Opportunities for Language Technology

Language technology can make automatic translation, content production, information processing and knowledge management possible for all European languages. Language technology can also further the development of intuitive language-based interfaces for household electronics, machinery, vehicles, computers and robots. Although many prototypes already exist, commercial and industrial applications are still in the early stages of development. Recent achievements in research and development have created a genuine window of opportunity. For example, machine translation (MT) already delivers a reasonable amount of accuracy within specific domains, and experimental applications provide multilingual information and knowledge management as well as content production in many European languages.

Language applications, voice-based user interfaces and dialogue systems are traditionally found in highly specialised domains, and they often exhibit limited performance. One active field of research is the use of language technology for rescue operations in disaster areas. In such high-risk environments, translation accuracy can be a matter of life or death. The same reasoning applies to the use of language technology in the health care industry. Intelligent robots with cross-lingual language capabilities have the potential to save lives.

There are huge market opportunities in the education and entertainment industries for the integration of language technologies in games, edutainment offerings, simulation environments or training programmes. Mobile information services, computer-assisted language learning software, eLearning environments, self-assessment tools and plagiarism detection software are just a few more examples where language technology can play an important role. The popularity of social media applications like Twitter and Facebook suggest a further need for sophisticated language technologies that can monitor posts, summarise discussions, suggest opinion trends, detect emotional responses, identify copyright infringements or track misuse.

Multilingualism is the rule, not an exception.

Language technology represents a  tremendous opportunity for the European Union that makes both economic and cultural sense. Multilingualism in Europe has become the rule. European businesses, organisations and schools are also multinational and diverse. Citizens want to communicate across the language borders that still exist in the European Common Market. Language technology can help overcome such remaining barriers while supporting the free and open use of language. Furthermore, innovative, multilingual language technology for European can also help us communicate with our global partners and their multilingual communities. Language technologies support a wealth of international economic opportunities.