Human language technologies - Draft discussion paper
The European Commission, DG XIII, has published a draft discussion paper on "Human language technologies - Living and Working together in the Information Society". The paper is published by the "Language Engineering" Sector of the Telematics Applications programme, with the aim of stimulating discussion on the aims and areas of research in this field under the Fifth Framework Programme. The Commission suggests that language technologies will help to build bridges across languages and cultures, and provide natural access to information and communication services. Furthermore, they should enable an active assimilation and use of multimedia content, and further strengthen Europe's position at the forefront of language-enabled digital services. Three themes are suggested as the focus of RTD and validation activities: - Adding multilinguality to information and communication systems; - Enhancing natural interactivity and accessibility of digital services through multimodal dialogues; - Enabling an active use and assimilation of digital content. Activities supported will include: - Transfer of innovative technologies to a wider set of languages; - Development of language resources in portable and reusable formats; - Definition of standards and interoperability guides for multilingual information processing; - International cooperation, in particular in the above contexts; - Acquisition of multi-disciplinary skills by language researchers, developers and professionals; - Establishment of virtual centres of expertise and networks of best practice. The Commission is currently inviting comments and suggestions on the draft paper, with a view to finalizing the paper in the autumn of 1997.