The good news is that machine translation (MT) is definitely ready for “prime time.” With payback periods of seven months or less and ROI’s in excess of 500%, it is now time for companies to seriously consider the MT option, according to Jaap van der Meer of Cross Language N.V. This article provides a snapshot of solutions for automated multilingual communications on (1) corporate Intranets and (2) Extranets and in (3) translation production environments. ROI calculations for real-life scenarios are also included.

Fifty Years of MT… This Time the Breakthrough Is for Real

Machine Translation (MT) has long been a controversial topic, the source of illusions, jokes and even serious disputes. But nothing has stopped people from believing in its ability to help us cross the language barrier. Research and development in fully automatic translation has been carried out for fifty years. At regular intervals, researchers from Japan, the USA, Russia, Germany, France, the Netherlands and other countries have heralded the big breakthrough.

This time the breakthrough is real. While academics debate linguistic and statistical approaches to MT, organizations in the public and private sectors are putting it to work. Companies like Cisco, Oracle, SAP, Océ, Fortis A.G., DaimlerChrysler, IBM and Ford see tremendous benefits in MT, as well as rapid returns on investment. The breakthrough is market-driven rather than technical: MT is not perfect, but it has become an economic necessity. We must learn how to use it and how to optimize its benefits in practical business environments. This article provides a snapshot of solutions for automated multilingual communications on corporate Intranets and Extranets and in translation production environments.