This will probably be one of the biggest gateways to fan translation projects beginning. One of the reasons the GBA, DS, and PSP had such a library of translated titles was due to the fact the platforms could be emulated: it makes it easier to debug and tinker about. Those three as well as the Wii had actual emulation while the system was active on the market, and all of those systems still did well.
I hope to see this progress further. Sadly there are a number of Japan only titles and franchises on the 3DS that may only ever get English releases through hacking, which may be the case for the entire Dragon Quest catalog on the platform. Couple that with keeping the "legacy" of the platform in tact with preserving the lineup in tact, and I'm for this 100%.
On that topic, has there been any efforts to preserve DSiWare titles? I don't think those were ever decrypted, let alone put onto the internet as pirated content. I ask because Aeana's comment on preserving the library reminded me of the DSiWare title Nintendoji, which is a Japan-only Club Nintendo downloadable, and might be one of the games we might lose in the coming decades if nobody cares about the downloadable service.