Yann Forget wrote:
Yes, localization of computers is one of the necessary steps before people could contribute.
Literacy is another one. As an example, in Gujarat, about 30 % of the population is illetrate, but that figure is a poor indication of the capacity to contribute to an encyclopedia.
It'd be interesting if committed Wikipedians could experiment with a program where they partner with non-literate speakers to jointly create articles. The latter would narrate articles on whatever missing topic there is, while the former would transcribe it into text (possibly posted with the narrator's account or a special joint-account).
I imagine this could potentially fill in a large gap on ethno-culturally significant topics that are nevertheless rarely described in text, though they need not be limited to such. The role of NPOV would need to be considered. For Wikipedia, the narratives would need to strive to be encyclopedia-like (to minimize re-writing later on). Simple re-telling of myths, folktales and such might go to Wikisource (I imagine).
The non-literate speaker here could also be one who is visually incapacited and for whose language no computer interface is currently available for reading and/or writing. (For example, I know of someone who's able to participate in the Net just like anyone else, but only in Mandarin Chinese. Though a fluent speaker, he lacks a PC interface for converting the Minnan Wikipedia to Taiwanese Braille.)
The non-literate speaker could also well be somone who simply can't get on the Net (or don't have a computer or can't type or another non-linguistic reason).
I imagine oral traditions are also, arguably, wiki processes.
I have a friend who is graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, a school with a worldwide reputation (teachers come from Havard, etc.), but can't read or write Gujarati, her mother tongue.
Today in India, it is fashionable to send children to English medium schools, which are usually more expensive and of higher quality than local languages schools. So educated people are perfectly fluent in English, but illetrate in their mother tongue.
This happens a lot, worldwide. If it's not English, then it's another LWC (language of wider communications).