BHUBANESHWAR: Despite being spoken by around five crore people, Odia remains significantly underrepresented in the digital space, lagging behind other languages in terms of technical support and online content. Lack of automated translations, search engine optimizations, voice recognition and other digital tools remain inadequate for Odia language, limiting its usability in an internet-driven world. To bridge the gap, tech-experts have launched new language tools for Odia and urge govt to include Odia as a computer language in schools and colleges.
“Odia speakers often struggle with digital content creation due to the lack of user-friendly tools. We have introduced Swalekh Desktop Tool and Swalekh Browser Extension, simplifying Odia typing across digital platforms. Additionally, the newly launched font converter enables seamless conversion between legacy Odia fonts and Unicode, ensuring better usability across digital and print media. With these tools we aim to empower users to write, publish, and share content effortlessly,” said Vivekananda Pani, cofounder of Riverie Language Technologies. The company has also expressed interest in collaborating with the Odisha government to establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Odia language development, addressing the limited digital presence of one of India’s oldest languages.
Odia was one of the last officially recognized languages to receive desktop support, and until a mandate in 2017, it was unsupported on major global mobile platforms.
“The internet has become the primary medium for knowledge-sharing, but Odia content remains scarce. We need more investment in language technology—better machine translation, improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools, and seamless Unicode compatibility. But lack of will-power from the state govt is one of the major stumbling blocks in Odia making its presence felt in the digital space,” said Subrat Prusty, of Institute of Odia Studies and Research (IOSR). The institute has developed Amalipi- an Odia Unicode Odia software with Odia phonetics, which is very easy to type proper Odia words, but the govt did not use it in preparing govt documents readable for all, Prusty alleged.
“Efforts to standardize keyboards and character sets are underway, but smartphone input methods and applications must improve to enable junk-free content creation. Innovations like voice-to-text and blogging platforms offer hope, but manual content creation and editing remain cumbersome. There is a need for more user-friendly tools for Odia typing, translation, and content creation. Without these, Odia will struggle to keep up in the digital economy,” said Subhasis Sahu, an assistant professor in Odia in a state university.