LINGUIST List 9.1118

Fri Aug 7 1998

Confs: Translating and the Computer 20

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Nicole Adamides, Confs: Translating and the Computer 20

Aslib, The Association for Information Management
http://www.aslib.co.uk/conferences/index.html

Supported by: ITI BCS EAMT and IAMT 

Present:

Translating and the Computer 20 - Conference and Exhibition 

Thursday 12 - Friday 13 November 1998

At One Great George Street, Westminster, London, SW1

This will be the 20th Translating and the Computer Conference and
Exhibition and to celebrate we invited past delegates to submit papers. 
At last year's conference, which attracted an international audience, a
number of delegates made suggestions for the following year's event. 
The response to our call for papers was overwhelming. I hope you will
find the programme has:
- a greater number of contributions from actual users than ever before
- a number of papers showing new developments/applications from both
developers and users
- opportunities to network with others and to look at the latest
products, including those talked about in the papers, in the exhibition
area

If you have any questions, or want to find out how you can exhibit at
this year's exciting conference, please contact me, Nicole Adamides,
Manager of PDG at Aslib, on +44 (0) 171 903 0030 or email her 
nicoleaslib.co.uk.

 
KEY ISSUES:

Evaluating MT Systems
Improving Translation at the Source - controlled authoring and author
memory
How to make MT more User-Friendly
Machine Translation Trends in Europe and Japan
How to organise a Translation Service to maximise efficiency
Relocating MT in Education and Training
How companies have customised current MT systems and developers produced
new products 

DAY ONE:12th November 1998

09.00	Registration
09.50	Introduction by the Chair - Chris Pyne (International
Communications Europe, Germany)

10.00	Twenty years of Translating and the Computer - John Hutchins
(EAMT)
	Since the first of the T&C conferences in 1978 the field of machine
(-aided) translation has seen many changes: 
	- from mainframe computers to personal computers and the Internet
	- from a mainly academic research pursuit to a competitive commercial
field
	- from discussions of 'future possibilities' to discussions of actual
uses
	- from a translation profession largely antagonistic to automation to
one making cost-effective exploitation of computerised translation
tools.
 This presentation will look at the major changes and
developments in both research and commercial systems in the last 20
years and consider what has been learnt (or forgotten).
	

10.25	Evaluating MT Systems: Testing and Researching the Feasibility of
a Task-Diagnostic Approach - Michelle Vanni (US Defense)
	In the spirit of new directions in MT Evaluation (MTE) proposed in Hovy
(1998), this paper describes an approach taken at the US Department of
Defense which is appropriate to a particular information processing (IP)
environment, the needs of which are determinant of the features which
characterise the methodology. 
	The approach consists of:
	- selecting IP tasks for which the MT output is to be used
	- selecting specific features to be handled by each system 
	- comparing the scores for each system	

11.00	Coffee

11.30	Organising a Translation Service to Maximise Efficiency and
Quality - Ian Jones (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe)	
	What are the overall functions of a translation service and how can it
be organised to best effect?
	- the objectives
	- the tasks
	- the resources
	- the future
	This paper will examine various aspects of the above elements and will
also refer to the NATO terminology standardisation programme.	

11.55	Post-editing Service for MT Users at the EC - Dorothy Senez
(European Commission Translation Service)
	Machine translation is freely available, via the internal electronic
mail system, to all staff working in the European Institutions. The
machine translation help desk supplies a number of back-up services to a
growing population of users. This paper looks specifically at the
post-editing service (PER):
	- balancing quality and speed
	- rapid post-editing for short lived documents and end users
responsible for quality control
	- the way forward at the Commission.
12.25	Dimitrios Theologitis - European Commission

12.50 	Discussion

13.05	Lunch with an opportunity to visit the exhibition and network

14.30	Introduction to afternoon session by Chair - Professor Ruslan
Mitkov, University of Wolverhampton, UK
 
14.35	From Testbench to Workflow: Relocating MT in Education and
Training - Professor Dr Klaus Schubert (Fachhochschule Flensburg,
Germany) and Professor Tony Hartley (University of Brighton, UK)
	The arrival on the market place over the last three years of relatively
high-quality, low-cost MT and TM will lead to a greater demand in skills
and expertise that also take into account the user and the requirements
of the organisation's workflow. This paper will look at initiatives of
University of Brighton and Fachhochschule Flensburg to give their
students first-hand experience of evaluating a system in situ. This is
achieved through:
	- the provision of an in-house MT service for interested end-users
	- the design of scenarios for inter-site collaboration 
	- the introduction of elements of Human-Computer Interaction. 

