The UNESCO Chair in Digital Futures will aim to advance digital inclusion for disadvantaged and lesser-known languages by addressing gaps in language data, technologies and policy. Its work will focus on developing resources that enable languages with limited digital representation to be documented and used online. It will include supporting digital fonts, keyboards and language datasets, while translating research into practical guidance for policymakers and communities.

The establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Digital Futures at Stanford University, led by SILICON Director Thomas S. Mullaney, creates a unique platform to advance UNESCO's multilingualism and linguistic diversity initiatives. Building on SILICON 's expertise in Digital Language Inclusion, the Chair will contribute to the implementation of the UNESCO's Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace , and to the objectives of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) , generating research, tools and strategies that help guide Member States and stakeholders in policy development.