Launch of Sri Lanka Standard Tamil Character Code a landmark: Minister Tissa Vitharana

The launch of the Tamil character code developed by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Standards Institution and various local and foreign elite groups and enriched by the results of feedback and pre-test from representatives of the general public was a landmark in the communication history of Sri Lanka, Science and Technology Minister Tissa Vitharana said.  The Minister made this statement while participating as the Chief Guest  at the inauguration of the Tamil Character Code for Information Interchange held on Novemeber 24 (Monday) afternoon at the BMICH. Speaking further the Minister said that he was happy that the development of the Tamil Character Code Sri Lanka Standard 1326 of 2008 was indigenous and not a replication of what obtains in any other country. The Minister said that it was highly commendable that this code was both consistent with the international standard called UNICODE as well as tailored to the specific ethos and needs of Sri Lanka.

Speaking on the occasion ICTA chairman Prof. P. W. Epasinghe said that Sri Lankans, especially the rural folk, had been creative and pioneering a variety of spheres including two-dimensional and three-dimensional communication as is clear from the words like Piyawara, Viyatha and Riyana for length, Huuva, Gavuva, Yoduna etc.  for distance, Kuruniya, Neliya, Malla Etc. for volume considered to be equivalent to weight for most purposes except in Ayurveda  where Manchadi and Kalang were used .  Elaborating on the creativity and erudition of Sri Lankans from ancient times the ICTA chairman said: “The terms Kuruniya and Malla were also used to signify area in agriculture implying that the ancient villager also had understood the concept of area which is two-dimensional. The ancient Astrologers also had understood the concept of time as a relative concept and was measured using Piyawara from midday which was the Hitipiyavara. The indigenous medical practitioner used the Nadi, not only to measure temperature but also for all other medical purposes”. The Professor added that it was significant that as described by G. Balachandran of ICTA Tamil Character Code had been developed as an offshoot of this indigenous creativity of Sri Lankans.

ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura speaking on the occasion said that the launching of the Tamil Character Code SLS 1326 was a milestone in the Government’s effort to take Information Communication Technology (ICT) to the village so that they have a comfortable life. Director General of Sri Lanka Standards Institution Dr. L. N. Seneviratne pointed out the problems that are encountered when there is no standard and  how the Sinhala character code SLS 1134:2004 and now the Tamil character code SLS 1326: 2008 had solved those problems.

The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) being the apex government body responsible for taking ICT to the people strives to do so through its six-pronged programme. Under one of these programmes ICTA  promotes  the use of standards based ICT use in Sinhala and Tamil.  The objective is to ensure that the benefits of ICT are taken to the majority of the population in Sri Lanka which comprises people who prefer to use ICT in local languages. 

The way it used to be before the setting up of the standard vernacular character code

Applications used their own fonts. No standard was used in the industry. This gave rise to private, non-standard solutions and to a large number of proprietary fonts, different types of keyboards being used etc.  Documents produced using one application could be accessed and used only through that application. This was a major problem when a person tried to use a document created by another, produced using a different application.  Copies of non-standard fonts had to be sent from one to another.   This made the use of local language e-mail impractical and slowed the use of local language use of the web.    Also specific applications such as word processing did not integrate with other applications and functions such as sorting were not standardised among applications.

Another major impediment to the development and use of the Internet and ICT in Sri Lanka was the dearth of local language content.   Even if devices and connectivity were affordable for all in Sri Lanka, a person conversant only in Sinhala or Tamil would use these only if there is relevant content to keep the user interested, with local language support built in.

What is available after the introduction of the standard character code

Now new avenues are open for those who prefer to use ICT in local languages.   The international standard Unicode provides a unique number for every character for every language. 

In order to promote and facilitate standardisation, ICTA, in partnership with the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI)  completed a project on developing a  Sri Lanka Standard Tamil Character Code for Information Interchange.  The standard is consistent with the Unicode standard.

The Sri Lanka Standard Tamil Character Code for Information Interchange, SLS 1326 : 2008 was approved by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) in September 2008, as a Sri Lanka Standard. 

It comprises a coding for the Tamil character set consistent with the latest version of the Unicode standard and a keyboard layout for Tamil based on the Renganathan layout.   A sorting order for Tamil, for Sri Lanka, is provided in the draft standard; it introduces the sorting order for the “Tamil fa” for the first time for the Tamil language. This standard also includes information about and provides for typing and producing old Tamil numerals and Tamil symbols.  The aim of using and interchanging Tamil in IT applications, in just the same way that people use English in IT today is thus  closer to being achieved.