Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union

🌍 On 3 December 2024 the global community observed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities🌍 #IDPD, a day that has been promoted by the United Nations since 1992 to raise awareness about the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. 🌱 With an estimated 1.3 billion people – or 1 in 6 of us – experiencing significant disability worldwide, this day serves as a reminder that disabilities come in all forms and are not always visible. 🌟 Multilingual subtitling and transcription make content inclusive for millions worldwide. Language experts don't just translate words, they also adapt idioms, cultural nuances and metaphors, ensuring content that resonates with all audiences. 🛠️💬 From classrooms to boardrooms, accessible content enriches lives by creating inclusive spaces. Accurate, human-crafted captions make learning, entertainment and professional material available to everyone. At the Translation Centre, our expert linguists ensure that captions are accurate, emotionally resonant and culturally adapted, offering EU citizens with visual and hearing impairments meaningful access to multimedia content. Let’s continue working towards a more inclusive world for all. 💙

The Translation Centre is celebrating a birthday! 🥳🎂 It's 30 years ago to the day that the Council of the European Union signed our Founding Regulation. This would set the wheels in motion for establishing the Centre, and defined our primary mission which was to meet the language service needs of the other decentralised agencies and bodies of the EU. 🌍 Other missions would later be added, including giving the Centre a role in interinstitutional cooperation and enabling it to expand its client portfolio from 7 clients to today's figure of over 70. Time flies, as they say, and it certainly feels true for us! We were delighted to join the EU family of institutions, agencies and bodies, and since then we have gone from strength to strength, engaged in a constant process of collaboration, learning and development. We are proud of what we have achieved over the last 30 years – linguists, IT developers, AI specialists, HR and project managers, to name just a few, working tirelessly together in the pursuit of multilingualism, a cornerstone of the EU. We have streamlined workflows, incorporated new EU and non-EU languages, handled numerous client requests and complex projects on a daily basis, created AI tools and cutting-edge new systems, become faster, more efficient, moved into the vanguard of language service provision, in fact. 💹 👨💻 The Centre came into being a few months later, which means that next year marks 30 years of operations, and thus an even bigger reason to celebrate! But even if today’s anniversary is small, for us, it’s a crucial one, and celebrate it we will. Happy Founding Regulation Day! 🍾

🎤✨ During her address at the renowned University of Trieste in northern Italy last week, Ildikó Horváth continued her dialogue with younger language professionals currently training to be translators and interpreters. She shared how the current situation in the profession is playing out and her vision for the future, emphasising the key role that will continue to be played by skilled professionals to edit the output of AI and avoid the risk of mistranslations or even 'hallucinations' by the machine! These insights are reflected in the Translation Centre's human-centric approach to providing language services, which leverages both our linguistic expertise and our experience in creating, using and fine-tuning AI-based language tools. 🌐💡 The future of the profession lies in adapting to change, and the next generation of language professionals will be innovators, ready to learn and lead in an AI-enhanced world. 🎓🚀 To read more about our stance on using AI responsibly, you can read our 'AI statement' here: https://bit.ly/40TpCF0 #multilingualism

✨ The AsLing conference in Luxembourg is coming to a close today, and the Translation Centre is pleased to have been involved in the event! ✨ We have exchanged with experts from around the globe on the future of translation, AI and digital tools, as well as the evolution of the linguistic services profession going forward. Our Director, Ildikó Horváth, was honoured to feature as an invited speaker and today presented the Translation Centre’s human-centric approach, ‘Human expertise powered by AI’. 🌍🤖 The Translation Centre is strongly committed to implementing state-of-the-art technology and processes. Aware of the impact of AI-based language technologies in today’s world, we strive to incorporate this technology into our business operations as far as possible and continue providing our partners with enhanced and modern services. AI-based language applications improve efficiency by reducing translation turnaround times and costs. However, not all areas of expertise, document types and language pairs are handled well by this technology, so we strive to harness AI in a considered and effective manner. Along with the related risks, Ildikó also spoke about the need for ongoing training and development for translators in the age of AI. 📡💡 #tc46

📣 The Translation Centre is thrilled to once again be participating in the AsLing 'Translating and the Computer' conference this year. The Centre will contribute to the discussion, with our Director, Ildikó Horváth, presenting the Translation Centre's approach, 'Human expertise powered by AI' on 20 November 2024. 🌐 The IATE team are also taking part with a workshop on 'Experimental AI-enhanced Features for IATE'. 🔍 This will be the 11th conference organised by AsLing, the 46th Translating and the Computer Conference #tc46. This leading event combines innovation and tradition, and gives language professionals the chance to explore the future of translation and stay up to date with the latest trends, research and opportunities for growth in the industry. Global experts, innovators and professionals will have conversations about the latest advancements in machine translation, AI and digital tools that are reshaping our field. 🌟🌍 Looking forward to all the talks and exchanges! #asling #multilingualism

