GALA Blog

Last week, the Executive Office of the President and National Economic Council issued its “Strategy for American Innovation.” Among the recommendations was a call for “automatic, highly accurate and real-time translation between the major languages of the world — greatly lowering the barriers to international commerce and collaboration.” In other words, machine translation (MT) has captured somebody’s attention in the President’s inner circle.

Having an American President cite an advanced language technology as one of the enablers to improve “our quality of life and establish the foundation for the industries and jobs of the future” is not that common an occurrence. So, even though Common Sense Advisory found this recommendation as the very last bullet in a dense thicket of dozens of other initiatives in a 22-page policy paper, it reinforces our contention that the current administration understands the importance of language both abroad and at home, to both improve the ability of American businesses to engage with foreign buyers and of the U.S. government to better understand the thinking of its partners on the world stage. In January, we wrote that the Obama administration was poised to improve language access on the domestic front (see “Title VI Enforcement to Grow under Obama,” a free download with registration at http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com). Now, the administration is turning its attention to the role of language in the country’s ability to compete globally.

The “Obama Innovation Strategy” relies on both the President’s budget and over US$100 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds targeted for improving the building blocks of American innovation (fundamental research, education, infrastructure, and advanced IT); promoting competitive markets that spur productive businesses; and catalyzing breakthroughs for national priorities (clean energy, advanced vehicle, health care technology, and 21st-century innovations, which is where machine translation shows up).

Is MT ready for this new role in America’s political debate? Interviewees for our recent research into the business case for machine translation showed profound interest and enthusiasm for both the technology and its ability to increase the amount of translated information that they can provide to their customers or constituencies, with faster turnaround time and lower costs. In our report, we flagged several areas where suppliers are actively working to improve the technology, including advances in natural language processing and information sciences. More funding for the linguists and scientists working on the technology can only accelerate these advances — and the continuing improvement of MT will bode well for lower barriers to global commerce and collaboration.

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Language service providers around the globe have been heavily impacted by the economic downturn, but many expect a rebound in the next three months, according to the Globalization and Localization Association’s most recent quarterly survey. The survey, which asks GALA members about trends in the industry, was conducted in May and was the third in a row to question language service providers on the economic downturn.

A full 78 percent of respondents said they had been impacted by the downturn in the last three months (Feb – April), a marked increase from 57 percent who indicated they had been impacted in the previous February survey. Far fewer in North America felt a direct impact (55 percent) than Europe (83 percent) and Asia (85 percent).

However the outlook is not nearly as grim. A full 30 percent of respondents anticipate an actual increase in demand in the next three months — way up from eight percent in the previous survey. And many more respondents are optimistic about the future (44 percent) than are not (15 percent).

“Our members provide language and localization services to multinational companies worldwide, and, as such, they experience the ripple effect when those companies slash expenses,” said James Hollan, executive director of GALA. “These numbers indicate that GALA members expect an uptick in spending for global language services soon, perhaps in line with overall economic recovery.”

Interestingly, members appear to be adept at predicting the impact over three months. In the first quarter, 69 percent expected a somewhat reduced demand for services in the next three months, and, in fact, this quarter the same number of respondents reported a somewhat reduced demand over the past three months.

Other findings include:

• More than 82 percent of respondents have not cut workforce as a result of the financial crisis. There have been other reactions by many LSPs, including reductions in overtime and outsourcing, wage reductions and salary freezes.
• More than half of respondents (53 percent) report lower revenue compared to three months ago.
• Forty-four percent of respondents are optimistic about the next 6 to 12 months, while 15 percent are not optimistic and 41 percent are unsure.
• Similar to the first quarter, more than half of respondents have not had any projects or contracts canceled due to the economic situation. But there is a lot more downward pressure on price and some projects have been delayed.

About GALA
GALA is an impartial international association that promotes translation services, language technology and language management solutions. The member companies worldwide include translation companies, localization service providers, globalization consultants, internationalization specialists and technology developers. GALA companies share a commitment to quality, service, and innovation in helping clients reach global markets. For more information about GALA visit www.gala-global.org

We are now just three months away from GALA 2009 and it seems that every day brings something new for this “must do” event. GALA is committed to building bridges and reaching out to our many friends and associates across the industry. For this first year, our board of directors has voted to extend our member discount to members of several associations, such as AILIA, ALC, ELIA, and LISA, to name a few (a savings of US$300 off the non-member registration fee). If you add that savings to the early bird discount offered by registering before 15 July, you will save an additional US$200. (That is a total savings of US$500, which will go a long way towards purchasing your airline ticket to join us!)

If you haven’t taken a peek at our event Web site in the last week or so, we invite you to take another look soon. Our program is coming online and we are adding detailed descriptions every week. Of particular interest is the recent announcement of Craig Newmark as our opening speaker. Founder of Craigslist, Newmark grew a simple e-mail exchange service to one of the top 10 Internet companies in the world.

We certainly want you to join us in Cancun, and I urge you to register soon to take advantage of the incredible hotel rate we have negotiated at the JW Marriott (ocean front rooms for the super rate of US$149 a night when you use the GALGALA code). Special thanks to our GALA 2009 program committee and board members for helping to make this event happen.

In addition to building this new event, our staff and volunteers are hard at work continuing to build other benefits for our membership. As part of continuing efforts to develop more visibility for our industry, GALA has hired the services of Digit4 in the UK and eloquenza PR in Germany to share information about our industry with targeted audiences. We are working to show how globalization and localization are a critical part of the business process for every enterprise operating internationally. GALA members are a key part of this initiative, and we rely on their expertise and active participation with media in telling the story of our industry.

I would like to tip my hat to our program committee for the Localization Forum at tcworld. Volunteers Don DePalma (Common Sense Advisory), Matthias Caesar (Locatech), Véronique Ozkaya (Moravia Worldwide), Massimo Ghislandi (SDL), and Janaina Wittner (WHP) have been hard at work preparing the localization section of the tekom program for later this year.

For those of you who are new to GALA, I encourage you to consider membership for your company. GALA membership is a passport to knowledge and value in the industry, offering a rich variety of market knowledge, networking, products and services. Member companies showcase their company’s talents in the Language Technology & Services Directory, our top destination on the GALA Web site after the home page. Another popular benefit of membership is our GALA Webinar series: staff of member companies and members’ clients attend for free. Members also have access to the results of GALA’s quarterly Member Pulse surveys, which cover relevant and timely topics. Become a member of GALA today to enjoy these and other great benefits!

Stay tuned for more announcements and activities at GALA in the coming months, including the re-launch of gala-global.org, new webinars and more.