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Roberto CencioniKimmo Rossi

Multilingual WebTheme 5 of the

ICT-PSP Workprogramme

DG Information Society and Media

Unit INFSO.E1Language Technologies& Machine Translation

infso-e1@ec.europa.eu

ICT 2008, 26 Nov 08

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• Why?

– new online paradigms centred around communication, collaboration, co-creation … but significant language barriers remain

– EU comprises 27 countries & 23 official languages

– single European Information Space – one of the i2010 objectives

– EC communication on Multilingualism (Sept ‘08) calls fora broader policy framework & joint action

• Purpose: support & enhance

interpersonal & business communication

information access & publishing

across languages

Baseline

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A few facts

• EU official languages: 23 x 22 = 506 pairs– EC MT (Systran core engine) has 18 pairs in operation

& 10 more pairs at prototype stage

– 60+ national, regional & minority languages within the EU

• English accounts for 30% of today’s Web content– 50% in 2000, 35% in 2004

– Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese … growing very fast

• nearly 1,5 billion internet users worldwide (2008)– c 320 million native EN speakers in the world

• basic requirements for the “digital translation market”:– volume– access– personalisation

real quick, real cheap

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Here we are

• a new unit established in July 2008– Language Technologies & Machine Translation (INFSO.E1)– high expectations vs. low rate of EC S&T activity in the last

few years

• language is everywhere– written & spoken; documents, messages, databases,

webpages, multimedia objects etc; information as well as meta-information

• but our resources are limited, so initial focus on– multilingual technologies, services, applications

• two instruments in 2009:– Research: FP7 ICT, call 4

Objective 2.2 – Language based Interaction– Innovation: CIP ICT-PSP, call 3

Theme 5 – Multilingual Web

• total budget of 40 Meuro

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Research vs. Innovationdivision of labour

• from

– long term foundational research (FP7)

• through

– applied research & technology development (FP7)

• to

– integration & demonstration (FP7 + PSP)

– infrastructure & resources (FP7 + PSP)

• different scale of ambition (€)

• different degree of maturity (technology service)

• different timescales & partnerships

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LT Days

14-15 January, 2009

Luxembourg, JMO conference complex

EC presentations, sessions w/ext speakers, proposal clinics, self-presentations & posters

Agenda & registrations:

cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/

language-technologies/fp7-call4_en.html

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Web sources

INFSO.E1 website:

cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/language-technologies/..

• FP7-ICT: ../fp7-call4_en.html

• ICT-PSP: ../cip-psp_en.html

– Events & Presentations

– Call guidance notes

– Background material & useful Links …

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Pre-proposals& Clinics

3 pages max, mail to: infso-e1@ec.europa.eu • describe the problem your proposal addresses, in particular

– specify the intended user profile and related tasks

– describe actual or prospective applications

– detail data sets: source(s), typology, volume

• how will the proposed project contribute to the outcomes and impacts set out in the work programme? – what are the key innovations?

– what will be the main concrete results?

– what public outputs are foreseen?

– what impact do you expect?

• describe the consortium – give partners' names or profiles and the intended skills mix

– indicate the intended instrument (if known)

• indicate the scale of your ambition

– what is the estimated effort (man-months)

– how long will the proposed project last?

– what amount of EU funding are you looking for?

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ICT-PSP Call

Overview

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ICT-PSP Call 3,~Feb 09

ICT Policy Support Programme (PSP) within the Competitiveness & Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) (adopted in October 2006)

• geared towards innovation & ICT uptake:

– development of the Single European information space

– strengthening of the internal market for ICT products and services and ICT-based products and services

– stimulation of innovation through the wider adoption of and investment in ICT

• ensure seamless access to ICT-based services

• improve the conditions for the development of digital content, taking into account multilingualism & cultural diversity

Takes over eContentplus activities from Jan 2009

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• translation & interpretation market (exc. in-house):– c $15 billion; €1.1 billion for EU institutions alone (2006)– est. 300,000 full time salaried translators worldwide

(37% in Europe)• market fragmentation

– big players < 1000 employees– top EU-based translation company posted a revenue of

$175 million in 2006• a good European base

– SDL, Star, RWS, XRX, Euroscript, Logos, Moravia, VistaTEC, Semantix …

– ESTeam, Lucy Software … • a largely untapped potential

– 4x according to some companies

“Europe’s language is Translation”

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Business world

• new models: Most companies follow the age-old translate-edit-proofread model of translation. Collaborative, web-based technologies allow translation to become more agile, faster, and better with fewer steps (CSA Inc.)

• new markets: Language Weaver is entering the three new strategic markets – Web Content, Business Intelligence and Customer Care – to provide high-volume, high-speed, and accurate automated translation solutions at a price that would have been unfathomable just a few years ago

• new approaches: If you don't see your native language here, you can help Google create it by becoming a volunteer translator. Check out our Google in Your Language program

• and then of course:

Unfortunately for Google as a person with 7 years of translation experience myself I can tell that you will hardly ever find a translatorwho will agree that machine translation can be useful for anything. (a Russian translator)

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ICT-PSP Call 3,Theme 5:

Multilingual Web

• 3 objectives:

– machine translation for the multilingual Web (pilot projects)

– multilingual Web content management (pilot projects)

– best practices & standards for the multilingual Web (thematic network)

• 14 Meuro in total, around 6 projects

“The duration of the pilot is expected to be 24 to 36 months within which there should be a 12-month operational phase.”

