Session
Organizer 1: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 1: Delaney Jackson, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Juliana Rebelatto, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Janine Oliveira, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Diana Gianluca, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Juliana Rebelatto, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Janine Oliveira, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Diana Gianluca, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Format
Theater
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: We plan to present to the audience for 40 minutes leaving an additional 20 minutes available for an interactive question and answer session with the audience. This amount of time will allow us to present our Digital Inclusion initiative in detail so the audience can learn about the scope of the project, as well as engage more with the content during the interactive part of the workshop. The theater room layout will especially foster the format of having a presentation followed by a Q&A session, as the audience will be able to easily view the accompanying slideshow presentation.
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: We plan to present to the audience for 40 minutes leaving an additional 20 minutes available for an interactive question and answer session with the audience. This amount of time will allow us to present our Digital Inclusion initiative in detail so the audience can learn about the scope of the project, as well as engage more with the content during the interactive part of the workshop. The theater room layout will especially foster the format of having a presentation followed by a Q&A session, as the audience will be able to easily view the accompanying slideshow presentation.
Policy Question(s)
A. What role does technology play in the revitalization of endangered indigenous languages?
B. What research and preparation is involved in the process of digitizing an endangered indigenous language?
C. How do private and government stakeholders ensure respectful engagement with indigenous communities?
What will participants gain from attending this session? This workshop will cover the process and impact of the Digital Inclusion Initiative, with the main goal of highlighting the importance of language revitalization. We will review our process for language selection, best practices for collaboration between indigenous communities and stakeholders, and the technical details of localizing an indigenous language. After attending this session, participants will better understand the necessity of supporting underrepresented languages and their communities in technology and how to implement digital tools in order to highlight these communities.
SDGs
Description:
In early 2020, Motorola’s Globalization engineering team identified a gap in the representation of minority and indigenous languages in the User Interface (UI) of smartphones. Motorola became the first phone manufacturer to fully support Nheengatu and Kaingang in the UI of our smartphones in 2021. Since our first project centered in South America, we have added unique support for endangered languages from North America (Cherokee), Oceania (Māori), South Asia (Kuvi and Kangri), and Europe, with Ladin as our first autochthonous language from Italy. Motorola’s partnership with UNESCO is in line with Lenovo Foundation’s mission to digitize and revitalize endangered languages over a decade (2022 to 2032). Through this initiative, Motorola aims to inspire more action towards the revitalization of indigenous languages as well as close the gap in digitally inclusive technology, which is in alignment with the overarching mission to deliver “Smarter Technology for All.” Motorola’s Digital Inclusion initiative has, thus far, provided over one million open-sourced words from endangered minority and indigenous languages available for use by scholars and others in the industry equally committed to the digitization and revitalization of indigenous languages. Over time, our goal is to motivate continued research and technology usage (for example machine translation, language dictionaries, keyboards etc.) to positively impact the minority and indigenous communities collaborating on this initiative. Motorola closely collaborates with scholars and representatives of these indigenous communities to ensure that the communities lead decision-making throughout the duration of the project. The impact of this initiative is to (a) make smartphone technology more inclusive, (b) highlight the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity, and (c) open-source the language data to inspire others to join the language revitalization cause.
In early 2020, Motorola’s Globalization engineering team identified a gap in the representation of minority and indigenous languages in the User Interface (UI) of smartphones. Motorola became the first phone manufacturer to fully support Nheengatu and Kaingang in the UI of our smartphones in 2021. Since our first project centered in South America, we have added unique support for endangered languages from North America (Cherokee), Oceania (Māori), South Asia (Kuvi and Kangri), and Europe, with Ladin as our first autochthonous language from Italy. Motorola’s partnership with UNESCO is in line with Lenovo Foundation’s mission to digitize and revitalize endangered languages over a decade (2022 to 2032). Through this initiative, Motorola aims to inspire more action towards the revitalization of indigenous languages as well as close the gap in digitally inclusive technology, which is in alignment with the overarching mission to deliver “Smarter Technology for All.” Motorola’s Digital Inclusion initiative has, thus far, provided over one million open-sourced words from endangered minority and indigenous languages available for use by scholars and others in the industry equally committed to the digitization and revitalization of indigenous languages. Over time, our goal is to motivate continued research and technology usage (for example machine translation, language dictionaries, keyboards etc.) to positively impact the minority and indigenous communities collaborating on this initiative. Motorola closely collaborates with scholars and representatives of these indigenous communities to ensure that the communities lead decision-making throughout the duration of the project. The impact of this initiative is to (a) make smartphone technology more inclusive, (b) highlight the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity, and (c) open-source the language data to inspire others to join the language revitalization cause.
Expected Outcomes
In addition to providing the audience with a blueprint for digitizing endangered indigenous languages, we also hope to instantiate meaningful conversations about the intersection between diversity and technology. We would like the audience to provide their insights on how digital experiences can be impactful in this realm.
Hybrid Format: 1. The 60 minutes requested for our session would involve 40 minutes of presentation time, during which we will discuss the details of our Digital Inclusion Initiative as presented in our UNESCO white paper, with 20 minutes allotted for questions from the audience.
2. Questions from the audience will be welcomed from both in-person and online participants. Participants both in-person and online will be given the opportunity to ask questions which will be selected by our workshop moderator.
3. Google Slides will be used to provide visual explanations during the presentation.