Information Technology (IT) and the Internet revolution have enabled organizations to do business across national boundaries and even geographical barriers. Localization of IT is an approach that facilitates organizations and economies to bridge the gap of `digital divide'. This article highlights the evolution of localization industry, and also explains the concept, need and benefits of localization of IT. It also discusses the application areas, and the technology support needed in localizing an IT application or a product.

Globalization of economies has opened new vistas of business opportunities for enterprises to exploit, and the Information Technology (IT) and Internet revolution has enabled these enterprises; big and small, to reach out to different market and customer segments. Factors such as free market economy, the liberalization of key sectors, ongoing work on a global political and economic framework, and the implementation of a uniform technical and logistics infrastructure have made the world a global village. National boundaries have waned and geographical distances have become irrelevant for the way information is processed, stored and exchanged. There is a paradigm shift in the way the communication is carried out, businesses are conducted, and services delivered and received in this Internet and IT age.

However, while it can be conveniently assumed that almost the entire globe has been brought under the IT umbrella, a large part of the actual business yet remains untouched and untapped. For this segment of world population, the IT is still a distant dream. This is sometimes called the `Digital Divide'. This huge untapped section of the global society represents both: a lost chance, and a great opportunity. Studies show that a huge chunk of the population that is still untouched by the so-called IT revolution belongs to the developing countries and the countries that are a home for multiple cultures and languages other than English (because most of the IT applications are developed in English-speaking developed countries).

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