays an important role in achieving this.
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karthik sreenivasan, Software Developer, Motorola
| 12 23 2009 13:15:06 +0000
I agree with prakash but just to add to it ,e-governance should be pushed vigoursly .This will certainly make them more aware of the Internet and how can it help them in their daily lives.Once this is established ,others things right from net cafes to english-learning willingness will naturly come .
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Shaikh Mohd. Laeeq, Technical Associate R&D , ThinkLABS Technosloutions Pvt. Ltd.
| 11 29 2009 15:16:19 +0000
I think problem is more related to education and awareness of internet than any specific language. Else why would extremely difficult languages (mandarin i guess) is not considered as barrier in Japan/Korea/(and?) China. To increase internet penetration, awareness of its utility is important. We should agree that most of people employed in corporate sector and aware and use internet extensively because we know its usage (mail, connectivity, commerce etc). I dont remember if I had written any pen and paper letter and posted it in past 10 years. We need to spread its usage to villages and demonstrate it before villagers. Its some cases its being done naturally - I must mention "Railway Ticketing". And on the top of it there must be critical mass of educated people. Any person educated upto graduation must be able to handle language barrier (with English). And as far as I know many villages in India have more than too few graduates. So even critical mass is not a big issue. Here, if "computer literacy" is any term to be considered; I think that can be a great obstacle. A strategic steps must be taken to spread computer literacy to remote India population. People like us (employed in corporate) do many things conveniently using internet.. purchase, bill payment, railway/bus/air tickets, information exchange, guide maps. Remember, for all these things certain enablers play important role...like credit card, online banking facilities, broadband penetration. Usage of internet would require better infrastructure. I welcome recent reduction in telecom tarrifs. I hope same revolution repeats for briadband access to masses. Second and equally important thing I guess is lack of internet usage in day to day work in govt offices. I was surprised when one of my close friend who has senior level job in govt office was unable to communicate with me using internet. (he purchased a compaq laptop months back). If this is a case with my friend, I dont know what would be condition of govt staff at village/block level. Coming to Language issue...I think revolution is also required to create simpler user interface with easy translation capabilities (remember language options in ATMs) making internet usage language neutral. Hence four key steps 1 - Increase computer literacy in villages/remote India 2. - Revolution in infrastructure (price/availability) 3. - Lead by example - Internet friendly govt staffs 4. - Revolution in UI (Technology related)
By
Prakash Kumar, Consultant (IT Services Strategy), Dell International Services (India)
| 10 10 2009 08:17:35 +0000
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I agree with what Nishant said, penetration depends on the usage and value of that specific product. So I don't think internet is dependent on regional language, and people also don't expect that. Nowadays most of them are familiar with English and there is no need for the regional language to play a major role in Internet.
By
Prarthana Devi, Database Architect/Designer, Leading IT Company
| 01 29 2010 10:14:25 +0000
First and foremost, the popularity/usage of anything depends on its intrinsic utility value. For a majority of Indians ( housewives/senior citizens/village folk ) there is no direct/indirect usage of internet and its related technologies. So we need to build more on the applications front such that we can involve them in the evolution process. A few decades back telephone penetration was not very much. But by and by as the migration for work/studies became the norm telephones and then mobiles are part of every one's daily life.
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Nishant Avasthi, Director - Ops
| 12 28 2009 08:53:01 +0000
No regional languages are not a barrier. If ISP's provide the bandwidth connectivity we will achieve penetration. Govt. of India is sponsoring few schemes for Broadband Penetration Program like USOF (Universal Services Obligation Fund)
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Ramalingam R, COO handling IT Products / Services
| 12 24 2009 06:28:49 +0000
It does not depend on regionla language . It depends on person how he is aware of outside world. some people think how to use computer like this. Again internet help to connect to world and lot of people from rural got interview in outside wlike middle east sitting in village.I am right now pursuing my PGDM and here some of my frnds are from very backward places of the country, they cant speak english very well but they make the most use of the internet in the college always searching for the topics, looking for the news , current happenings. I think its the attitude (learning attitude) of a person that matters. NOT THE REGIONAL LANGUAGE. This cannot be a barrier.
By
alok , Retail Operations, RDB Regent Retail Ltd
| 12 24 2009 05:23:11 +0000
I totally disagree with this statement .The reason for internet not penetrating in INDIA is we(Govt) is not able to provide the facilities what urban people are getting . People in rural areas are ready to use if we provide some brush up but there is no infrastructure in those areas and English is not at all barrier for any one ..
