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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Sinhala character code launched by Gamini Warushamana The new software product, SLS 1134: 2004, the Sri Lanka Standard Sinhala character code for information interchange, was launched recently. This encoding system can be used for information interchange in computers, communication systems as well as all other IT applications. SLS 1134 is consistent with the international Unicode system and can co-exist with other languages as specified in the international standard ISO/IEC 10646, especially with English and Tamil. The new standard has defined codes for all letters in the Sinhala alphabet. The code set is fully capable of generating contemporary and historical Sinhala writings and can be modified with future developments of the language. This is the second and most successful version of the Sinhala coding system that eliminated almost all deficiencies. The standard Wijesekara keyboard is well known among Sinhala typists. Standard keyboards based on this new system are now available in the market. The new product opens new avenues in the field of IT for the majority of the people. SLS 1134 facilitates development of software in Sinhala. It can also be used in web page development. Internet explorer- 6, and Sinhala versions of MS office are now available. Sinhala can be used with MS office XP and MS office 2003. Several software packages have already been developed based on this encoding system. Addressing the launch session Prof. V. K. Samaranayake said that this character code is a result of over 20 years efforts of a number of specialists in IT and Sinhala in several institutions. The first report was presented for the national standard coding system for computer application by CENTEC in 1984. However at the time there was no any consensus on the language. The National Science Council worked together with linguists and presented the first report in 1989. The seven bits standard code was produced in 1990 and to develop it to meet the Sri Lanka standard, it was presented to the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) in 1991. It was further developed at the SLSI and presented for international Unicode ISO134 in 1997 and for Microsoft Company in 1998. After the first version was published in 1999 the product was further developed to overcome some deficiencies. Dr. Gihan Dias of the University of Moratuwa said that SLS1134 will end the misconception that Sinhala or other languages cannot be used in IT applications. Only 10% of the people are English literate in Sri Lanka. This language barrier is the main reason for the wide digital gap in the country. Many countries developed a character code for information interchange in their own languages many years ago. The cause for not motivating international companies to develop Sinhala character code is the small market for Sinhala compared with other languages such as Chinese and Japanese. Local companies were not motivated due to the absence of a consensus on the Sinhala character code. Although many Sinhala fonts have been designed they have not been developed to meet the Sri Lanka and international standards. According to Dr. Dias, the new code system is more complicated than these fonts, because it has been developed according to the structure of the Sinhala language. Development of computer applications and training have already begun. Accordingly content development, content marketing and the e-payment system will be developed in Sinhala and Tamil. The government and the private sector will be encouraged to use Sinhala and Tamil and applications in computers. All computers now coming into the Sri Lankan market should be compliant with SLS1134. The SLSI and Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) will
develop a similar national standard for Tamil is keeping with the work done
in Tamil Nadu, India. |
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