Preparing Next Gen Developers to Enable a Multilingual Internet: The Journey to Integrate the Universal Acceptance Curriculum
As the Internet expands globally, software must adapt to support internationalized identifiers including the Universal Acceptance (UA) of all valid domain names and email addresses. To achieve this, it is essential that future software developers receive the education and training required to build applications and systems that are UA-ready. Integrating these concepts into a technical degree program allows for a sustainable capacity-building mechanism. ICANN has developed a UA Curriculum and is collaborating with universities around the world to address this gap. These skills will help developers stand out from the competition in today’s competitive marketplace. This tutorial will provide an overview of the methodology that has been implemented to incorporate the UA Curriculum into technical courses at universities. The session will include the progress of UA Curriculum adoption by universities in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. These are areas where local communities speak languages such as Arabic, Tamil, Shona, and Spanish. The session includes a demonstration of the resources and tools being used to integrate concepts on internationalization, Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and Email Address Internationalization (EAI). Lessons learned, successful experiences, and opportunities for future initiatives will also be shared.