Wednesday, April 04, 2007
IBM to provide 1,000 two-way automatic translation devices
Business
(BI-ME) - IBM today announced a humanitarian donation to the United States government of innovative speech translation technology to support better communication in Iraq. The intent of the donation is to help augment human translators and improve the safety of US and coalition personnel, citizens and staff of nongovernmental aid organisations (NGOs).
Specifically, IBM will provide 1,000 two-way automatic translation devices and 10,000 copies of the software for future use. The systems can recognise and translate a vocabulary of over 50,000 English and 100,000 Iraqi Arabic words, and are designed for civil application environments such as hospitals and training.
In a letter to President George Bush outlining the contribution, IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samuel Palmisano stated: “IBM employees returning from service with the US military in Iraq have consistently emphasised two points: the importance of communicating with the Iraqi people and the operational challenges posed by the need to do so. Although in many instances human translators are essential, we also believe that there are technological solutions to help mitigate the problem.”
The IBM systems are advanced, two-way "speech-to-speech" translators – code-named MASTOR (for Multilingual Automatic Speech Translator) – that improve communication between English and Iraqi Arabic speakers. The lack of understanding of Iraqi Arabic is a major concern among military personnel, their families, and civilians in Iraq. The issue was recently addressed in the Iraqi Study Group report, which highlighted the importance of better communication and recommended this issue be given the highest possible priority. According to the report, of 1,000 US Embassy workers, only 33 are Arabic speakers, and only six are at the level of fluency. Another concern is the safety of those providing translation services and protecting translators in conflict settings.
There are fewer than 20 commercial translation systems currently available globally. US Department of Defence units are currently using a variety of automated translation techniques on a limited basis to communicate effectively with speakers of different languages in real-world tactical situations where human interpreters are scarce. In October 2006, IBM delivered a preliminary product with force protection and civil affairs language domains to US Joint Forces Command for field testing in restricted environments.
Specifically, IBM will provide 1,000 two-way automatic translation devices and 10,000 copies of the software for future use. The systems can recognise and translate a vocabulary of over 50,000 English and 100,000 Iraqi Arabic words, and are designed for civil application environments such as hospitals and training.
In a letter to President George Bush outlining the contribution, IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samuel Palmisano stated: “IBM employees returning from service with the US military in Iraq have consistently emphasised two points: the importance of communicating with the Iraqi people and the operational challenges posed by the need to do so. Although in many instances human translators are essential, we also believe that there are technological solutions to help mitigate the problem.”
The IBM systems are advanced, two-way "speech-to-speech" translators – code-named MASTOR (for Multilingual Automatic Speech Translator) – that improve communication between English and Iraqi Arabic speakers. The lack of understanding of Iraqi Arabic is a major concern among military personnel, their families, and civilians in Iraq. The issue was recently addressed in the Iraqi Study Group report, which highlighted the importance of better communication and recommended this issue be given the highest possible priority. According to the report, of 1,000 US Embassy workers, only 33 are Arabic speakers, and only six are at the level of fluency. Another concern is the safety of those providing translation services and protecting translators in conflict settings.
There are fewer than 20 commercial translation systems currently available globally. US Department of Defence units are currently using a variety of automated translation techniques on a limited basis to communicate effectively with speakers of different languages in real-world tactical situations where human interpreters are scarce. In October 2006, IBM delivered a preliminary product with force protection and civil affairs language domains to US Joint Forces Command for field testing in restricted environments.
Labels: IBM, MASTOR, Samuel Palmisano, two-way automatic translation devices
