NEW DELHI: In a bid to advance the vision of digital inclusion, the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are set to launch the BhashaNet portal on Thursday. The launch, on the occasion of the Universal Acceptance (UA) Day, is scheduled to take place at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in the capital.

MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan will be the Chief Guest at the event. "Universal acceptance is a pivotal aspect in our journey towards digital inclusivity. Through UA Day, we reinforce our commitment to bridging linguistic divides and ensuring every voice is heard in the digital sphere,” NIXI CEO, Dr Devesh Tyagi, said. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Governance division, MeitY, are actively supporting the UA Day.

The event will feature engaging sessions, including keynote addresses, panel discussions and technical workshops, led by distinguished speakers from various sectors. These discussions will focus on the significance of UA and the steps needed to achieve widespread acceptance, said the IT Ministry.

Set up on June 19, 2003, the NIXI is tasked to increase internet penetration and adoption in the country by facilitating various infrastructure aspects to enable the internet ecosystem to be managed and used by the masses. It offers IXPs towards building Internet Exchange Points, the .IN Registry towards building the .in domain digital identity, IRINN towards IPv4 and IPv6 addresses adoption, and Data Centre services under NIXI-CSC towards data storage services