Online content in South Asia - Opportunities and realities

The importance of content - especially locally relevant, local language con tent - in the maturing of an Internet economy cannot be overemphasises. The online content scenario in south Asia is reviewed along dimensions of numb er of Web sites, local relevance, community involvement, directories, searc h engines, ad revenues, and third party audits. In the south Asian context, despite regional variations, the status of online content still leaves a l ot to be desired along these dimensions. Content will continue to play as i mportant a role as infrastructure in making the Internet a useful tool for individuals and organisations. The paper concludes with a set of policy rec ommendations for enhancing the growth of local content in south Asia.