Localisation

ELITEX 2008 Lodhi Road New Delhi 17-18 January 2008Electronics and Information Technology Exposition

Seminar Sessions: Securing Indian Cyber Space

Reinhard SchälerDirector

University of Limerick

Reinhard.Schaler@ul.ie

www.localisation.ie

TM

The Global Perspective

(c) LRC 2008 2 of 26

The Localisation Research Centre

About A research centre of the University of Limerick, established in

1995 at the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Our mission To provide relevant well-researched content-rich information

on future trends and technologies

University of Limerick Offers one-year taught, grant supported

Graduate Diploma in Localisation Technology Master of Science in Global Computing and Localisation

Area Coordinator Localisation in multi-million euro Next Generation Localisation Centre funded by Irish Government (2007-2012)

Funded PhD and PostDoc positions open -> www.localisation.ie

We educate the best minds in internationalisation and localisation.

(c) LRC 2008 3 of 26

What is Localisation?

Involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate

to the target locale where it will be used and sold.

(lisa.org)

The process of adapting a program for a specific local market.

(microsoft.com)

The process of converting a program to run in a particular

locale or country.(ibm.com)

Is the process of adapting a product to the requirements of a target locale.

(globalization.com)

… the linguistic and cultural adaptation of

digital content to the requirements of a foreign market.

… the provision of services and technologies for the

management of multilinguality across the digital,

global information flow.

[… the commoditisation of translation services.]

In 2008, the industry is estimated to be worth US$10b

(c) LRC 2008 4 of 26

Agenda

Why localise? Perspective matters

What are the challenges? It’s not just translation

How to respond? Localisation R&D

Why Localise?1

Perspective matters

(c) LRC 2008 6 of 26

The Elefant Story

American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) based this poem, "The Blind Men and the Elephant", on a fable that was told in India many years ago. It is a good warning about how our (sensory) perceptions and perspectives

can lead to misinterpretations.

And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long,Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!

Moral: So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!

(c) LRC 2008 7 of 26

Single-dimensional mainstream

Localisation

Increase return on investment (ROI) IF there are markets rich enough to buy our products

THEN adapt our already developed products superficially to

the requirements of these markets (with a minimum effort)

AND sell them into these new markets for a similar price as

the original product (there is no easier way to make money)

Short-term tunnel vision

Low risk – low value – low return

(c) LRC 2008 8 of 26

Richest countries2004 GNP per capita in US$

Luxembourg $56,380 Norway $51,810 Switzerland $49,600 U.S.A. $41,440 Denmark $40,750 Iceland $37,920 Japan $37,050 Sweden $35,840 Ireland $34,310 U.K. $33,630

Notes: 1/ Scandinavian countries are rich but have a small population. 2/ FIGS are highly developed and have big populations. 3/ China is poor but has a huge population.

World Regions ( Internet Penetration )

Africa

Asia

Europe

Middle East

North America

Latin America/Caribbean

Oceania / Australia

Localisation Business Case, step 44. Priority AssessmentClassify your geographical regions according to three tiers, with Tier 1 being the most important, e.g. Tier 1 English, German, Chinese and Japanese Tier 2 French, Italian and Spanish Tier 3 Polish, Czech, and RussianKnowing what regions fall into which tiers will help you set priorities, budgets, schedules, and resources. And finally, be sure to get upper management to approve these priorities.

(c) LRC 2008 9 of 26

Countries according to their GDPGDP per capita >US$15,000 ■ US$10-15,000

US$3-10,000 ■ US$1-3,000 in pink ■ <US$1,000

(c) LRC 2008 10 of 26

Social reasons Bridging the social divide

Political reasons Access to information

Cultural reasons Survival of languages and cultures

Long-term investment Market penetration

Multi–dimensional non-mainstream

Localisation

(c) LRC 2008 11 of 26

No room for growth in USA, little room in Europe and enormous growth potential in Asia. – From short-term ROI to long-term investment.

