THE CHALLENGE
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Linguacubun's RESPONSE
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In 1998, the European Commission (DG-XIII) were seeking to
encourage new companies to take part in their programmes to develop
Human Language Technology, with an emphasis on multilingualism:
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We have drafted a guide to EC applications procedures, setting
out the rationale for the new research emphases. This will now be
the basis for guidance delivered by support groups throughout the
EC.
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In 1997, an American multinational company sought advice on
how best to organize its Japanese language communications through
machine translation:
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We were able provide effective criteria on how such systems
should be judged.
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In 1996, the UK Government's Department of Trade and Industry
wanted to organize a mission to Japan, to evaluate the strength
of Japanese work in language technology:
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We were able to provide a short list of laboratories and companies
to visit, accompany the mission with Japanese language support to
the other members, and produce an analysis report and chair a conference
to present it within two months of the return.
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In 1995, a UK university with considerable expertise in automatic
analysis of text wanted to commercialize its work:
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We were able to identify the potential markets for these technologies,
and give the framework for the department's first Business Plan;
this was duly presented in 1996 and development funding achieved.
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In the early 1990s, an American multinational company with
expertise in language technology wanted to establish itself in the
European research community, with the glimmer of an idea for a collaborative
project for on-line dictionaries:
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We were able to find partners from industry and academia from
three European countries , put together a proposal which won substantial
support from the European Union, and manage the consortium for two
years to produce a prototype. The idea is now being developed in
new projects all over Europe.
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In the late 1980s, the UK Government's Department of Trade
and Industry wanted to reinforce areas where there was scope for
particular progress within computing research:
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We were able to put together a case for a targeted programme
of research in Speech and Language Technology, provide technical
expertise to ensure that it received well-balanced take-up in the
country as a whole, and finally in 1997-8 to evaluate its success
against the original objectives. These were overwhelmingly achieved,
and the UK is now among the leaders as a global centre for these
technologies.
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