THE chair of the Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Corporation has called on ICT experts to collaborate on the development of third-generation software that would enable the use of the Myanmar language on all computer operating systems.

The effort is part of a four-phase project launched by the government in October 2003 aimed at increasing computer literacy in the country by allowing Myanmar people to access ICT technology using their own language.

U Thein Oo, the chair of the corporation, said that although his company last month introduced a trial Myanmar-language version of Linux – an open-source operating system available for free from the internet – much remained to be done.

“We would welcome more contributions from domestic and overseas technicians to help develop the project,” said U Thein Oo, who also chairs the Myanmar Computer Federation.

He encouraged PhD candidates in ICT-related fields to participate in the project by focusing on research for Myanmar-language software efforts that were already underway.

Microsoft was considering developing a Myanmar-language version of its next Windows operating system, U Thein Oo said.

U Thein Oo said language is the most basic barrier to the development of the ICT sector throughout the country because rural people – the largest segment of the population – usually lack the English skills necessary to use computers.

“The lack of English proficiency creates a knowledge gap that prevents many people from experiencing the benefits of ICT and a widespread deficiency in this area will result in Myanmar being left behind in socioeconomic development compared with other countries,” he said.

“That is why this project is essential,” said U Thein Oo.

U Tin Win Aung, the deputy chair of the Myanmar Computer Federation, said the project was important for the general development of the country.

“We are undertaking this task through the efforts of a small number of enthusiastic experts from relevant organisations, but contributions from more people would boost the development potential of the project,” he said.

The Myanmar-language software project is being conducted in four phases.

The first involved the development of a typing sequence for Myanmar characters on a standard computer keyboard, as well as a system for encoding the characters to digital form and for translating computer operating systems into Myanmar.

Phase two of the project focuses on generating Myanmar-language versions of computer applications.

The third phase will include the development of software for translating other languages into Myanmar. The final phase will concentrate on producing an optical character recognition system that will enable printed Myanmar characters to be scanned and changed into computer text.