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ICT-PSP Call 3,Theme 5:

Multilingual Web

• research: no, at least not ICT research …

• development/engineering:

– configuration, optimisation, customisation, integration … of existing (state of the art) methods, tools & services with a view to defining new approaches, offerings & practices

• demonstration:

– innovative combination is key; new business models, processes & services, organisational setups, usability …

– evaluation along user, technical & (socio-)economic dimensions

• problem orientation:

– useful & useable although possibly not perfect;think ROI

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Scope & defs

• MT as defined in the ICT-PSP workprogramme encompasses

1. fully automatic machine translation, whatever the technology

2. interactive computer-aided translation (eg TM)

3. a suitable combination of 1. and/or 2. with web based

– human translation, proof-reading & post-editingincl. where relevant methods inspired from social networks

– workflow & content management systems, …

• innovative & effective combination of people, processes& technology; the end result is not science, rather

– more and/or better output

– save time

– cut cost

• emphasis on language transfer, from source language to target language(s)

– language input-output (e.g. speech-to-text) is not the focus

– cross-platform, multi-format content access/delivery is key

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Language coverage

• some of the work is expected to be language independent– flexibility & ease of adaptation to other languages are key factors

– content authoring & management, collaboration & workflow … are language independent anyway

• project outcomes must be validated in 3+ languages– preferably belonging to different linguistic families

• target languages are chosen & justified by the proposers bearing in mind the following priorities (from high to low):1. EU official languages

2. nationally recognised languages

3. regional languages

4. minority languages

• Non-EU world languages linked to global markets & exports can be considered as well– on a proposal by proposal basis

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Cont’d

• project’s language coverage driven by the need to:– address gaps & overcome barriers e.g. cross-border

communication for less-developed languages, or

– exploit opportunities e.g. address emerging markets & sizeable language communities

• impact is key, so: viability, sustainability, exploitation channels, deployment prospects …

• main findings must be pro-actively disseminated

• some form of public showcase is mandatory

• participants should include– private or public sector content owners & aggregators

– providers of language services, technology suppliers

– (online) communities of interest where relevant

• 6-7 partners/project, up to €2.5 million funding, up to36 months

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ICT-PSP Call 3exp. Feb 09

3 intertwined objectives:

5.1 machine translation for the multilingual Web (projects)

information access: MT and other multilingual solutions for information access & use, esp. cross-lingual search & retrieval

information publishing: MT to create, distribute and (re-)use more widely & effectively online content in a multilingual environment

5.3 multilingual Web content management (projects)

communication: multilingual Web content development & management; design, authoring, versioning & maintenanceof multilingual Web sites, portals or repositories

5.2 standards & best practices for the multilingual Web (network)

conventions & best practices for multilingual Web content

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ICT-PSP, 5.3multilingual Web

content management

• methods, techniques, metrics … for developing & managing multilingual web content & services– much more than translation; significant cultural elements

• think of– one big website in many languages, or– several interrelated websites, one country/language each

• now think of how to maintain the integrity & consistency of such resources, effectively & over a long period of time– and how to detect & repair gaps or inconsistencies

• so, beyond the “translation” step (obj 5.1):– design, authoring, versioning & maintenance of (multiple, parallel,

interconnected …) websites, portals or repositories

– in a distributed collaborative environment, possibly across organisational boundaries

• so as to turn a multi-million endeavour into a viable proposition for a much broader range of companies & administrations

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ICT-PSP, 5.1machine translation for

the multilingual Web

5.1 can be seen as a subset & central component of obj 5.3 (its “translation box”)

• different usages:

– web at large, enterprise, public information repositories …

• different users:

– teams as well as individuals, engineers as well as analysts, sales & marketing, language professionals, … you & me

• different content rich, information bound sectors, private & public

• quality depends on task & user

– from raw translation & “gisting” up to error-free translation

• two important conditions:

– widely recognised, well argued problem; clearly identified target community

– thorough validation in a given domain / for a given task volume metrics

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ICT-PSP, 5.2standards & best practices

Thematic network

• covers the same broad issues as 5.3

– “the web as THE vehicle for multilingual content & services”

• provides a forum for multilateral exchange of experience & consensus building

• structure & tasks to be defined by the proposers, indicative list:– bring together a meaningful subset of the main stakeholders, possibly

through their own groups & associations– ICT & language industries, content aggregators/distributors, e-services,

multinational agencies, industry & de-jure standards bodies …

– analyse current situation, identify gaps & bottlenecks; assess market failures if any, specify technical & non-technical conditions to be met and the respective actors

– establish roadmap (trends, requirements, dependencies …) for further developments in the coming years

– stimulate consensus & active involvement/coordination; take part in leading conferences, liaise with primary associations etc.

– explore means to promote best practice (conferences, portals, publications, training …) beyond current channels

– identify & describe suitable follow-on actions

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ICT-PSPInstruments & Funding

• pilot B projects:

– min. 4 partners from 4 different countries

– 50% of eligible direct costs

– 30% overhead rate of personnel costs

• thematic networks:

– min. 7 partners from 7 different countries

– lump sum; for 3 years and 1+10 participants:

coordinator: 95 Keuro

other participants: 24 Keuro each

ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/participating/index_en.htm

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Practical info

ICT-PSP Theme 5 – Multilingual Web

budget: 14 Meuro under Call 3

managed by: Unit E1

Email: infso-e1@ec.europa.eu

EC contact: Mr Kimmo Rossi

• inquiries: from the call publication date (~Feb)

• pre-proposals: from publication until 3 weeks before the call closing date

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Events

Language Technology Days:

14-15 Jan 2009, Luxbg

ICT-PSP Info Day:

26 Jan 2009, Brussels (tbc)

Email: INFSO-E1@ec.europa.eu

URL: cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/language-technologies/..

FP7-ICT: ../fp7-call4_en.html

ICT-PSP: ../cip-psp_en.html