Main Content
Boston 2005
Localization for the Next Millennium
Managing Emerging Opportunities and Challenges
Radisson Hotel, Boston, MA, USA
23-27 May 2005
Globalization in the twenty-first century is no longer just about translation and localization. Effective globalization requires an awareness of technologies and how they are adapted around the world, and the ability to differentiate products from competition that can come from anywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe. Even as new technologies provide emerging opportunities for companies looking to go global, they also disrupt our ability to conduct business in accustomed channels. Technologies such as search and on-line auctions require new directions in globalization efforts. Content Management Systems have yet to be fully integrated into localization processes, and emerging XML-based technologies that promise to dramatically reduce documentation costs will require their own localization processes. On-demand translation will become increasingly important in a world where content can be accessed anywhere by anyone.
As companies integrate their domestic and global business practices, issues of process and change management will become even more important than in the past. If companies are to succeed in a globalized market place, they need to develop and implement processes and technologies that will support these global markets, and deliver benefits to end users, regardless of language or location. While the technical support for such large-scale business is coming into full implementation, human factors and resistance to change are often greater hurdles, and only an understanding of the requirements of global business and experience with how to meet these demands can help workers and implementers make appropriate decisions and fully embrace the global perspective.
A special session is being run on Tuesday, May 24th for organizations with a presence in more than one country that are investigating how to integrate global translation management systems into their current information technology landscape. For example, attendees of this session will learn how company offerings from Idiom, GlobalSight, Trados and SDL among others interface with content management, general leger and internet security systems. Participants will obtain a clear set of instructions enabling them to make well informed buying decisions concerning enterprise content management and the professional services accompanying these systems.
The LISA Global Strategies Summit in Boston will provide attendees with the latest perspective on how to implement global business, both at the high level needed for management, and at the practical level needed to make company mandates happen. Attendees will acquire a greater understanding of global requirements, strategies for implementation, and a vision of what the future of global business holds.
The Globalization Landscape: Customer Inhibitors, Opportunities and Outlook
Susan Mills - Globalization Executive and Director, User Technologies, IBM
The business world is changing faster and more unpredictably than ever. Markets are expanding worldwide, creating economic interdependencies, global operations, workforce mobility and global regulations. To stay competitive, businesses need to adapt and to achieve the speed, flexibility and resilience to handle whatever the market requires next on a worldwide basis. Customers require a strategy and an IT infrastructure that will support their global business goals and eliminate roadblocks that prevent them from maximizing the value of their business. To help customers be “On Demand” global businesses, we must listen to them, and we must be able to Sense and Respond.
The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
Dave Schell - Program Director, Information Development, IBM
The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based architecture supported by schemas and DTDs that enable the authoring, production and delivery of technical information. This presentation will introduce the business value of DITA, the reason it was developed and why you should be interested in DITA. It will serve as a high-level introduction to DITA architecture, which sets forth a set of design principles for creating information-typed modules at a topic level that deliver content in various formats, such as online help and product support portals on the Web.
Global Readiness for Localized Voice Applications
Arta Doci - Localization Software Engineer, Avaya Inc.
Global readiness has become an important objective for many IT companies, and much effort is being applied to develop products that can be launched simultaneously in several markets. This presentation focuses on the localization element of globalization for IT products that contain voice applications. With the rapid increase of voice applications and with Voice over IP (VoIP) taking over, more attention is being given to the localization of voice applications. However, it poses more challenges than does text localization. This presentation addresses the issues associated with localizing voice applications and proposes appropriate quality assurance criteria.
Automated Translation Systems or, How to Manage Global Content Efficiently
Alison Toon - Translation and Localization Manager, HP
Andrew Draheim - Consultant, World Bank Group
Two of the industry’s early adopters of GCMS products are collaborating to educate clients who are buying and implementing these systems. Besides offering concrete advice, our co-chair will offer a report on the LISA GCMS Workshop initiative covering workflow and language processing issues. The session’s goal is to help attendees understand how to develop a tool kit with guidelines for solving common user and technical problems like SOWs, user acceptance, firewall issues, etc.
