Email in Native Language, RajMail shows the way out for Governments to Connect with Citizens: Study

The Study highlights successful implementation of an Indian State’s linguistic email with Universal Acceptance 

Powered by XgenPlus, ‘RajMail’ in Hindi & English provides impetus to Raj Govt’s e-governance

Mumbai, March 6, 2019: Only 20 percent of the world’s population speaks English and in order to bring the next billion Internet users online, these users and others around the globe will need to be able to navigate the Internet in their native languages, reveals a Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) Case Study. The Study highlights successful implementation of an Indian State’s linguistic email project which has huge potential for scaling up in the country. 

UASG, a consortium of more than 120 companies including Afilias, Apple, GoDaddy, Google, Microsoft, Verisign, Data Xgen Technologies Pvt Ltd, receives financial and administrative support from Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  The UASG e helps organizations ensure their systems are UA-ready and able to accept all domain names and email addresses in any valid script.

XgenPlus, developed by Jaipur based IT firm Data Xgen Technologies, is working to address UA readiness issues and provide support.

Rajasthan became the first state to fully adopt and utilize the global innovation in linguistic email services by Data Xgen Technologies Pvt Ltd. Powered by XgenPlus, email service ‘RajMail’ supports and provides impetus to Rajasthan’s e-governance efforts. To give a bigger push to e-governance, Government of Rajasthan, under its special IT project, has provided email address in Hindi and English to its citizen. The email address in Hindi and English via ‘RajMail’ provides comfort to users of the state to communicate in their preferred language. With 4 million users (nearly half of total internet users) on ‘RajMail’, the Rajasthan government has taken a lead in digital transformation. 

In addition to providing early adopter residents with a sense of digital identity and a means of accessing the Internet in their native language, Rajasthan Government has provided a blueprint for other government leaders in India and other countries who are grappling with similar challenges, according to the Study. 

Ram Mohan, Chair, UASG said, “With the RajMail project, Rajasthan has established itself as leader in India’s digital transformation. UASG is proud to recognize the work of the Rajasthan government and their partner XgenPlus for this important initiative in bringing millions of people online.”

Government of Rajasthan is helping its 75million residents to obtain the benefits of Internet and recognized that there is need to provide such platform where all the citizen of Rajasthan can communicate with the government directly without facing any hindrance. Now, with technical support from Data Xgen Technologies Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan’s government is heading towards 100 % Universal Acceptance (UA) compliance across its web properties; the process is ongoing.

“With RajMail, Rajasthan residents have been equipped with a powerful tool for engaging with their government, with business and with society. Initial progress is good, but more remains to be done. Until Universal Acceptance is truly universal, some users with email addresses in non-English scripts (EAI addresses) will be locked out from online services,” the UASG Case Study pointed out.

“The state intends to continue making progress on UA and making sure that all their services can be accessed using an EAI address. The state’s IT department and XgenPlus are working together for taking incremental steps while planning its program of work over the next few years, all in service of its vision for a more linguistically diverse Internet,’ said Dr Ajay Data, Founder and CEO, Data Xgen Technologies”. 

RajMail is hosted on the Rajasthan State Data Centre and run by the Department of Information Technology and Communications (DoITC) is managed by the state’s own IT team, with initial support from Data Xgen Plus. 

About UASG: The Universal Acceptance Steering Group is an Internet community initiative that was founded in February 2015and tasked with undertaking activities that will effectively promote the Universal Acceptance of all valid domain names and email addresses. The group is made up of members from more than 120 companies including Apple, GoDaddy, Google, Microsoft, Data Xgen Technologies Pvt Ltd and Verisign), governments and community groups. The UASG receives significant financial and administrative support from Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). For more information, visit https://uasg.tech/