Multilingualism in Cyberspace

The rapid development and use of information and communication technologies has major repercussions on all aspects of the private and public life in all countries.

This development is transforming the traditional ways of functioning of our contemporary societies and is providing new opportunities and challenges for all. This situation prompted UNESCO’s Member States to mandate UNESCO to keep them abreast of these new ethical, legal and societal issues by establishing a permanent international Observatory on the Information Society, thus issues facilitating their own participation in and contribution to this new virtual environment.

The Observatory's main objectives are to raise awareness on the constant evolution of ethical, legal and societal challenges brought about by new technologies. It aims to become a public service readily accessible to all by:

• Providing updated information on the evolution of the Information Society at the national and international levels, and
  
  
• Fostering debates on the related issues.

The Observatory covers officially adopted legislation, work plans, strategies and policies governing institutional, national and international activities on the Web.

Of particular importance to Initiative B@bel is the section on multilingualism, which contains documents and related sites highlighting efforts of national governments and international organizations to promote and protect linguistic diversity.

Also included is a selection of on-line dictionaries and automatic translation resources as well as documents focusing on promoting the exchange of information in electronic format in all languages. Eventually these resources will be permanently placed under teh Initiative B@bel website.

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