The three scripts have received the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) certification, head of the Nusantara scripts certification planning team of PANDI, Heru Nugroho, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“The Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese indigenous scripts have received SNI certification and are now ready to be registered with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN),” he added.
ICANN is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating and managing names and scripts utilized in the global computing system to ensure the network’s secure and stable operation, he informed.
Keyboards and fonts of the three indigenous scripts have received SNI certification, allowing for their broader usage and compatibility with computing systems, the team head added.
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Nugroho said he is optimistic that the digitization of traditional scripts would provide a new study medium for schools that mostly teach such scripts using traditional methods, including handwriting and painting.
“If indigenous scripts are available on digital platforms, studying the scripts will be far easier,” he explained.
Standardization of keyboards of indigenous scripts will allow mobile device users to send and receive messages in the original scripts, he said.
Indigenous scripts can also be used to enhance digital and banking security, he added.
“We can use indigenous scripts as passwords for our banking system, and if we use indigenous scripts in our defense system, we will give foreign attackers a hard time when they are trying to break into our system,” Nugroho remarked.
Despite the current digitization process being rudimentary, Yogyakarta residents have been the most enthusiastic in welcoming it, the team head highlighted.
Completing the digitization of all indigenous scripts is still a long way off, he said while pointing out that China required 20 years to digitize its script which has Chinese characters.
Meanwhile, an official from the Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Didik Suhardi, said the ministry is currently encouraging the parties involved in the digitization of the three indigenous scripts to continue their efforts and digitize other indigenous scripts.
“The ministry officials have coordinated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, the National Library, the Language Agency, and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics which regulates the digitization permits and access to devices,” Suhardi added.
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