Addis Ababa University

ICT Glossary Project

Welcome

Welcome to the ICT Glossary Project! The Ethiopian ICT Development Agency (EICTDA) is working in cooperation with regional governments, Addis Ababa University, and other groups to build standardized glossaries of ICT terminologies in three local languages - Amharic, Afan Oromo, and Tigrigna. Accordingly, Addis Ababab University (AAU)is contracted by the ICT Development Authority to execute the ICT Glossary Project.

This ICT Glossary Project Web site, hosted on the AAU server, allows locally designated project members build the ICT glossary in the three local languages. The terminologies are drawn from words used in the user interface of various hardware and software industry leaders.

Project Background

The EICTDA, in view of the available expertise, invited the the Addis Ababa University to coordinate the project through the Ethiopian Language Research Center (ELRC) and the ICT Development Office (ICTDO).

Prior to launching of the project, consultative meetings were held with stakeholders and professionals in the ICT and linguistic areas and a final version of the project was set up.

The project supports the following goals:

To establish Amharic, Afaan Oromo and Tigrigna equivalents fot ICT terms.The terms so borrowed will undergo necessary linguistic modifications so that they could conform to the phonological system of each language.
To prepare booklets utilizing the most basics of the newly created technical terms in the three languages, there by enhancing the interpretative capacity of newly coined terms by clarifying the concepts that the terms represent.

Project Organization

The ICT Glossary Project is lead by a director, appointed by the Addis Ababa University, and is supported by assistant director. Three team leaders and a technical support team leader are also members of the core team. Participation of regional governments is ensured through three assistant team leaders assigned from the Amhara, Oromiya and Tigray Regional Beauros concerned with language development. The project team members
are drawn from linguistics and ICT.

Public Participation

Full participation of the public is critically important for the success of the project. Active participation requires follow-up of the coined ICT terminologies through local newspapers or through this web site and sending feedbacks. Furthermore workshops will be organized to deliberate on comments and feedback thereby generating the finale glossary.

ICT Glossary Process and Features

Login : Active participation requires a one-time registration with the community: all you need to do is choose a Display Name and type it on the registration form together with your password. The name you choose will be displayed to other users of the site.

Translation suggestions : Once you have joined your glossary community, you can suggest translations for each English term. You also have the option of including a comment to explain why you believe it is the best one.

Role of The Teams

The team for each language is the expert team that is managing the glossary project specific to one language. The team, comprising of linguistic and ICT experts, sets the schedule for the glossary work, reviews submissions, and monitors the discussion room. At the date set by the team, review of all translation suggestions for each term is done. Based on community input and linguistic excellence, the team selects the best suggestion and locks that term. This work continues until all terms are locked, and then the glossary project is complete.