Language Observatory Project
Language Observatory Project was initiated and led by Yoshiki Mikami. Project was started with the support of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). In February 2004, the First Language Observatory Workshop was held. UNESCO reported the launch of the projectA language observatory is something which is built or implemented to observe and measure language activities in society.
Link to Language Observatory Wikipage
The need for observatories
According to the UNESCO report "Atlas of the World Languages in Danger of Disappearing", between 6,000 and 7,000 languages are spoken throughout the world and, that many more have become extinct. Concerns regarding content online have been expressed. Another UNESCO document, "Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace" noted in its preamble that "linguistic diversity in the global information networks and universal access to information in cyberspace are at the core of contemporary debates and can be a determining factor in the development of a knowledge-based society", and recommended that UNESCO establish "a collaborative online observatory on existing policies, regulations, technical recommendations, and best practices relating to multilingualism and multilingual resources and applications, including innovations in language computerization."
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