The subject invention pertains to a system and method of incorporating collation information into data types. In particular, the subject invention provides for parameterizing data types with collation information such that a comparison between two different collations generates a static-type error rather than a run-time error. Additionally, the invention affords for conveniently working with localized data types to allow generic parameterization over collations as well as ordinary types. In the context of strings, the present invention enables concurrent use of strings in multiple languages and facilitates the correct handling thereof.