ICT Division Workshop in Rangamati: UBoard Android App and Chakma, Marma & Mro Language Fonts Unveiled

Rangamati, 18 January 2026 — A half-day workshop titled "Digitization of Ethnic Languages: UBoard and Fonts" was held today in the hill district of Rangamati under the initiative of the 'Enhancement of the Bangla Language in ICT Through Research and Development (EBLICT)' project, implemented by the Bangladesh Computer Council under the ICT Division.

Organized at the conference room of the Rangamati Hill District Council, the event showcased UBoard—an Android and Windows keyboard designed to make ethnic languages usable on digital platforms—along with Unicode fonts developed for the Chakma, Marma, and Mro languages.

The chief guest at the event was Mr. Sheesh Haider Chowdhury, NDC, Secretary of the ICT Division. The workshop was presided over by Md. Mahbub Karim, Project Director of the EBLICT Project. The program commenced at 11:00 AM with a welcome address by the chairperson and an introduction to the invited guests.

In his opening remarks, Project Director Md. Mahbub Karim thanked the ethnic community representatives present, saying, "You have been with us in this project from data collection through various stages. As a result, we are able to present UBoard and the fonts for Chakma, Marma, and Mro languages to you today. I hope you will continue to stay with us in the coming days by using these tools and providing feedback."

Subsequently, in the first session's technical presentation, the project's consultant Mr. Mamun Or Rashid presented a detailed concept paper on 'Digitization of Ethnic Languages.' He demonstrated how people from various ethnic communities can easily complete their official and personal communications on computers and mobile devices using these new fonts and the keyboard.

Notably, this keyboard includes layouts for several ethnic languages including Chakma, Santali, Marma, Mro, Malto, and Mahale, alongside Bangla and English. Additionally, users can add custom layouts to write in any language. Along with the Android version, a Windows version of the keyboard is also available. Furthermore, the newly developed Unicode fonts address various issues found in conventional fonts.

The second session featured stakeholder opinions and feedback. Local representatives from various ethnic communities, intellectuals, and relevant individuals present expressed their views on the functionality of this new technology and provided necessary recommendations for the future. This lively discussion and exchange session continued for an hour.

In his chief guest speech, the Honorable Secretary Mr. Sheesh Haider Chowdhury stated, "The main reason for a language disappearing is the lack of practice. Therefore, alongside digital preservation, we must certainly keep ourselves engaged in practice." He further added, "Along with the government, people from each ethnic community need to build their own capacity so that they can take initiatives to preserve their own languages themselves." He also assured that the project would be extended to work on preserving ethnic languages on a larger scale.

It is worth mentioning that today's workshop is being considered a milestone for the ICT Division's 'Enhancement of the Bangla Language in ICT Through Research and Development' project.

The program concluded at 1:30 PM with a vote of thanks and a luncheon in honor of the invited guests.