Globalization Insider

In this issue…

Flowing with the Stream where the Market Matters • Michael Anobile & Deborah Fry
Director’s letter • Michael Anobile
LISA Profiles: Marc Jonckers • Marc Jonckers
Planning New Investments and New Businesses in the Globalization Service Sector • Raymond P. Kasbarian, Managing Director, iCAP Global Inc.
Money Talks • John Freivalds, Managing Director of JFA
High-Quality Translation • Robin Bonthrone and Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone Partnerschaft
XML and the Localization Process • Dan Dube, Lighthouse Solutions, Inc.
The Backbone of Your Business • François Roy, GENER-X

LISA Profiles: Marc Jonckers

Marc Jonckers

In a time when many SMEs are seeking to reposition themselves to meet current challenges, LISA is turning its attention to a relative newcomer to the field. In the last three years and without external funding, Marc Jonckers has built up a localization group comprising 65 people, as well as acquiring a major stake in an IT company with 100 people. Since 1998, Jonckers Translation & Engineering, which started in the medical translation and content publishing markets, has set up or acquired localization production centers in Europe, the US and Asia, as well as broadening its range of services to include its own localization tools and value-added outsourcing.

Date and place of birth? Brussels, Belgium, December 29, 1960

Greatest professional success? Still to come!

Greatest professional mistake? At the beginning of my career, underestimating the importance of the human factor in the success of a company.

Most embarrassing professional moment? In Dublin, arriving one hour late at an important meeting at Microsoft because the taxi driver couldn’t find the place…

Most likely to say? Fantastic!

Least likely to say? I’m bored.

What do you like most about the business? The people and their creativity.

What do you like least about the business? Hype.

Who do you most admire, and why? In this industry, I have a special regard for Frans Bruinsma from Compaq EMEA, both for his personal values and his professional competence.

Generally speaking, I would definitely say my wife for being an skilled business manager, a wonderful mother and a fantastic partner.

What keeps you awake at night? My daughter—she’s 18 months old.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out? Be passionate and have a plan.

What is your favorite industry fantasy? I have several:

To have a machine translation algorithm capable of handling properly a sentence like ‘I can fly’ without contextual information.
To be able to use CAT on marketing material with good quality output.
To have localization considered as added-value.

Where will the industry be in five years’ time? I rather think that software development will undergo radical changes in the coming years. So will the Internet, or better said, the ‘after-Internet’. I believe that the Internet is just an intermediate stage between yesterday and tomorrow. For the localization industry, if it still exists, this will definitely mean new ways of handling products and services. In a nutshell, this means specialization.

If I had my time over again, I would… Do exactly what I did up to now. I don’t regret anything, and the mistakes I have made have helped me become a better person.

How would you like to be remembered? That is a difficult question! Probably as a man of good will.

Marc Jonckers
Jonckers Translation & Engineering
Te.l: +32-2-663-50-19
Fax: +32-2-6720-80-19
Mobile: +32-75-32-26-70
E-mail: marc.jonckers@jonckers.be