📣 From 6 to 8 November, professionals from the global language industry convened for the Translating Europe Forum #TEF2024. The three days of lively exchanges about the challenges and opportunities within the language profession were masterfully concluded by Christos Ellinides, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) at the European Commission and the Chair of the Translation Centre's Management Board. Mr Ellinides’s insightful closing statement highlighted the significant role of the language services industry in embracing AI as a tool for the profession. He also underscored the importance of adaptability, digital skills and critical thinking for young professionals in the field and emphasised the need for continuous innovation and change. Human expertise would remain central, as exemplified by the recently adopted AI Act promoting a human-centric approach to AI. 🌐👨💼 His thought-provoking and inspiring conclusions left us energised and ready to embrace what’s next for our industry. 💬💪

Every year, the European Commission offers a group of students from universities in our European Master’s in Translation network the opportunity to attend the Translating Europe Forum in person. I met with 20 students today and was truly impressed by their enthusiasm and great interest in #translation. This annual invitation allows students to explore the professional world of translation, attend insightful talks, get acquainted with the latest language technologies (including #AI) and build on their professional network. We discussed a future initiative linking #EMTnetwork students to our #JuvenesTranslatores translation contest for schools, as a way of bringing together secondary school and university students interested in and translation and language technologies. The special focus on youth is important for us to make sure that the new generations are aware of career possibilities. In the #2024TEF programme this year we included an online newcomers’ fair and a youth panel chaired by Adrian Probst. It is encouraging to see that our initiatives bring fruit, for example when a previous Juvenes Translatores winner turns up on a TEF panel, or an EMT student who came to TEF last year returns as a trainee, or a trainee who applied for and got a job in DGT. #multilingualism #TranslatingEurope #LanguageIndustry #languges4jobs #education #universitystudents Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union Università di Napoli L'Orientale, Ventspils Augstskola / Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht University, New Bulgarian University, Universität des Saarlandes, Universidade de Vigo, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Eötvös Loránd University, Turun yliopisto - University of Turku, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Université Paris Cité, University of Warsaw, Università degli Studi di Padova, Universidad de Salamanca, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Université de Haute-Alsace - UHA 

The Management Board of our EU Agency in Luxembourg, the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, gathered yesterday for its 64th meeting in person for the first time after four years of online and hybrid meetings. This face-to-face engagement gave rise to dynamic exchanges and fostered deeper connections between the Centre’s staff, Director Ildikó Horváth, and the Board members. We look forward to putting these insights and collaborations to the service of strengthening Europe’s multilingual landscape. As the Chairman of the Board, I was delighted to be part of these discussions about groundbreaking language technologies that are empowering human capabilities, enhancing communication and inspiring innovation across diverse cultures and communities. A heartfelt thank you to all Board members and to the Director and staff of the Centre for their active participation in these enriching conversations. Together, we are paving the way for a more interconnected and multilingual Europe! #translation #xl8 #multilingualism #LanguageIndustry #EUAgencies #EUInstitutions #Translate4EU #languages #AI #emergingtech #Luxembourg #MultilingualEU #TranslationServices #EUTranslationHub #LuxembourgMultilingual European Commission 

🔍 The Translation Centre is holding its twice-yearly Management Board meeting today. 💼 🤝 The meeting is a great opportunity for the Centre's Director and staff to share insights about the responsible use of AI in translation, and invite members to take part in interactive sessions to discover the Centre's approach to linguistic services in the digital age. The Management Board has a supervisory and governance role with general responsibility for budgetary and planning matters and the monitoring of the Agency’s performance. It is chaired by Christos Ellinides, Director-General for the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) at the European Commission. These meetings help steer and adjust our activities and operations to best meet our clients' needs. By collaborating together, we ensure that the Centre stays aligned with stakeholders' language service requirements and the changing environment around us. 🌍👥

📣 This afternoon, members of the Translation Centre’s Management Board had the opportunity to visit our offices to see the internal operations of our teams and witness first-hand our unique expertise in delivering linguistic solutions in support of multilingualism. 👥🌎 Members explored various areas of our business, including core services, the IATE widget, AI, business development strategies and linguistic services. This hands-on experience provided valuable insights into how we prepare translation projects and what our translation lifecycle looks like end-to-end. 💡🌐 Participants gained a deeper understanding of our combination of technologies, skills and experience ahead of tomorrow’s twice-yearly Management Board meeting. At this Management Board, the Translation Centre will present its AI statement and inform and exchange with clients on our new and exciting range of services and developments. 📅 🤝