Localization Project Management Basics
Willem Stoeller - VP Globalization, Welocalize
Managing localization projects requires internal and external readiness. This presentation provides localization basics for new or relatively inexperienced buyers of localization services, including (1) is my company ready for global software? (2) is my software ready for localization? (3) how much of the localization process do I want to outsource? (4) should I use professional localization vendors or my resellers/distributors for localization? (5) how do I select a vendor? (6) what roles do TM and other localization technologies play? (7) what are the major pitfalls of a localization project?
Open Standards: How XML and DITA work managing multiple-language content creation and distribution
Dave Schell - Program Director, Information Development, IBM
Bill Rabkin - WorldServer Product Evangelist, Idiom Technologies
Nancy Harrison - Information Architect / GILT Specialist, IBM
Andrzej Zydroń - CTO, XML Intl Ltd.
Why Globalize?
Sandy McKethan - Globalization Project Manager, IBM
As Globalization means different things to different people these days, some questions need to be addressed. How are economic and software globalization inextricably intertwined? How does the one enable the other? Indeed, why globalize software at all? What are the challenges involved, especially for Localization Project Managers? This presentation attempts to answer these questions from a high level perspective, emphasizing the importance of early engagement by Globalization in the product development cycle.
From Professional Certification to Corporate Accreditation: Moving the Industry Forward
Johanne Boucher - Manager, American Express Canada Translation Services and President of AILIA
Jocelyne Doyle-Rodrigue - Director, Canadian Government Translation Bureau
By region and by customer, professional certification is well-established for translators, terminologists, interpreters and instructors of English and French as a Second Language in Canada. However, no accreditation system exists for translation or localization companies, nor for language schools. AILIA, together with Industry Canada (part of the Canadian Federal Government) and the two largest language school associations in the country, has developed a process to allow the creation of a single, national set of standards for language schools. The panelists will discuss how this model process might be adapted to the translation/localization industry to enable it to more easily establish a set of standards for company operations worldwide. As customers of localization and translation services, they will demonstrate the applicability of this model to government and institutional buyers seeking a common set of guidelines from which to manage their service partners and deliverables.
Global Content Management: Real-world Models for Success
Moderated by Greg Rosner - VP US Business, thebigword
Gitte Christensen - International Web Strategist, BMC Software
Lee Carroll - Developer, British Airways
Michael Witt - Executive VP & CTO, GE Advanced Materials/Kinetic
Kurt Pulham - Electronic Marketing Manager, Novell
Alison Toon - Translation and Localization Manager, HP
What is the Global Content Challenge for your organization and how do you get the job done? How much time and money did it cost to implement your translation workflow? What were the cost and timing tipping points for you in making the decision to implement your solution? How does your organization deal with translation memory? Where have you drawn the lines of responsibility for your implementation? Does your organization extend the use of their CMS via SOAP Web Services?
These open questions and more will be discussed and debated among a panel of experts who are using various methods for managing their global content. Panelists will each show screenshots of their content and their process and talk about why they think it works for their company. Participants will have the opportunity to question and challenge the best practice and leading-edge methods presented. Attendees will walk away from this session with a reality-check of how companies are managing their content today and what possibilities exist for distributing their global content faster, at the highest level of quality and at the lowest cost.
Globalization Career Planning
Michael Klinger - Globalization Division Manager, COMSYS
Marcia Sweezey - Manager of Localization & Editing, Kronos Inc.
This presentation will cover career opportunities within the globalization industry. Kronos Inc. will describe the globalization positions they have utilized over time, and how they have impacted their bottom line. COMSYS will discuss careers in the Globalization sector, including recent trends/opportunities.
Website Google-ization - Localizing for Search Engines
Curt Porritt - CEO, 10X Marketing
The ultimate goal of every international web site is to achieve a steady stream of relevant, international traffic that leads to more revenue. This presentation will demonstrate how to generate more traffic to global web sites as part of the normal localization process. GILT vendors will learn how to provide additional value to their clients. GILT clients will learn how to greatly enhance the return on investment from their localized web sites.
According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in April of 2004, over 40% of all revenue generated from the internet originates from search engines - by far the largest single source of online revenue. In addition, as of September of 2004, 64.2% of the global online population was non-English speaking, up from 57% in 2001 (source: glreach.com). Approximately 90% of all internet users worldwide use search engines (source: NFO/Research). Google, the world’s most popular search engine, now allows internet users to perform both linguistic and geographic-specific searches in more than 30 different languages and almost 70 different countries.