A different perspective

(c) LRC 2008 12 of 26

Annual growth rate of users of mobile phones 1999-2004 in %

Percentage of users with prepaid cards, 2004

Hightech for the Poorest

(c) LRC 2008 13 of 26

Country road to data highway

Perspective matters

Your viewpoint does not only reveal opportunities

It can also cloud your judgement and hide them from you

Changing your perspective can help you to avoid misinterpretations and generate new points of view

What are the Challenges?2

It’s not just translation

(c) LRC 2008 16 of 26

Challenges and projected growth

More languages in less time without an increase in budget (target: 10-20% increase in productivity p.a.) Language technologies Process automation Business models: crowdsourcing, wikifization,

community L10N Enterprise and consumer localisation

Scheduled, large volumes, deltas Adhoc, small volumes, instant

Multidimensional localisation Instrument of commercial globalisation Instrument of political, cultural, social globalisation

(c) LRC 2008 17 of 26

The localisation industry

Vectors of scalability and growthGeography / Languages

Content

Medium of delivery

Europe

Documents/Boxed products

Manuals/UI

Asia

Global

CD-ROM

OnlinePure Internet-based

Generaltechnical

Anycontent

Culture

Symbols

Rights

Values

Rationale

Standards

Trial & Error

Proprietary

Open

ROI

Investment

Rights-based

How to deal with today’s main localisation challenge:

Simship a growing volume of continuously being released digital content into more languages with an acceptable quality but without an increase in cost.

Delta

Simship

RCycles

Continuous

(c) LRC 2008 18 of 26

Industry Trends

Traditional Limited versions Craftspeople (art) Slow manual process Domestic market

Future Large scale Professionals (business) Fast turnover Global competition

Automation – Standardisation – Process Control

(c) LRC 2008 19 of 26

Lessons from other industries

Other industries faced similar issues

Had to standardise in order to automate

The most successful standard ever: the 60o angle with flattened apex screw

Took a long time to develop Required the agreement and

support of many people, highly political process

Was needed It ushered in the assembly line and

mass production and ushered out the world of craftsmen and customized production.

It’s not just translation

Once internationalisation and basic linguistic issues have been addressed, process automation is key when responding to new

localisation challenges and projected growth.

Learn from other industries – standardisation and interoperability pre-requisites for automation.

How to respond?3

Localisation R&D

(c) LRC 2008 22 of 26

R&D infrastructure and targets

Develop standards in localisation

Demonstrate their advantages Evangelise Be pragmatic

Develop demonstrators, conceptualise

Commercialise concepts

Make products available, demonstrate benefits Commercial Open Source

(c) LRC 2008 23 of 26

Analyser Leverager

TM MTTermDB Editor

WCount VerCntl

XLIFF XLIFF XLIFF XLIFF XLIFFLocalisatio

nRequest

Localisation

Response

Human Localisation Services

Tra

nsl

ati

on W

eb S

erv

ices

Tra

nsla

tion W

eb S

erv

ices

Services and Distribution

`

XLIFF as the Localisation Memory

All native source

material

String-based Translation Directives

Status and

process informati

on

Linguistic MetadataAll target

data

Previous Translations

Translation RouterAccording to time, quality and budget requirements

Using available resources

Automated PlatformThe potential for an

(c) LRC 2008 24 of 26

Benefits of tools distribution and process automation platform

Better access to technology – increase in uptake

More localised digital content: more linguistic and cultural

diversity – less cultural dominance

Benefits will mostly be in the social, cultural and political

space Citizens, governments and social partners

Dramatical improvement of access to digital information (medical,

eGovernment, news, … knowledge)

A significant investment is required International collaboration will reduce costs and produce better

results

Investment to be made by interested parties

Localisation R&D

Collaborative development initiatives leading to accessible and affordable localisation tools distributions and

localisation process automation platforms.

Be pragmatic in relation to standards, build demonstrators, demonstrate tangible benefits, distribute as

Commercial Open Source.

(c) LRC 2008 26 of 26

Conclusion

The rationale for localisation is multi-dimensional.

Social, cultural, political dimensions of localisation need to be

opened up – access to digital information in your own language

is not ‘a nice to have’ but a right.

Technology development needs to be initiated, following basic

linguistic enabling of operating systems and applications.

Professional training and certification – such as that offered by

The Institute of Localisation Professionals (TILP) Certified

Localisation Professional (CLP) programme – implemented world-

wide.

Thank you!

www.localisation.ieReinhard.Schaler@ul.ie