Translation Bureau Benchmarking and Comparative Analysis - Final ...

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Translation Bureau Benchmarking and Comparative Analysis4.5 Technology / Linguistic ToolsAdoption of technology among the organizations varies significantly. Given the cost and effortrequired to build and maintain the tools, and the variance in organization size and budget, thereis an emerging theme that only the larger organizations invest in developing or acquiringtechnology and tools.Translation memory is used within a number of the organizations in order to improveproductivity and is considered successful. However, most organizations have not yet moved toincorporate machine translation into their processes. Most do not foresee machine translationbecoming a part of their translation process in the near term, as it has not sufficiently advancedto the point where it is can be used reliably. However, there was a general acknowledgment thatas little as five years ago, translation memory was viewed with the same perception.All the organizations maintained or used some form of terminology repository, with “Termium”being specifically identified as a repository that was used by at least one of the Canadian firms.With the growth of global organizations, and the projected six-fold increase in the size of thetranslation software market, it is reasonable to expect that there will be significant increase inthe uptake of technolinguistic tools within the market as a whole. This has the potential tosignificantly impact the role of the translator, with the translation becoming less of a creativeprocess and more of an editorial endeavour where the translator spends the majority of his orher effort revising machine translated output.Use of these tools is currently at the discretion of the translator, however the trend is to formallyintegrate them into existing process to drive consistency of translation as well as improvetranslator efficiency.4.6 Emerging TrendsThe following are some of the key trends that were identified by the interviewees:• The influence from large global translation firms appears to be increasing and could bedriving prices down. In addition, these organizations have resources and infrastructureto invest in and maintain stable and reliable translation resources and services on aglobal scale. They are often able to deliver in a timely, cost-effective manner.• Quality is assumed within the market, and is not seen as a differentiator betweensuppliers, except in limited circumstances such as certified documents, legal documentsor documents with a high degree of visibility or sensitivity. To a large extent, the onus hasbeen placed on the translator to self-monitor and deliver a high–quality document, andon the client to identify issues in lieu of a robust quality assurance function.• There is an improvement in the quality of machine translation and translation memory.While not yet ubiquitous, the tools are seeing greater adoption but not at the expense ofhuman resources. The profile of the translator over the next five years will be someonewho can combine linguistic skills and computer skills. The belief is that the model is“translator and machine” rather than “translator or machine”.• Within Canada, it is felt that competition is increasing, resulting in downward pressureon rates, while the level of quality is improving. Commercial service providers findPage 28 of 43
Translation Bureau Benchmarking and Comparative Analysisthemselves in a position where they are delivering a higher quality product faster, butwith lower revenue.• At present, PwC did not find any provision of translation services for social media. Theorganizations interviewed indicated that the translation responsibility rests with theorganization that was creating the content and not with the translation services group.This is generally the communications group of the organization.Page 29 of 43
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