Will LooKeys Meet the Local Dream?

Local language computing has always been a subject of debate in India. While
the government bodies as well as the IT players have often talked of untapped
demand, in reality they have not met with much success.

Some cite the lack of keyboards in local script as the primary problem,
comparing India with China, where the use of Mandarin and availability of
keyboards in local script have resulted in a deeper penetration of IT in the
country. There are others who believe that software applications built for local
language applications need to undergo a major change and should focus largely on
user-friendliness. Solutions that allowed data entry in Indian languages were
available in some form or the other, but they were not user-friendly and hence,
it was always difficult to get large user groups to migrate to them.

When Bill Gates visited India in 1998, he said that the only way to bridge
the digital divide was to bolster development and use technology solutions in
local languages. Taking a cue from this, many organizations such as TDIL, CDAC,
MAIT, etc began working on developing local language computing features in
different pockets. While many of the projects did not see the light of day, some
emerged successful and even formed the base for many e-governance applications.

The government has been showing a keen interest in propagating IT in
vernacular languages (more a political gimmick) right since the inception of the
National e-Governance Plan. While some of these local language applications have
been used by government in isolated projects, the mass uptake of local languages
is still to happen in the government space. Nevertheless, industry experts claim
that with the ongoing IT penetration through e-Choupals, CSC, SWANs, etc, the
government will continue to look at local language IT in a big way.

The market is currently driven by off-the-shelf applications for end-users
such as the publishing industry and government sector. However, the,
e-governance initiatives undertaken by various government bodies are expected to
spur growth in the local language computing market in India.

In a report by DIT-MAIT back in 2002, the local language applications market
was estimated at about $11 mn, and was likely to grow up to $64 million by 2005.
However, only a fraction of the local language applications market has been
catered to so far. It has been observed that a large number of entrepreneurs in
this space have not been able to survive post 2003, when the size of the local
language software market was projected to grow at a CAGR of 79%. This is simply
because the uptake of these applications did not take place at the expected
rate, says Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT.

Software Providers

While CDAC has been doing a lot of independent work around script generation
and creating design standards, it has partnered with technology companies to
develop the software. Apart from this many private IT players have also been
working on the development of local language software for Indian government
needs.

Microsoft, Red Hat, HP and IBM are among the large names that have been
focusing on local language software development as part of their Indian
strategy. Microsoft has been working closely with various departments of the
central and state governments and public-sector organizations for the last
seventeen years. The company has partnered with fourteen state governments and
there are more than 300 e-governance applications running on the Windows
platform.

As part of its ongoing efforts towards overcoming the language barrier to
computing, Microsoft recently announced a host of custom made solutions for the
Indian market. The company has introduced Language Interface Packs (LIPs) in
twelve Indian languages for Microsoft Office and Windows along with forty-five
additional soft (virtual) keyboards, which are free to download. Apart from
this, it has extended its language functions to Windows Live. Microsoft India
said the collection of tools and solutions it has now introduced is an attempt
to cater to and enable the 95% Indians who still prefer their local language
more than English in their work and personal life.

IBM too has been providing Lotus Notes, Tivoli infrasturcture management
solutions and its WebSphere application server solutions in local languages for
the past few years.

A relatively new company named FTK Technologies, focusing purely on local
language solutions, recently introduced its local language software LooKeys in
ten Indian languages, specifically for the e-governance sector. FTK, an Isreali
company, stated operations in India in 2005 and since then has focused only on
providing innovative language solutions to the local users and the more crucial
government projects.

We have come up with a new version of LooKeys especially for the
e-governance sector that has many additional features such as the encypted
Remington keyboard which allows different typing layout functions. It allows
online and offline data entry capabilities and we believe that this will cater
to the needs of the government employees, said Rafi Palgi, executive manager,
FTK Technologies. Apart from the Remington typewriter keyboard feature, FTK has
added more application links that will prove to be helpful and interesting to
the government employees. For example, the regular version of LooKeys features
links to Facebook and Orkut, which helps the user communicate through the
regional language on those websites.

FTK Technologies foresees a potential market of about 300 mn users amounting
to about Rs 30 crore over the next two to three years. According to Palgi, this
market has been taking off slowly because there has been no available solution
that was comprehensive and user friendly.

Even before the LooKeys e-gov version was being developed, FTK had partnered
with CDAC for the Lekhika project during 2006-07. FTKs technology platforms
were integrated with Lekhika and this joint effort was targeted at the
government market. However, the product has still not taken off or been
deployed in the market as it still needs more enhancements to suit the Indian
market needs, says Palgi. Nevertheless, it has plans to continue work on
Lekhika sometime in the future.

Meanwhile, FTK is in dialog and has started engaging with the different state
governments to market LooKeys. What is unique about LooKeys is that it does not
require any special training as it has certain special features such as the
dynamic keyboard and virtual typing.

Apart from this, it has also set up a 24/7 support center in Noida which
handles technical issues as well as provides installation guidance. Palgi says
that once the technology receives higher acceptance within the government
segment, the company will expand the capacity of its support center. FTK is now
in the process of adapting the software for touchscreen kiosks and monitors and
is also looking at making LooKeys available on open source and other platforms
apart from Microsoft.

Future Outlook

Despite these steps, the government and the industry players are not showing
concerted efforts to push the cause for local language computing in a joint
manner.

Some of the projects initiated by the government have failed primarily due to
the lack of commercialization of technology and lax timelines for projects.
Moreover, the majority of the players in the sector are mid-sized companies or
educational institutions with limited financial muscle. Hence, they often tend
to be restrained in terms of their research and development spending on new
technologies.

Going ahead, the industry, academia and the government need to come together,
reduce redundancies and create better standards for the development of local
language software applications in the country. Supporting this view, Professor
UN Singh, director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, says, By 2016, India
will have a population of 500 mn with less than five years of schooling, and
another 300 mn not passing out of high school. A knowledge society will be
impossible unless we find innovative means of reaching these people. Localizing
a mass-based and mass-use software could be a positive step forward that will
have a far-reaching effect and impact.

Priya Kekre

priyak@cybermedia.co.in