Against that background of Indian private enterprise entering the translation and localization business, the India Infoline News Service reported on governmental interest in this market. According to the National Knowledge Commission, language services could become a huge industry in India accounting for 500,000 jobs.

As with Japan's MITI in the 1980s, the Indian government has taken an active role in the determining the country's technological future. The NKC was created in 2005 with the "mandate of devising and guiding reforms that will transform India into a strong and vibrant knowledge economy in coming years" based on improvements in education, science and technology, agriculture, industry, and e-governance.

More immediately, an NKC representative noted that the Commission was working toward opening "state-run training institutions" for translation that it would hand over to the private sector. To that end, the NKC was "planning to set up a knowledge portal which would connect colleges, universities and institutions in order to increase the reach and access to knowledge. Through the network the services of faculties and available resources of one institution would be made available to knowledge seekers across the country." Language service providers the world over will worry about hearing that giant sucking sound caused by jobs moving to south Asia.

How well does the U.S. government support its language industry? We have noted much market interest in military-funded translation in the United States even as the American government makes a minimal investment in education for strategic languages; most language training programs remain underfunded. We think that the NKC has the right idea -- by funding efforts to educate its citizens in critical knowledge-based technologies, India positions itself for a broadening role in the world economy and the language services that power global communication and commerce. Perhaps the powers in Washington should spend as much time thinking about economic security as they now obsess on making travelers carry their toothpaste in Ziploc bags.