I would like to share some key initiatives led by the ICANN Language Services team to improve our collaboration with ICANN global constituents and stakeholders.
While ICANN materials and updates are normally published in the six official U.N. languages plus Portuguese, we are aware of the ICANN Community's diverse linguistic universe. With this in mind, during ICANN52 in Singapore, ICANN Language Services launched ICANN In Your Language, a program designed to bridge the language gap – and thereby enhance stakeholder communication and engagement.
A key feature of this program is the glossary and terminology database – Quizlet. It is available in the non-English U.N. languages plus Portuguese. We are currently working on the Japanese, Korean and Turkish versions.
There are two important initiatives we are particularly proud of: Language Localization Toolkit and ICANN's Translation Partnership MoU Program. These endeavors bring our stakeholders and ICANN closer together toward our shared goal of delivering ICANN materials in your language. We will showcase these initiatives at the Community Translation Session at ICANN55 in Marrakech.
The Language Localization Toolkit provides a basic set of tools and materials that community members can use to translate selected outreach materials into their local languages, and enhance outreach to their local communities. This program has been successful in the APAC region – where it was initially deployed – with five sets of ICANN outreach materials translated and actively used for local outreach efforts.
We hope to work with the other regions to extend this program.
We recently signed MoUs with two stakeholder groups from Japan and Thailand. These MOUs promote translations of ICANN materials into Japanese and Thai and serve as a model for ICANN's Translation Partnership MoU Program. With your support, we hope to replicate the program globally.
I am excited that our MoU partners will be at Marrakech to speak about their experiences and plans to bring ICANN materials to their communities in their local languages. Below are their thoughts:
'Both JPNIC and JPRS have been closely keeping track of ICANN's activities and disseminating ICANN information to the Japanese community. As English is not Japan's main language, we needed to translate many ICANN materials on our own. Our partnership with ICANN has allowed us to better coordinate our resources to cover translation work more efficiently and to make the terms more coherent across the translated documents. I am looking forward to sharing our experience so that you can also bring ICANN to your communities." - Hirofumi Hotta, Japan Registry Services Co. Ltd
'Our collaboration with ICANN will enhance the Thai community's capacity, enabling us to participate in global discussions more effectively once the language barrier is broken down. This aligns with our national strategy to be a digital economy society by 2017 by reducing the digital divide of our Thai community due to the language barriers. We are very interested in ICANN Learn as a platform where the Thai community can access materials in the Thai language." - Panus Rattakitvijun Na Nakorn, Electronic Transactions Development Agency of Thailand
We look forward to meeting you in Marrakech at ICANN55. If you are unable to join us in person, you can participate remotely.