Language Standards For Global Business

An Ad Translation Contract. A Standards-based Model Solution Uwe Muegge

Integrate business news on your website free of charge and offer your visitors up-to-date content! Click here for more information.

A focused team of cross-industry experts articulating the guiding principles that constitute the architecture of a future, intelligent globalization system, yesterday announced the successful conclusion of the Language Standards for Global Business Conference held December 12-13, 2005, in Berlin, Germany, a press release informs

The December conference, designed to establish consensus surrounding fundamental principles in the application of information exchange, attracted more than 60 delegates including noted industry specialists, including conference chairman Don DePalma (Common Sense Advisory, Inc.), Peter Reynolds (Lionbridge), Sue Ellen Wright (Kent State University), Tex Texin (Yahoo!), and Felix Sasaki (W3C).

"We were very pleased with this first summit. Practitioners, corporate planners, suppliers, and academics came together and actively shared their views on what they needed in language technology and process standards. There was a unanimous call among the delegates to make this conference a regular feature of the standards process," Don DePalma said. "The convention's organizing committee -- Hans Fenstermacher (GALA & ArchiText), Kim Harris (Text und Form), Sue Ellen Wright (Kent State University), Tex Texin (Yahoo!), Alfredo Spagna (EUATC and Arancho), and Felix Sasaki (W3C)-were encouraged by the consensus and willingness of all participants to work together for the betterment of these fundamental language standards."

On of the sessions led by DePalma focused on the technical and business reasons for language-related standards, how they fit into a larger ecosystem of corporate technology and process standards, and what the various constituencies concerns with standards should do next. Roundtables discussions focussed on technical standards like TMX and XLIFF, and  process and quality standards such as those from the ASTM, CEN, and LISA.

The second day of the conference began with detailed case studies presented by EMC on its globalized information architecture and by Sun on its use of the Common Locale Data Repository. Nicolas Rodet, Platforms, Tools, and Software Localization Manager, EMC Corporation, presented a Globalization Standards Case Study and provided examples of how EMC leverages relies on standards in its globalization lifecycle.

The conference finished with two more very interactive expert panels focusing on real-world issues tied to language standards, technology, translation quality, and process. The summit is considered to provide critical input to future information technology advancement over the next 5 years to realize healthy, self-sustaining, language standards.

The next Language Standards Summit is scheduled for May 29-30, in Barcelona, Spain.

Source: Press Release