15.00	Some reflections about the pedagogy of MAT - Pascaline Merten
(Haute Ecole de Bruxelles - Institut Superieur de Traducteurs et
Interpretes (ISTI))
	CAT tools are of interest to both researchers and translators. They
are being increasingly integrated in the education of future
translators. This gives rise to two issues:
	- in education of translators: is experience of these tools enough, or
is it important to understand the underlying concepts?
	- computational linguistics is far from the empirical approach of the
translator, and this does not facilitate the introduction of new tools 
	This paper will look at how the integration of CAT tools in the
translation process is a good mean to conciliate the practice of the
translator and the reflection of the computational linguist.

15.25	Discussion

15.35	Tea

16.00	Improving Translation at the Source - Dawn Murphy (Multilingual
Technology Ltd., UK)	
	Improvements in the quality and efficiency of translation can be
effected at the time of authoring. This paper will examine:
 	- the concepts of controlled authoring and author memory and the
supporting technologies 
	- the benefits that such techniques provide for the author, the
translator and the translation manager 
	- the processes involved in developing such techniques within an
organisation.
	
16.25	LCC - The Language Consulting Centre - Language Consulting in
Cyber Space - Jeannette Orsted (Danish Association Business Language
Graduates)
	LCC is a project supported by the European Commission. The project is
a partnership between TELEPORT Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH(DE), Centre for
Language Technology (DK), Erhvervssprogligt Forbund (The Danish
Association of Business Language Graduates, DK) and Gesellschaft fur
technische Kommunikation e.V. (DE). The objective of the project is to
support small and medium sized enterprises in optimising their
production and management of multilingual information. The paper will
concentrate on:
	- language strategy as an integral part of company policies
	- language technology as a tool for language strategy
	- an overview of the LCC project and its services 				

16.50	Discussion

17.00 	Close of Day One	

17.15	20th Anniversary reception in the Great Hall


Aslib reserves the right to make changes to the programme without prior
notice

Day Two: 13th November 1998

09.15	Registration

09.55	Opening Remarks by the Chair - Daniel Grasmick (SAP, Germany)

10.00	Horses for Courses - the key to MT becoming a commonplace
technology is acceptance - Steve McLaughlin (Lernout & Hauspie (GMS),
Germany)
	User perception of Machine Translation is the decisive issue, and MT
must be seen
	- not as a universal translation solution, but as one of several
potential tools
	- not in isolation, but within the context of the user's work processes
	What does this mean for Machine Translation vendors?
	- MT should not be offered in isolation
	- Products must be scaled to the user's purse and environment
	- It must be easy to access and use MT
	- MT must be available when and where the user needs it, whatever the
application
	
10.25	Kielikone MT Takes User-Friendliness Seriously - Kaarina Hyvonen
(Kielikone Ltd., Finland)
	Kielikone MT has produced a commercial MT product, TranSmart, which is
in use in several major Finnish corporations. In this paper, we examine
how TranSmart has been adapted to meet the needs of individual end-users
through four special features:
	- user-friendly interface
	- ability to preserve document formatting
	- facilitation of post-editing
	- document-specific translation lexicons
	
10.50 	Discussion

11.00	Coffee

11.30	EPTAS - a Client/Server based Translation Support System - Klemens
Waldhor (EP Electronic Publishing Partners, Germany)
	EPTAS is a translation server system which allows the integration of
different translation components and various support tools. It contains
a sophisticated linguistic database system and uses an advanced HTML
based UNICODE document format. The main advantage of this system is
that it allows the simultaneous usage of different translation methods,
like TM and MT in parallel, which is controlled by a sophisticated
process management system. This paper will examine the system and its
translation tools that can be incorporated from other vendors too.
	
