The Telecommunication Authority of Bahrain has launched a Hackathon to promote the country’s .bh ccTLD. The Hackathon was aimed at bringing professional awareness around the worldwide acceptance of International domain names.
This was the first edition of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) hackathon. This event was inaugurated in association with the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The Hackathon
The Hackathon was held for Undergraduate students in the Universities of Bahrain. The students build softwares and email systems supporting the Arabic languages.
Accepting the significant impact that the youth can have on the economy and also the functioning of the Internet ecosystem as a whole, this initiative was started. University students were encouraged to develop new projects in domestic languages such as Arabic instead of the more conventional English language.
Students can address this challenge better as they are the ones who can bring the biggest change. Being adept at using domestic languages such as Arabic and cTLDs such as .bh would prepare them better to challenge the dominance of a few languages.
This step is in the direction of Universal Acceptance that ICANN started a few weeks ago. The initiative is aimed at making the Internet truly universal. This aims at enlarging the accessibility of the Internet in which language, more often than not, proves to be a major barrier.
What can this Hackathon achieve?
The hackathon initiative for developing and supporting Arabic language domain names can help to promote Universal Acceptance of domain names in several ways:
- Increase Awareness: The hackathon can help to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of Universal Acceptance and the need for multilingual domain names, especially in the Arab world.
- Encourage Innovation: The hackathon can encourage innovation by providing a platform for students to develop new solutions and tools that support multilingual domain names. This can lead to the development of new products and services that make it easier for people to access content in their own languages.
- Address Technical Challenges: The hackathon can address technical challenges related to the implementation of multilingual domain names, including issues related to email systems and software support.
- Collaboration and Engagement: The hackathon can promote collaboration and engagement among stakeholders, including universities, students, government agencies, and industry players, to work towards a common goal of promoting Universal Acceptance and multilingual domain names.
Overall, the hackathon initiative can help to promote Universal Acceptance of domain names and encourage the use of multilingual domain names, which can promote digital inclusion and enable more people to access and participate in the online world in their own languages.
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