Roger Hampel
FOT: Barca
In a groundbreaking move, football giant FC Barcelona and Fundació.cat have announced a collaborative agreement aimed at preserving and enhancing the presence of the Catalan language in the digital sphere. This initiative underlines Barcelona's commitment to its Catalonian roots and the club's role as a steward of Catalan heritage.
The agreement was officially signed by FC Barcelona's president Joan Laporta, institutional vice-president Elena Fort, and Fundació.cat's president Genís Roca. Also present at the event were Roger Serra, the general director of Fundació.cat, and Albert Cuesta, the foundation's coordinator of digital positioning and secretary of the Alliance for the Digital Presence of Catalan.
This move marks a significant stride in the efforts of the club's Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Department, working in association with the data department of the technology and digital transformation area, to boost the visibility of Catalan in search engine results.
Recently, there has been a noticeable decline in the visibility of web content in Catalan. Despite users setting their browsers to prioritize Catalan, search engine results often favor the same content in other languages.
In response, several organizations dedicated to promoting and defending the Catalan language have rallied together, forming the Alliance for the Digital Presence of Catalan. The alliance has been investigating the reasons behind this digital marginalization, lending their technical expertise and resources to diagnose the issue and potentially reverse it.
Fundació.cat, a non-profit dedicated to managing the .cat domain, promoting the Catalan language and culture on the internet, and developing digital solutions, has spearheaded a draft report on the initial situation. The report draws upon objective traffic data from search engines across numerous websites offering content in both Catalan and other languages.
As a patron of Fundació.cat, FC Barcelona has pledged to contribute to the data necessary for this report.
The football club's participation in this cause showcases their commitment not only to the sport of football but also to the Catalan language and culture. It cements FC Barcelona's position as a leading organization in defending Catalan heritage in an ever-evolving digital realm.
Source: Barca
FC Barcelona and Fundació.cat: Together for Catalan Language Digitization.
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