{{FIT Europe-JTP Round Table
New Developments in Translation Tools and Technology
Prague, March 15, 2014}}
The Round Table 22 participants from 7 countries (Czech Republic, Romania, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, UK and Germany) came to Prague to join a Round Table on New Developments in Translation Tools and Technology after a pre-event programme with a guided tour through Prague followed by a boat tour with dinner on the river Vltava.
Seven presentations by Dr Tomáš Svoboda (Charles University), Dr Nicole Keller (University of Heidelberg), Daniela Ford (ITI), David Čaněk (MemSource) and Renate Dockhorn (FIT Europe) were followed by three discussion groups on machine translation/post editing, translation memory systems and cloud-based translation systems.
Targeted discussions One focus of this Round Table was to give a practice-oriented overview on new developments
within the area of translation memory systems, cloud-based translation systems and machine
translation, as a preparatory step for the FIT World Congress in August in Berlin, where the topic
will be more theory-oriented. The second focus was to reflect with FIT Europe member
associations and individual practitioners on recent developments in machine translation and
cloud-based translation in tandem with translation memory systems to give the FIT Europe
Steering Committee some guidance on how to proceed with regard to these topics.
The groups were asked to discuss the recent developments and to summarize, in one sentence
each, an approach for the individual translator, a general position statement and an aspirations
statement for future action. The statements were summarized by Eyvor Fogarty as formal
outcomes of the Round Table (see below).
JTP kindly offered to hold the Round Table at their premises and I was impressed by the good and
fluent ‘cross-border cooperation’ between Tomáš Svoboda, Amalaine Diabova and me during the
preparation of the Round Table. In addition, we received support from the Czech Department of
DGT (catering and material) and BDÜ (financial support).
Information for Member Associations This was the third Round Table held during the current term of office of the current FIT Europe
Steering Committee, following the express wish of the FIT Europe General Meeting in Bucharest,
2011. FIT Europe hopes that they have been of benefit to the Boards of the member associations
and their individual members, as well as the wider FIT community. Given the continuing increase
in the number of international meetings and conferences on translation and interpreting, I would
like to suggest that future Round Tables are held only as necessary, in conjunction with
General/Annual Meetings.
Renate Dockhorn Vice-Chairman FIT Europe
March 2014
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{{Formal Outcomes of the FIT Europe Round Table
on New Developments in Translation Tools and Technology,
Prague, March 2014
(by Eyvor Fogarty)}}
The Round Table on New Developments in Translation Tools and Technology produced three statements as summaries to be sent out to the associations, to encourage further thought and action. One is addressed to the individual translator, one is a general position statement and the third is an aspirations statement on how to proceed based on what was discussed at the Round Table.
A. Statement on machine translation and interoperability, addressed to the individual translator: Remember that you are part of a chain and that the work you deliver is part of a whole package in which you have to decide on your approach, whether you accept production of a lower quality outcome (good-enough translation) or even accept the job at all, for if you do accept it, you have to get on the with job under the conditions you have accepted as a professional translator able to communicate with the person commissioning the work; above all you must learn how to make computer-based tools work for you and be prepared, for then you will know in advance what the tools can do and you can provide your own interoperability.
B. General position statement: Post-edited machine translation and human translation are not the same service; help your customers to understand this and ensure that the professional translator is central to all stages of the translation process and certification.
C. Aspirations: FIT Europe should explore ways to monitor cloud-based systems and press for interoperability, access/availability and data protection/ownership of data/responsibility to ensure data does not get corrupted. National translator associations should review/check their own legislation in their countries, bearing in mind that the European authorities are currently proposing further regulation on data protection in electronic communication.
Sub-set outcomes for FIT Europe Steering Committee: - 1) Write to all suppliers and ask who has the copyright in the translated words. Is there a default position, and if so, what is it?
- 2) Ask TC37 to push for interoperability.
- 3) Push for a standard for TMX, XML. (via JIAMCATT)
- 4) Focus on interoperability and a common approach/collection.
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Europea Commission DGT Intranet info
Translation tools and technology on the agenda in PragueThere was much lively discussion and debate at the recent round-table discussion evening on new developments in translation tools and technology, organised jointly by the DGT field office in Prague and the Czech Union of Interpreters and Translators (JTP).
The event was one of a series being held in the run-up to the International Federation of Translators (FIT) World Congress that takes place in August 2014 in Berlin, at which DGT will also be represented. A number of sessions are planned, including a workshop on the Directorate’s role in ‘translating for Europe’.
The round-table discussion event, held on 15 March, was opened by Eyvor Fogarty (Chairman of FIT Europe), Amalaine Diabova (JTP President) and Vítězslav Zemánek (DGT field office Prague). The event began with the presentation of various new versions of translation software (such as memoQ 2013 R2 and SDL Trados Studio 2014), before moving on to focus on wider issues, with talks on open source translation memory systems, cloud-based translation systems and ethics in machine translation.
Unsurprisingly, these topics gave rise to some lively discussions. On the subject of the pros and cons of cloud-based translation systems, for example, participants expressed concerns relating to data protection issues and to the availability of these types of system.
The topic that provoked the strongest reactions was the ethics of machine translation, the subject of a presentation given by Tomáš Svoboda from the Charles University in Prague.
The speaker discussed the question of the quality and price of traditional ‘human translation’ relative to translations produced by post-editing of machine translation. The main conclusion drawn was that all parties involved (clients, translators, agencies and contractors) should be aware that the quality provided by post-editing of a machine translation (for which a different pricing structure applies) cannot be the same as that offered by human translation.
For further information on the events mentioned, please see:
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FIT Europe Round Table - New Developments in Translation Tools and Technology-
FIT World Congress, August 4-6 2014, Berlin Author: DGT field office, Prague
Date: 26/03/2014