The Unicode Technology Workshop (UTW) 2026 brought together international experts in Nancy, France, from 20 to 23 October for four days of technical learning, presentations and exchange. The workshop explored how digital standards and technologies can help address gaps in language support and enable more people to communicate in their own languages online.
UNESCO participated in the opening keynote, presenting its work on multilingualism and linguistic diversity in the digital space, with a focus on equitable access to information and communication technologies for all language communities.
Under the theme Unicode in the World, the programme featured tutorials, talks and discussions on character encoding, font development, script representation, text rendering, keyboard design and internationalization. These sessions explored both the technical foundations of digital language support and the challenges faced by underrepresented writing systems, highlighting the importance of collaboration between technical specialists, researchers, designers and language communities to develop inclusive solutions and advance linguistic diversity online.
During her presentation, Priscilla Colón, Co-Chair of the IDIL Ad-hoc Group on Education, shared her experience of bringing the Taíno language online. Her contribution illustrated how digital technologies can support Indigenous language revitalization and underscored the importance of community knowledge and participation in developing meaningful digital solutions.
The workshop also provided an opportunity to highlight the Global Survey on Indigenous Languages; jointly conducted by the IDIL Ad-hoc Groups. The survey examines the situation of Indigenous languages worldwide, identifying challenges, priorities and opportunities for their preservation, revitalization and promotion. Its key findings will be presented in an Overview Report scheduled for launch in 2027.
The workshop concluded with a reception and dinner at Nancy City Hall, hosted by Mathieu Klein, Mayor of Nancy, to honour the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. The gathering highlighted the importance of collective efforts to ensure that Indigenous languages and scripts are represented and supported in the digital world.
The workshop was co-hosted by the Unicode Consortium, alongside partners in the Missing Scripts Program, a collaboration among University of California, Berkeley’s Script Encoding Initiative, Ensad Nancy / Atelier National de Recherche Typographique and Institut Designlabor Gutenberg.
The Unicode Consortium plays a key role in advancing digital inclusion by ensuring that the writing systems of the world’s languages are accurately represented across digital devices and platforms. Since its inception, Unicode has been integrated into all major operating systems and is now used on more than 20 billion devices worldwide, enabling billions of users to participate seamlessly in the digital environment, regardless of language, geography, or device.
UNESCO’s participation to the workshop forms part of the collaboration with Unicode on the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, which aims to help ensure that Indigenous Peoples can access and shape digital environments and technologies in their own languages.