Given these remarkable trends, it’s time for the GILT community to start localizing web sites with search engines in mind. Just as internationalization should be a precursor to all localization activities, international search engine optimization or iSEO should now be considered equally important to web site localization. A localized web site’s ability to generate new traffic from the internet will be greatly enhanced by identifying important search terms that people use on a regular basis and incorporating them into the translation process. Choosing proper terminology is no longer purely a linguistic issue. It is a highly valuable marketing tool that will enable search engines to properly index and rank international web sites for language or country-specific searches, thus bringing a continuous flow of highly qualified traffic to each localized web site.
Results of the 2005 Global Software Survey
Arle Lommel - Publications Manager, LISA
Sandy McKethan - Globalization Project Manager, IBM
As software developers take their products to international markets, they are often faced with a lack of information to assist them in strategic planning. Taking Software to the World: Results of the LISA 2005 Global Software Survey, recently released by LISA, provides the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the issues affecting business users of localized software. Some of the results match with conventional wisdom (for example, English is by far the most important language for international business), while others do not (translation errors may generally be a nuisance rather than a real problem, but they affect product loyalty as much or more so than more serious functional problems). It is only when organizations understand the factors affecting use and sales, including those that are never reported back to them by end-users, that they can implement strategies to increase international market share.
In this session, Arle Lommel, author of the survey report, and Sandy McKethan of IBM, who was instrumental in the development of the survey, will present an overview of the survey results and discuss some of the most important findings that have implications for how organizations, both localization providers and clients, should approach the development of international strategies and the development of international software. McKethan will also discuss the importance of the survey from a Globalization Project Manager’s perspective.
Designing Culturally Customized Web Sites: The Next Localization Frontier
Dr. Nitish Singh - Associate Professor of Marketing, California State University, Chico
Do you want to effectively tap global online markets? Would you like your international web sites to be easy to navigate, culturally consistent and appealing to your international online customers? Then you must go beyond translation and localization to embrace cultural customization. This presentation will provide practical guidelines on how to design culturally customized web sites that resonate with the cultural context of target countries.
Our research over the past five years, across more than 10 countries and 900 companies, has shown that cultural customization of web sites leads to higher ease-of-use, a better attitude toward the sites and higher purchase levels. Attendees will learn (1) how to effectively target international online customers and (2) how companies are culturally customizing their international web sites. They will also be provided with a powerful cultural customization tool to effectively customize their web sites for different countries.
Client Case Study: Increasing Automotive Content Translation Productivity Using Integrated Content Management, Translation Management and Translation Automation
Patrick McGinnis - Director, Business Development, Tweddle Litho
As a market leader in the production of published literature for the automotive industry, Tweddle Litho faces continued time and cost reduction demands from its customers. To increase productivity across the content authoring, management, translation and publishing processes, the company has implemented XyEnterprise Content@ integrated with SDL technologies and services. This includes a recent move to the SDL Knowledge-based Translation System for automating the translation of highly technical automotive documentation into multiple languages. This presentation describes how the company plans to increase translation productivity by 30% or more.
XML and Localization
Yves Savourel - Localization Solutions Architect, ENLASO Corporation
Andrzej Zydroń - CTO, XML Intl Ltd.
This presentation discusses from different viewpoints how XML can be used in the localization process. It looks first at the different aspects that make XML attractive for localization tasks and explores the various ways to take advantage of XML during a localization project. The session also discusses how to translate XML documents (simple or complex ones) and how to overcome some of the challenges XML-enabled translation tools still offer. Attendees will gain a broad overview of XML with regard to localization, and see concrete demonstrations on how to use XML in localization, as well as how to localize XML data. They will understand how XML can help them cut costs and improve turnaround and quality, and they will be able to apply this to their own localization processes.
Simship Software: Critical success and scalability factors
Yan Fang - Manager, Localization Program Management, EMC Corporation
Three years and 300 simship releases later, EMC still loves simshipping. This presentation will cover the business drivers and benefits; how to integrate the simship process into the organization; and how to achieve scalability.
