“Bridging the technology gap: Integrating Malta into European Research and Innovation efforts for AI-based language technologies”

Project Information

LT-BRIDGE

Grant agreement ID: 952194

DOI

10.3030/952194

Project closed

EC signature date 22 June 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 June 2024

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 899 995,00

EU contribution

€ 899 995,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA TA MALTA
Malta

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LT-BRIDGE (“Bridging the technology gap: Integrating Malta into European Research and Innovation efforts for AI-based language technologies”)

Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2024-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Language Technology and AI are key research priority areas, offering a great variety of new opportunities for digital and technology-enabled communication. This is reflected by the resolution passed by the European Parliament in September 2018 on the importance of language equality. The resolution stresses that smaller and minority languages can benefit from the advancement of Language Technology (LT) and advises making language technology a priority for languages in Member States which are small in size. Maltese falls under this category, being a low-resource language and spoken by c. half a million people in Malta.

At the same time, the University of Malta (UM), being in a widening country, might not always have access to the latest technology and infrastructure to be able to compete in a highly competitive and fast-paced research environment. Nearly all of the tools and resources developed for the Maltese language have been produced by UM with minimal access to funding, resources, knowledge and infrastructure. This makes the research output slow and thus prevents researchers from providing timely outputs of their research in the field of LT. The administrative and research support infrastructure is also limited and academics might not be able to avail themselves of the necessary resources and support that would usually be available in larger countries and universities, which often leads to a reluctance on the academic’s part to engage with such research programmes.

In this context, LT-BRIDGE is a project aimed at integrating the University of Malta (UM), in particular, the Department of AI and the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technologies into the European Research community in the area of AI-based language technologies. This is being done by significantly strengthening the research and networking capacities and reputation aiming to create a European-level Centre of Excellence in the field of AI-Language Technologies in Malta. Thus closing the technological and research gap. The partnership created with the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and Dublin City University’s ADAPT Centre (DCU) will enable UM to achieve its overall goals and objectives.

The project aims to significantly strengthen the research and innovation capacities of UM, as well as boost UM’s reputation in the scientific community with the aim of creating a European-level Centre of Excellence in this field in Malta. It also aims to maximise the research management and administrative capacities of both UM’s research staff and its Research Support office, thus ensuring the sustainable growth of UM as a whole.

Its operational objectives are:

O1: To design and launch a Scientific Strategy for the UM NLP Group, identifying key areas for joint research.
O2: To implement a targeted Research Capacity Building Programme to support and build UM’s scientific excellence, positioning UM as a key institution in the European Language Technology research community.
O3: To improve the long-term prospects of research excellence by investing in young talent and by providing training opportunities to ESRs.
O4: To build the capacity of the innovation and research management skills for the UM research staff through the implementation of a targeted Research Development and Innovation Capacity Building Programme.
O5: To position UM and improve its visibility in the local, regional and European communities as a viable and cross-disciplinary research partner with a strong portfolio of competencies related to AI Language Technology.
O6: To evaluate the impact of the project activities on the research and innovation capacities in accordance with the development of the research directions at UM.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

LT-Bridge has been very active in terms of its activities.
It has developed a scientific strategy that will allow it to continue developing its focused research endeavours for the coming years beyond the project
It has nurtured collaborations between UM and DCU/DFKI with collaboration agreements beyond the project
It has organised 4 shared tasks in total, 1 during the first period and 3 during the second period.
It organised a number of training activities including 3 workshops and 6 webinars (WP2).
It has established a number of connections between UM and LT-Bodies including DARIAH, ELRC, ELRA and ELG
It has also organised two summer schools (T3.2) and three highly specialised workshops (T3.3).
It has organised a number of training activities related to research capacity building and innovation and commercialization under WP4. Of note, 4 projects at UM received training through the innovation and commercialization processes.
UM has been very active in terms of scientific dissemination and produced 35 peer-reviewed publications during LT-Bridge.
UM has also been very active in public engagement, participating in panel discussions, radio and TV interviews, and disseminating through newspaper articles.
Through LT-Bridge, the UM NLP group is in the process of commercialising its Maltese ASR technology and will be releasing it to businesses in Q1 2025.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The LT-BRIDGE project significantly advanced the University of Malta’s integration into the European research landscape, particularly in AI-based language technologies. It aimed to position the university as a leader in low-resource language technology, especially for Maltese. Key advancements include:

Development of Maltese NLP Tools: The project created and enhanced tools for Maltese language processing, including machine translation and speech processing, advancing capabilities for this underrepresented language.

Scientific Collaborations: LT-BRIDGE fostered partnerships with leading European institutions like DFKI and DCU, leading to significant advancements in NLP research, particularly in machine translation and speech recognition.

Research Results: The University of Malta increased its research output, publishing 35 papers, many in collaboration with international partners, solidifying its role in global NLP research.

Shared Tasks and Workshops: The project organized and participated in key shared tasks and workshops, promoting the use of Maltese and other low-resource languages in NLP.

Training and Capacity Building: LT-BRIDGE provided extensive training through workshops, webinars, and summer schools, significantly enhancing the university’s research and innovation capacities.

Commercialization: The project brought four research projects closer to market through training on market identification and investor pitching, notably advancing the Maltese ASR technology.

Commercial Opportunities: The project created tangible commercial opportunities, particularly with the Maltese ASR technology, which is set to serve local and broader markets.

Job Creation: Training programs equipped researchers with advanced skills in NLP and AI, enhancing employability and job creation.

Promotion of Maltese: By developing tools for Maltese, the project contributed to the preservation and digital presence of the language.

Public Awareness: The project raised awareness among policymakers and the public about the importance of language technologies and their potential to drive innovation in Malta.

These outcomes highlight LT-BRIDGE’s contributions to advancing language technologies, supporting socio-economic development, and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity.

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