Scientists pledge to remove English-Indian Language Barrier

Researchers at two of the world’s major language technology research centres have committed their joint efforts to enhance the quality of translation from English to the major languages of India.

Pioneers at Ireland’s Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) and the Language Technologies Research Centre at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) will collaborate to build accurate translation systems from English to Indian languages.

The work will be supported by The Government of India through its India-Ireland Cooperative Science Programme and by Dublin City University through its DCU India Fund.

The outcomes of the two-year project are likely to have great social and commercial value. Accurate machine translation systems will reduce the cost and time associated with preparing (or ‘localising’) software and other digital content for foreign markets.

There are substantial economic benefits associated with enabling companies to provide product information and support to foreign customers in their native tongue. For example, 72 per cent of customers are more likely to buy a product that provides information in their own language. Ground-breaking translations systems and tools could therefore help Irish companies to communicate with India’s more than 1.2 billion consumers in their own language. Indian companies could better target not just Irish consumers in their native tongue, but the wider English-speaking world.

Explaining that the potential benefits are not solely economic, Professor Andy Way, Principal Investigator at CNGL in Ireland says,

“The social benefits of high-quality machine translation include wider access to digital content that was produced originally in another language. For example, speakers of Hindi with limited knowledge of English may be able to view accurate real-time translations of online content on topics that interest them – be it major sporting events, vital health information, or emergency response guidance.”

This new research collaboration builds on existing industry and academic collaboration between Ireland and India, two significant players in the multi-billion euro localisation industry. The Centre for Next Generation Localisation has on-going collaborative research projects with a range of industry and academic partners in India. These include IIIT Hyderabad and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in Pune, western India. CDAC Pune and the CNGL have been collaborating on the creation of a community platform for The Rosetta Foundation for the past year. The Rosetta Foundation is an activity spunout of CNGL, which aims to relieve poverty, support healthcare, develop education and promote justice through access to information and knowledge across the languages of the world.

The India-Ireland Cooperative Science Programme of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology is helping to formalise CNGL’s work with the various Indian institutions. The goal is continue the mutually-beneficial partnership on localisation R&D between Ireland and India – two key players on the localisation world stage.

As Way explains,

“Our goal is to enable people to interact with content, products, services and each other, in their own language, according to their own cultural, and according to their own personal needs. The Centre for Next Generation Localisation’s new collaboration with IIIT Hyderabad will help us to essentially “unlock” digital content, products and services in Indian languages – some of which are among the most widely spoken in the world.”