The Unicode® Standard – 2023 Release Planning

By Peter Constable, Chair of the Unicode Technical Committee

At the Q4 Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) meeting held from November 1-3, our member representatives unanimously agreed to a release plan for 2023 and tentative plan for 2024. Along with some tooling updates, our plans aim to ensure that we are more agile to meet the evolving internationalization landscape and better able to meet the needs of Unicode members and other consumers of the Standard.

More information can be found in the Release Management Group’s Recommendations for 2023-2024.

BACKGROUND

For several years now, the UTC has worked on an annual cycle for new versions of The Unicode Standard and related specifications. New versions used to be released in March of each year, but in 2021, due to COVID-19, the release was delayed until September. 

MOVING FORWARD

Going forward, our plan is to continue with a new release each year in September. That annual, predictable cycle works well for Unicode's other major projects—CLDR and ICU—and helps implementers in their planning. 

In 2023, we will keep up that cadence with a September release, but we also need to take some time to evaluate and update our processes for developing each new version of the Standard.

Therefore, the 2023 release will be a “dot” release: Unicode 15.1. It will include important updates to Unicode Standard Annexes and to the Unicode Character Database, and have a limited set of new characters — but new scripts and most other character additions will be held until the 2024 release. A major new area is the planned release of a Unicode Technical Standard for avoiding source-code spoofing, along with associated changes in other specifications.

Regarding emoji, if there are any new emoji in the 15.1 release, they would leverage existing code points, as was done for the 13.1 release, rather than the addition of entirely new characters.

2024 AND BEYOND

For 2024, we anticipate returning to our regular cadence, with a major release in September 2024. Unicode 16.0 will include additional new scripts, emoji and other characters, as well as other updates.

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Learn more about how you can support the Unicode Consortium and our mission, including information on our Adopt-a-Character program, here!

Available Now! New YouTube Playlist and Technical Quick Start Guide

By Elango Cheran

On September 28th, Unicode held a webinar on the “Overview of Internationalization and Unicode Projects” for Unicode enthusiasts. More than 180 people across 30 countries joined us for this online event.

The Consortium is pleased to now make available the videos from this event. If you are new to Unicode and internationalization or want an overview of the most recent projects, check out our new YouTube playlist and Technical Quick Start Guide.

Our Technical Leadership and other experts provide a handy overview on such topics as:

• Introduction to Internationalization - Addison Phillips, Internationalization Engineer
  
• Unicode Consortium: Past, Present, and Future - Mark Davis, Cofounder and President
• Scripts and Character Encoding - Deborah Anderson, Chair of the Script Ad Hoc Committee
• Unicode CLDR (Common Locale Data Repository) - Mark Davis and Annemarie Apple, Chair and Vice Chair of the CLDR Committee
• Unicode ICU (International Components for Unicode) - Markus Scherer, Chair of ICU Committee
• Unicode ICU4X 2022 - Shane Carr, Chair of ICU4X Subcommittee

Also included in the playlist is the audience Q&A with Elango Charan, the webinar’s emcee,  and Mark Davis, Cofounder and President of Unicode.

The Unicode Technical Quick Start Guide is also now available. The guide explains what Unicode is, including answering the question, “What is Internationalization and Why it Matters.”  There is also an overview of the technical committees and useful links to more detailed information and how you can get involved.

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Learn more about how you can support the Unicode Consortium and our mission, including information on our Adopt-a-Character program, here!