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explained previously. Many of the MWTs applications discussed in this study might
benefit the poor communities with no technology but the cost for maintaining it can be
very high.
2.7.1 Language and Literacy
Language is also a huge challenge. Holms (as cited in Sigh and Sahu (2008)) states that
“English is used in almost 90 percent of websites, even though more than three-quarters
of the world population do not understand it”. Singh and Sahu argue that if local
languages are used, the ordinary non-English people can easily be reached with the
technology. This would be a costly exercise especially in countries where they have
many dialects. For example in countries like India where there are more than 100
dialects and 18 official languages. Vanuatu www.governmentofvanuatu.vu website is
currently presented in English that is the official language, but further upgrades to the
side would expect the French version and also the national official language called the
“Bislama” to be incorporated. However, the challenge in this area will still be
significant in Vanuatu for some time. This is due to the fact that although Vanuatu with
a very small population and small land mass it still has more than 80 different dialects.
Having all three languages included in the website can be challenging due to the lack of
available language practitioners. As Singh and Sahu (2008) stated, “it is almost an
impossible task to have portals in all the languages given the limited resources of
government”.
Ya-Ni and Tat-Kei Ho (2005) point out that there are always challenges with Public
Information Kiosks especially if they are setup in rural areas where most people are
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