Focus on Industry Education

Editor’s Note: If you, or your team, are interested in

• globalization testing
• automated translation technology
• terminology
• project management for globalization professionals
• applying globalization standards
• buying/implementing CMS systems
• building high-performance localization teams
• assessing your organization for globalization readiness

Click here for more information on the LISA Skills Workshops to be given in Dublin, Ireland the week of December 8 during the LISA Forum Europe.

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INSIDER: What prompted you to invest your own resources in developing this course?

HIRAM MACHADO: At AdaQuest, we are constantly hiring localization professionals, both Project Managers and Engineers. We interview several people every week, and we come across a lot of good professionals – people with a lot of potential to become good Internationalization/Localization Engineers, but they haven’t had the opportunity to develop enough experience. A few of these candidates whom we could not hire because of a lack of experience or specific knowledge have asked me, “Where can I acquire the knowledge so you can hire me?”

I did not have an answer for these candidates before, so that is why we came up with the idea of creating the boot camp. We looked around first, but there were no organizations teaching localization/internationalization engineering to the level that we required.

INSIDER: What topics will be covered in the first course at the beginning of October?

MACHADO: We will cover the basics first, which include an overview of the concepts and definitions. We will run the students through a typical software localization project workflow, including Glossary Creation, Terminology Management, as well as talk about encoding and industry format standards such as XLIFF. We will also provide an overview of the main tools available for this work today.

In the second part of the course, we will dive into the technical aspects of localization/internationalization engineering – the best practices they should know, from the build process to bug resolution to handling double-byte and bi-di languages. We will also cover the pseudo-translation process, as well as reuse (leveraging and recycling) for both software and help/documentation projects. We have also developed a number of sample applications specifically for this course. Actually, we are creating each application twice: first, according to internationalization best practices, and second, without following any internationalization guidelines. These applications will allow the students to really understand the issue at code-level, rather than just conceptually.

INSIDER: What type of person will benefit most from attending this boot camp?

MACHADO: Various individuals can benefit from such a course. For example, some of the people who have shown interest in the course are technical people currently working on testing or development who would like to enter this field. Others are already Localization Engineers would like to broaden their knowledge and perspective within the field. Also, localization professionals such as Project Managers, Testers and even Linguists who would like to have a better understanding of the engineering challenges surrounding localization projects. Finally, Developers who want to understand how to better develop internationalized software are also expressing interest.

INSIDER: If the first course is a success, what are your plans for the future?

MACHADO: I am confident it will be successful. We have generated a great deal of interest from a wide variety of companies within the marketplace. Classes will begin in October, and our goal is to offer the course on a regular basis. We are also looking into the possibility of bringing this same course to other regions of the country.

INSIDER: AdaQuest is also working with the University of Washington (UW) to restart the localization education initiative there. What is the status of that project?

MACHADO: This is a great initiative! It is a collaborative effort between AdaQuest and several other contributors. We have people on the board from Microsoft, GettyImages, Adobe, Google, Lionbridge, LISA, The Localization Institute, and others. This will be a 9-month certification program that meets once per week. It will cover an introduction to localization, localization engineering and localization project management. The board is currently working with the UW on the curriculum, and we plan to start offering the course in the fall of 2009.

INSIDER: If our readers are interested in taking the course, what should they do? What if they’re interested in being an instructor for you?

MACHADO: We welcome both students and instructors to sign up with us. As we expand the regions in which we will offer the course, we will be hiring additional instructors. Students are welcome to call AdaQuest at +1 (425) 284-7800 or to sign up online by clicking here.

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Hiram Machado, President of AdaQuest, Inc. has over 14 years of experience in the localization industry as a Localization Engineer, Solutions Architect, Internationalization Program Manager and Director of Process Improvement Worldwide with companies such as Microsoft, Bowne Global Solutions and LionBridge.