Value proposition

Everyone in the world should be able to use their own language on phones and computers. Unicode makes it possible.

The Unicode Consortium is the premier standards body for the internationalization of all software and services. Today, most people take for granted that their phones and computers can display text in any of hundreds of languages, handle dates, times, numbers, currencies in familiar local formats, and faithfully send emoji-laden messages to friends using any device.

That wasn’t always the case, and it didn’t happen by accident.

For 30 years, the Unicode Consortium has coordinated the efforts of a worldwide team of volunteer programmers and linguists to standardize, evolve, and maintain a global software foundation that allows virtually every computer system and service to help people connect using their native language. This has real world consequences.

Today’s global economy runs on networks that reach billions of users around the globe. Databases, commerce engines, websites and shipping systems handle local names, addresses, and text in hundreds of languages from Latin to Cyrillic to Hindi to Japanese – all thanks to Unicode standards and code.

The most compelling rationale was interoperability across the world.

Unicode Consortium Quick Facts
- Founded in 1988, incorporated in 1991
- Public benefit, 501(c)3 non-profit organization
- Open source standards, data, and software development
- Orchestrates the contributions of 100s of professionals, expert volunteers, and language experts
- 30+ organizational members across corporate, academic, and governmental institutions
- Funded by membership dues and donations

Unicode was founded on the basis that:
- Local solutions require global collaboration
- Interoperability across platforms serves you – and the greater good
- Transparency and open source ensure: Reliability — Security — Stability
- Localization respects and empowers users

Latest news and information: https://www.unicode.org/consortium/general-contact-signup.html