New tools, initiatives to increase digital presence of Odia | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: 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. The lack of automated translations, search engine optimisations, voice recognition, and other digital tools remains 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 the govt to include Odia as a computer language in schools and colleges.
“Odia speakers often struggle with digital content creation due to lack of user-friendly tools. We have introduced the 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 Reverie Language Technologies. The company has also expressed interest in collaborating with the Odisha govt to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Odia language development, addressing the limited digital presence of Odia-one of India’s oldest languages.
Odia was one of the last officially recognised 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 willpower 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 the Institute of Odia Studies and Research (IOSR). The institute developed Amalipi, an Odia Unicode software with Odia phonetics, which makes it 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 standardise 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 of Odia at a state university.
“Odia speakers often struggle with digital content creation due to lack of user-friendly tools. We have introduced the 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 Reverie Language Technologies. The company has also expressed interest in collaborating with the Odisha govt to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Odia language development, addressing the limited digital presence of Odia-one of India’s oldest languages.
Odia was one of the last officially recognised 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 willpower 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 the Institute of Odia Studies and Research (IOSR). The institute developed Amalipi, an Odia Unicode software with Odia phonetics, which makes it 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 standardise 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 of Odia at a state university.