Rainbow Localization Tools
Yves Savourel - Localization Solutions Architect, ENLASO Corporation
This presentation will demonstrate one possible way of developing and using a set of in-house localization tools. Rainbow is a set of freeware localization utilities that has been used in the localization community for several years. It promotes the use of open source standards such as TMX and XLIFF, and enhances commercial tools. The session will cover tools architecture, along with the common APIs used to connect to multiple filters and utilities. The use of standards such as Unicode and XML to increase interoperability will also be discussed. A series of concrete examples will be provided to illustrate how the tool can help software and localization engineers in their localization-related tasks.
Client Case Study: The 4 Traps to Avoid When Implementing XML and Content Management Systems
Dan Dube - Director, Business Development, Innodata Isogen
Frank ter Reehorst - Director, Business Development, Scriptware
Does your organization have the right mindset to leverage migration to XML into an opportunity to realize cost savings and greater efficiencies? Are you aware of the pitfalls that often plague companies that deploy new content management systems? Do you know why more than 80% of all enterprise content management system implementations fail? The answers to these questions may help your organization turn your XML migration strategy into a competitive advantage. This session will offer a business-oriented approach to maximizing your investment in XML and content management. It will also cover real-life case studies from global manufacturers in several different industries.
The Impact of Culture & Language in Global Marketing
Gregory Zaretsky - CEO, One Planet Corporation
Every GILT services company is global by nature, and it competes with similar companies worldwide. This presentation will help these companies better understand what they can control and what they cannot when going global. It will also outline the primary marketing drivers for global corporations and will prepare GILT services companies to provide valuable advice to their clients on cross-cultural issues.
How to Validate International Readiness and Eliminate Costly Internationalization Errors
Ron Pipe - Director, International Engineering, Witness Systems
Internationalization errors that are found too late in the development process, or even during localization itself, cause cost increases, time delays and quality issues. What can be done to eliminate these early on in the development cycle? How do you ensure that new features or the modification/fixing of existing ones still adhere to defined internationalization standards? And how do you increase the overall quality of your global product? These issues, and more, will be covered in this presentation.
Internationalization Readiness Partner Program
Benson Margulies - COO and CTO, Basis Technology
How to Handle Voice-Over Projects
Tolga Secilmis - Business Development Manager, ES Ltd
There is an ever-increasing demand for voice-over projects. This presentation will cover localizing audio and video files and working with voice-over talents in a professional recording studio environment. The presentation will also include audio and video samples from previous localization projects for broadcasting, movies, online training and multimedia.
How Global Companies Can Close the Globalization Gap with DITA
Bill Rabkin - WorldServer Product Evangelist, Idiom Technologies
This presentation addresses the business implications of using DITA in the context of the global content lifecycle. Real-world examples drawn from Idiom customer and prospect experiences will be given and the acceleration of time-to-market, improving content quality and reducing costs will be discussed.
LTC Communicator - a Multilingual eCommunication Tool
Tracey Byrne - Sales Manager, Language Technology Centre
This presentation will cover the functionality and several application areas of LTC Communicator, a multilingual eCommunication software system. LTC Communicator can be used for multilingual email management, web-based multilingual helpdesk facilities, multilingual/multimodal eLearning requirements, and multilingual interaction between tourists, tour guides and tour operators using mobile technology and location-based services.
Authoring for Translation
Terry Lawlor - VP Worldwide Marketing, SDL International
As companies increase their activities across global markets, their localization processes grow more complex. Optimization of the documentation process starts with correct authoring techniques. A look at some of the options in this field and a preview of new SDL technologies will be presented.
Challenges in Localization into Eastern European Languages
Zoltan Rasko - Project Manager & Language Lead, Skrivanek Translation Services
Most software UI on the market today is built with English in mind. This presentation will provide insights into how to overcome the challenges presented by localizing into Eastern European languages. They include knowing the background and identifying the special characteristics of a language, as well as the crucial differences in linguistic approach between source and target languages.
Multilingual Publishing: How Do You Manage All Those Languages? A Real-Life Success Story
Bret Freeman - Eastern Regional Sales Manager, Vasont Systems
Content Management is a multi-faceted proposition. There are many concerns and much up-front planning involved in selecting and implementing a new system. When that system also has to manage multiple languages, the selection process becomes much more complex because multilingual content management brings a whole new set of requirements and many new challenges that are often overlooked. In this presentation, valuable insights and lessons learned from an actual multilingual content management implementation at a Fortune 500 manufacturer will be shared. The challenges associated with managing content in multiple languages, along with various strategies and ROI approaches will be discussed.
