For English, see below

Taaltechnologie speelt een steeds belangrijker rol in de meertalige Europese samenlevingen waarin wij wonen, een ontwikkeling die de hele taalsector raakt. Wordt de taalspecialist op de arbeidsmarkt vervangen door de datascientist of is vakkennis over taal nog steeds onontbeerlijk? In samenwerking met Drongo organiseert de vertaaldienst van de Europese Commissie een gesprek tussen opleiders, studenten, bedrijven, onderzoekers en taalprofessionals over de arbeidsmarkt voor taalspecialisten. De aanleiding is onze publicatie van OTTO: het overzicht van taaltechnologische opleidingen in Nederland en België.

PROGRAMMA 
(wijzigingen voorbehouden)

1. Welkomstwoord

2. Presentatie OTTO door Maaike Verrips (Drongo - platform voor meertaligheid) en Dries Debackere (De Taalsector)

3. Rondetafelgesprek onder leiding van Emma Hartkamp (Europese Commissie) in twee delen rondom de vraag: Wat doet de taalprofessional van morgen ?

Deel 1 – opleiding (meer sprekers worden later bekend gemaakt)

Nikola Kunte – Coördinator EMT-netwerk (European Masters in Translation) namens DGT (Vertaaldienst Europese Commissie)
Iulianna van der Lek – Ciudin - Training and Education Officer bij CLARIN ERIC
Patrick Goethals - Universiteit Gent - Opleidingshoofd Toegepaste Taalkunde, Universiteit Gent

PAUZE

Deel 2 – arbeidsmarkt (meer sprekers worden later bekend gemaakt)

Margreet Dorleijn - Literair vertaler
Dennis Lindberg - Student Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University
Tom Vanallemeersch - Language AI Advisor bij CrossLang, Gent
Jourik Ciesielski - Chief Technology Officer bij Yamagata Europe

AFSLUITING

Taalbeleid
Tijdens de bijeenkomst kan in het Nederlands, Frans en Engels worden gesproken.

Voor wie?
Dit evenement is interessant voor opleiders, studenten, werkgevers in de taalsector, inkopers van taaldiensten, aspirant en ervaren taalprofessionals.  Met OTTO en met dit evenement willen we bijdragen aan de vitaliteit van de taalsector, aan de aantrekkingskracht van de sector voor nieuw talent en aan inzichten over de arbeidsmarkt voor taalspecialisten.


ENGLISH

What will the language professional of tomorrow do?

Language technology plays an increasingly important role in the multilingual European societies we live in, a development that affects the entire language sector. Will the language specialist therefore be replaced by the data scientist or will expert knowledge of languages stay a key competence on the job market? In cooperation with Drongo, the translation service of the European Commission is organizing a panel discussion between trainers, students, companies, researchers and language professionals about the job market for language experts. The discussion will take place on the occasion of our publication of OTTO: an inventory of training programmes in the field of language and technology in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Programme

(subject to change)

1. Welcome

2. Presentation of OTTO by Maaike Verrips (Drongo platform for multilingualism) and Dries Debackere (De Taalsector)

3. Panel discussion moderated by Emma Hartkamp (European Commission) in two parts on the central question: What will the language professional of tomorrow do?

Part 1 – Training

Nikola Kunte – Coördinator EMT-network (European Masters in Translation) on behalf of DGT (Vertaaldienst Europese Commissie)
Lulianna van der Lek – Ciudin - Training and Education Officer at CLARIN ERIC
Patrick Goethals -  Head of training in Applied Linguistics University of Ghent

BREAK

Part 2 – Job market

Margreet Dorleijn - Literary translator
Dennis Lindberg -  Student Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University
Tom Vanallemeersch - Language AI Advisor at CrossLang, Ghent

CONCLUSION

Language policy

Participants can speak in Dutch, English and French.

This event is of interest to trainers, students, employers in the language industry, buyers of language services, and future and experienced language professionals. With OTTO and with this event, we aim to contribute to the vitality of the language industry, the attractiveness of this sector for young talents and a better insight into the job market for language specialists.

In past decades, a slew of technological solutions and services has been introduced to automate writing and translation processes. To date, this technology has proven to be highly successful in domains with stringent conventions, rules and texts types that require little creativity. With the latest AI revolution in Natural Language Processing, attention of engineers has been rapidly shifting toward the hives of textual creativity.

Recent developments lend credence to the claim that the use of leading-edge AI in creative writing and translation can now also help language professionals gain insight in texts, generate fresh ideas, overcome hurdles such as writer’s blocks, improve the overall quality of writing by providing real-time feedback and, thus, improve their craft. However, according to some, technological solutionism is looming large in the language industry, and it remains to be seen whether proposed solutions and services will be embraced by language professionals. This is all the more true in the creative industry, where technology may hamper creative processes. In other words, we have to consider the wants and needs of the translator, and – why not? – of society at large.

With this third Translating Europe Workshop in the series “Language and Technology: A Winning Combination”, we seek to:

• map out the technological solutions and services that AI has on offer for creative writers and translators, now and in the near future;
• examine the technological wants and needs of modern language professionals;
• critically interrogate the usefulness of solutions and services in the language industry;
• look for ways to overcome or circumvent obstacles that continue to hinder technological progress in the field of creative language technology.

With this four-pronged objective in mind, we hope to bring together students and scholars in Computer Sciences and Languages. Through a series of interactive sessions, attendees will be encouraged to team-up and trace out the future of creative language technologies and creative writing and translation.

Please Note: This event is free for visitors. But of course, it requires an investment to organize it. We incur costs and make commitments based on your registration. If you are unexpectedly unable to come, you may cancel your registration without charge until midday on Monday, April 17. If you do not show up, without informing us before that date, we will be obliged to charge €50,- cancellation costs.

Programme (draft)

After a plenary introduction, we offer break-out sessions in three tracks. Participants choose one track. Per track the participants examine in detail how a number of technological tools can be applied in a specific type of text.

13:00 Registration

13:30 Plenary Session

With contributions by Emma Hartkamp (DGT), Maaike Verrips (Drongo), Gys-Walt van Egdom (Utrecht University)

14:30 Breakout sessions part 1 (details will follow)

15:15 Coffee and tea

1530 Breakout sessions part 2 (details will follow)

1615 Plenary closing session

1700 The end

More details will follow soon.

Practical information

The event will take place in English. Any other language can be used in translations during the breakout sessions. Advance registration - through the button on this page - is required.

Location: Utrecht University, Drift 21, 3512 BR Utrecht. There is no option to follow the event online.

Organisers

The workshop is organised by the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission, in collaboration with Drongo platform voor meertaligheid and Utrecht University.