Why Is There No Local Language Software?
Given that South Asia possesses almost a quarter of the world’s population, we need to ask why there is no effective and diffused localized software. An answer requires examining different levels of the problem. First is the question of why the efforts of software companies in this area have been so meager or so ineffective. At the governmental level, India has promoted two distinct groups concerned with local language software, the National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) in Mumbai, and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Poona. Each has followed a different path toward localization, with CDAC the first to market. CDAC’s solutions were initially based on hardware modifications (the so-called GIST card), and its word processing software was seen by some users as inadequate and antiquated. Furthermore, CDAC, although a government agency, initially sold its local-language software, warts and all, for prices that drove away potential purchasers of lesser means
