Netizens all over the world can now visit Tibetan webpages if they key in www.utibet.edu.cn, the domain name of Tibet University where the coding standard of Tibetan accepted by ISO was established in 1997. Presently, a new Windows platform, which is compatible with Chinese, English and Tibetan, is under research and expected to be accomplished by the end of this year.

According to the University's director of Web Center, early in 1994, experts with the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and Tibet University launched the research and formulation of Tibetan coding standard. Later, they contacted with the Unicode Consortium to combine their research with international standards set by ISO. In 1997, their standard was accepted by ISO after beating resolutions of foreign scientific institutions, thus becoming the first ethnic coding standard of China, which can perform the information coding exchange.

He noted that the Tibet University, under support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the government of the Autonomous Region, is developing the Windows platform of Tibetan which will facilitate the transaction of Tibetan, Chinese and English information simultaneously on the basis of Windows Platform of Chinese.

In June 1997, the Tibet station of Chinese science and education network, the first station of Internet in Tibet, was set up in Tibet University, to provide service of Internet accession and information, said the director.

The Tibet University has established the Cisco Network Technology Institution and a Faculty of Computer Science and Technology, which was authorized by the Ministry of Education as a training base of long-distance education to offer courses of information technology through the Internet.

(People's Daily 06/07/2001)