The Localisation Industry in Transition: New Economy, New Technology

Florita Mendez

Localisation Ireland 2000

Dublin, November 7, 2000

Agenda

• Software localization today

• Internet challenges

• Application of technology

• Application of machine translation

• Implications in business models

Localization today - what we know

• We master software localization process• Localization tools are mature and

comprehensive• Shorter learning curve for new players• Customers are localization savvy• Internationalization needs are known and

methods mastered• Same as translation, software localization

becomes a commodity

Level 1Basic Presence

Brochureware

Level 2Prospectin

g

Extensive Information

Interactivity

Personalization

Level 3Business Integratio

n

Back-officeIntegration

CustomerService

Transactions

Level 4Channel

Exploitation

Supplier Integration

Customer Integration

Advanced Personalization

Internet brings new challenges

Source: IDC

Internet Web page trend (millions)

300925

1679

3218

4984

8034

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Source: IDC, 2000

Worldwide Internet users by region (millions)

0 50 100 150 200 250

North America

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Rest of the World

2003

1999

Source:Computer Economics, 1999

English vs. Non-English

0% 50% 100%

2001

2003

2005

English speaking

Non-Englishspeaking

Issues

• Volume is certainly an issue. Not enough translators around.

• Time-wise: “There is nothing older than yesterday’s newspaper”

• Cost of localizing all this information doesn’t make business sense

• Human-translating some of the new features like chat rooms is definitely not possible

• Asking users to assume the cost is a tough job

Alternatives to traditional process

• Improve delivery mechanisms– ASP model, e-commerce model, workflow

systems

• Re-use content– Translation memory, content management

• Improve translation throughput– Using machine translation when quality is the

lesser important in time-cost-quality equation

Improving machine translation quality

• Constant investments– improving existing language pairs– creating domain dictionaries– developing new language pairs– fine tuning the engines for specific applications

(chat vs. news vs. databases)– developing next generation of engines

Improving machine translation quality

• Case by case– Combining MT with TM in environments where

human translation is also used– In certain cases, pre-editing to remove

ambiguities and improve understandability of the input text to the MT engine

– Human post-editing or content validation

Implementation of MT

Because MT is not HT !!!!• Needs to be integrated in a transparent manner• Offered on a pull basis. Do not publish machine

translated information• Users can ask for a better quality at their own

initiative as a premium service: content validation to guarantee readability

• … and never use/offer MT for marketing, legal, medical and other critical information

Implications in business model

On the technologies:• heavily invest in R&D• workflow as vendor core systems• open standards to interconnect different

applications

Implications in business model

New distribution channels:• embedding translation capabilities into

applications• using alternative distribution channels (e-

commerce, ASP, ISP, Portals)• establishing mechanisms to satisfy on

demand translation and localization

Conclusions

• Vendors shifting from service providers to solution providers

The Localisation Industry in Transition: New Economy, New Technology

Florita Mendez

Localisation Ireland 2000

Dublin, November 7, 2000