11.55	ProMT 98 - the current state - Svetlana Sokolova (PROject MT Ltd,
Russia)
	ProMT 98 is the latest version of the MT software STYLUS. It is a
family of different applications with the same MT kernel inside. The
interface solutions are intended for different kinds of end users:
	- ProMT Internet Kit
	- ProMT Home
	- Pocket ProMT
	- ProMT Professional
	
12.20	Multilingual Language Technology in Automotive Documentation
Workflows - Joerg Schuetz (IAI, Germany)	
	MULTIDOC is concerned with the design and implementation of a new
translation-centred approach to technical documentation in the field of
automotive service and repair. The project is entirely geared by the
needs and requirements of the industrial users who are fully integrated
in all stages of the project. Among the users there are BMW, Bertone,
Volvo, Renault and Rolls-Royce from the automotive side; STAR and ITR
from the translation orientated side. The project is technically
coordinated by Volvo together with IAI.	

12.45	Discussion

13.00	Lunch with an opportunity to visit the exhibition and network

14.25	Introduction by Chair - Tony Hartley (University of Brighton, UK)

14.30	Machine Translation trends in Europe and Japan - Sophia Ananiadou
(UMIST, UK)
	This paper will examine the conditions in each geographical area that
have given rise to MT systems and associated aids, in order to shed
light on the functionality of systems from Japan and the extent these
can respond to European requirements. The examination will be based on:
	- types of user profiles
	- the role of MT providers
	- the use of translation aids, terminology management systems,
bilingual/multilingual translation memories, etc.

14.55	Fully Integrated Machine Translation - Logos GmbH, Germany 

The corporate world has been slow to accept MT because, in the past, MT
systems have acted in apparent isolation. This will all change when MT
becomes a component of an integrated suite of tools that addresses the
whole process. This paper will look at the process and describe an
offering which begins with: 
- a terminology management tool and a writer-friendly authoring tool
- a translation memory component tightly coupled with MT
- a smart post-editing environment
It will not be easy integrating such a suite of translation tools, but
once in place, then rapid, good quality, lower cost translation will
become a reality.

15.20	Discussion

15.30	Tea

16.00	Towards a Multi-Language Multi Script Web Based Reference &
Terminology System - Olaf-Michael Stefanov (United Nations, Vienna)
	The United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV) has possibly the first
database containing reference and terminology in multiple scripts and is
accessible via the Internet. UNOV will use it to support work in all six
official UN languages. This paper will look at the evolution of UNOV:
	attaining consistency in terminology and references via a mainframe
	adding Arabic and Chinese to the workload resulted in UNOV looking for
a customised replacement system, using Windows-NT as a platform
	controlled query/update via application run in Web browser

16.25	Paper to be confirmed

16.50	Discussion

17.00	Close of the Conference	


FEES
Two days: 395 (members); 485 (non members)
One day: 245 (members); 285 (non members)
Academic Institutions: Two days: 285; One day: 155

This includes coffee/tea, buffet lunch, documentation and the Conference
Proceedings.

Half day: 125 (members); 155 (non members)

This includes coffee/tea, buffet lunch and documentation. Please note:
Conference Proceedings are not included.

Members fees apply to Aslib Corporate members and members of Aslib TTG,
EAMT, IAMT, ITI and BCS.

ACCOMMODATION
Hotelscene, in conjunction with Aslib, have arranged special discounted
rates at selected hotels for conference delegates. Full details will be
sent on receipt of your booking form or you can contact Kiran or Amanda
at Hotelscence, 8 The Broadway, Barnes, London, SW13 0BR, Fax: +44
(0)181 876 1313 or Tel: +44 (0)181 876 0404, quoting Aslib Tanslating
and the Computer 20.

CANCELLATION
In the event of cancellation, there will be a charge of 50 to cover
administration costs. The full fee will be charged for non-attendance
and for cancellations received less than 10 working days prior to the
start of the Conference. Aslib will accept substitutes for confirmed
delegates, providing we receive notification of the substitute two
working days before the Conference.

PROCEEDINGS
Additional copies of the Proceedings for this event can be ordered for
32.50 from Portland Press by fax: +44 (0)1206 799 331.

FURTHER DETAILS FROM: NICOLE ADAMIDES, Aslib, The Association for
Information Management, Staple Hall, Stone House Court, London, EC3A 7PB

Tel: +44 (0) 171 903 0030	Fax: +44 (0) 171 903 0011
Email: nicoleaslib.co.uk	WWW: www.aslib.co.uk






Nicole Adamides, Manager, Professional Development Group
ASLIB, The Association for Information Management,
Staple Hall, Stone House Court, London, EC3A 7PB
Tel: +44 (0) 171 903 0030 Fax: +44 (0) 171 903 0011 
WWW: http://www.aslib.co.uk/