Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA)

Interoperable Transliteration Software

The Interoperable Transliteration Software project was developed to enable accurate conversion of names and text between Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages, supporting multilingual digital services across government systems.

The Challenge

Government institutions required accurate multilingual data management systems to support national e-services. Names and addresses stored in databases needed to be converted between Sinhala, Tamil, and English without losing accuracy.

Manual transliteration created inconsistencies and errors, which could result in administrative complications and identity mismatches. A reliable automated transliteration solution was required to bridge the linguistic gap in official digital records.

The Solution

EmetSoft developed an interoperable transliteration engine capable of converting text across Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages while following national language standards.

The software was implemented as a core e-service within the Lanka Gate platform, allowing seamless integration with multiple government applications and ensuring a unified standard for text conversion across the public sector.

Key Functional Modules

Sinhala to English Transliteration

Converts Sinhala text into English format.

Sinhala to Tamil Transliteration

Supports multilingual data exchange.

Tamil to English Transliteration

Ensures compatibility across language systems.

Tamil to Sinhala Transliteration

Maintains linguistic accuracy.

English to Sinhala & Tamil Conversion

Supports multilingual database entry and retrieval.

Service-Oriented Architecture Integration

Enables system-wide integration across government platforms.

Operational Impact

The software improved data consistency across multilingual government systems, ensuring that a citizen’s identity remained consistent regardless of the language used for data entry.

It significantly reduced errors in official records and enhanced communication across departments using different languages. As a result, government e-services became more reliable and accessible to all citizens of Sri Lanka.

By automating transliteration, this project removed the linguistic friction in government data, fostering true inclusivity in the national digital strategy.

Business Value Delivered

✓ Accurate multilingual data processing
✓ Reduced data entry and conversion errors
✓ Improved government service efficiency
✓ Enhanced data consistency across platforms
✓ Supported national e-service initiatives
✓ Enabled standardized language processing

Long-Term Impact

The transliteration software strengthened Sri Lanka’s multilingual digital ecosystem and enabled the development of scalable government e-services. It laid the foundation for future multilingual AI and natural language processing applications within the national ICT framework.