By
inapurapu chaitanya, Senior Consultant, Glenture Solutions
| 12 23 2009 12:49:30 +0000
It does not depend on regionla language . It depends on person how he is aware of outside world. some people think how to use computer like this. Again internet help to connect to world and lot of people from rural got interview in outside wlike middle east sitting in village.
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Hari Sankar Dalal, Senior Consultant, KEOIC
| 12 22 2009 09:23:41 +0000
It certainly will take a couple of decades more for the Internet to become a true enabler for the masses. Despite being one of the fastest growing nation in terms of Internet penetration, a substantial segment of the population is not familiar with this, especially in the rural areas. Even the urban population including housewives and senior citizens are distant away from coming to terms with the Internet technology. A massive drive to educate the masses is what is required to make it really HOT!!!
By
Shailesh Dubey, Corp. Communication Executive, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
| 12 22 2009 09:16:05 +0000
Dear Sonal, In your opinion, if u say language is a barrier to internet penetration?....then what is the solution?....a debate is valuable only when one can discuss and share new ideas and solutions, Is teaching english to RURAL INDIA solution to increasing penetration - for past 50 years govt is trying to eradicate illateracy, They have been successful but still long way to go, keeping in mind length and breadth of the country as well as demographics. Whats next solution?: creating applications, programs, portals etc in regional langauges...is that a solution... partly YES...and you yourself discussed the initiatives taken by many organisations. How abt building infrastructure?....quite possible and an easier task compared to teaching english to 100s of millions of rural indians!!.. Visit few small towns and villages in India, there are villages which do not even have GSM CDMA tower, they share the frequency with towers present in next big town in near the village!!.. In this kind of a scenario, which is a more achievable and solvable solution: making rural India English Literate or Setting up the infrastructure.? There are so many small grocery shops, cybercafes, in small towns, who provide railway ticket services and even writing emails for village folks nowadays. Villages in south india have cybercafe's where many families have their men working in middle east and other countries. These cybercafe owners have created a general email id and given that ids to families who share it with there acquintances abroad. So the person abroad sends email to his parents n family (just general hi hello kinds and this cyber cafe guy shares the same with families, and in return even writes emails for them and provides internet telephony services also) !!!.... offcourse he charges a small fee for all these sevices. So effectively there may be one internet connection, but effective users could be in 10s or 50s !! Hence local languages are surely barrier to penetration but now a complete hindrance.
By
shad , Marcom Head - North India, Dish TV India Limited
| 10 01 2009 13:54:54 +0000
I think penetration also depends on internet usage right, with most of Indians don't know English for that matter and don't completely understand the language...so with less usage of internet how can one penetrate in a better way....even with proper infrastructure and bandwidth that you are talking about....
By
Sonal Singh, Project Manager, Nortel Networks
| 10 01 2009 12:14:24 +0000
Dear Sonal, I am a little confused on this debate. Weather you are talking abt Penetration of Internet (i.e a PC simple enabled with internet) or No. of People ACTUALLY using internet?.. Because PENETRATION and USAGE are completely 2 different concepts. Like in Print media, there is subscription and readership. There can we one subscription of a newspaper at home, but probably 5 individuals reading it!.. Similarly in case if Internet, there can be one connection at home, but multiple people using the same. If you are talking purely abt penetration/subscription, i think Language is not such a big hindrance when it comes it penetration. But it surely is when it comes to usage. The reason for low penetration is primarily -lack of adequate infrastructure -low awareness level on usage and benefits of internet amongts cat B and C towns. -high installation cost of infrastructure. -Govt Regulations on bandwidth distribution -Poor Post sales Customer Support Service ( at times irate customers decide to cancel the existing connection also, if they are not able to get desired service). As far as regional languages are concerned, yes that leads to major hindrance on increasing the number of users. in cat b and c towns, which are majorly looked upon as growth engines for India in the future, lack of education and specially lack of english language understanding is a major issue. But initiaties like what google has done, or other examples which you quoted at the same time, more and more applications, portals, websites being developed in regional languages, we should only expect growth in times to come. So in a nutshell, Regional Langauges are reason for lack of penetration but big reason for lack of usage.
By
shad , Marcom Head - North India, Dish TV India Limited
| 10 01 2009 12:00:15 +0000
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