Research Overview
The research objectives of the proposed Centre are to produce substantial advances in the basic and applied research underpinning the design, implementation and evaluation of the blueprints for the Next Generation Localisation Factory based on novel Language and Digital Content Management Technologies meeting the challenges of Volume, Access and Personalisation.
The Next Generation Localisation Factory will develop, implement and evaluate processing models for Enterprise Localisation (EL) and Personalised Localisation (EL), with a longer term vision to merge the two in a single unified localisation model (UL). Enterprise Localisation deals with off-line, large-scale, forseeable (often technical) content (manuals etc.) and predictable users and information requests. By contrast, Personalised Localisation deals with on-line, instant interactions with unpredictable users, information requests and information sources (such as those provided via interaction with the WWW). In order to meet the combined challenges of Volume, Access and Personalisation, the Next Generation Localisation Factory will be highly automated, maximising the use of novel integrated language and digital content management technologies for translation, annotation for process automation, quality assurance and non-keyboard-based mobile access devices. For Personalised Localisation, the Next Generation Localisation Factory will overlay traditional notions of linguistic, cultural and geographical locales with social and personal identities cutting across linguistic and geographical boundaries. The Next Generation Localisation Factory will maximise the use of Information Retrieval/Extraction and Adaptive Hypermedia technologies to develop and manage Personalised Localisation. The Next Generation Localisation Factory will be distributed and virtual: it will be accessed from sites distributed across the globe and its processing and management engines will be virtual and software-based.
The Next Generation Localisation Factory can only be realised by a multidisciplinary research team working in close cooperation: the Centre therefore integrates a unique combination of basic and applied research expertise from Language Technologies (text, speech, machine translation), Digital Content Management (multilingual information retrieval and extraction, adaptive hypermedia), Systems Architecture (language technology-focused software engineering), Localisation (standards, workflows) and Industry Partners (Language Technology, Localisation and Content Distribution) to design, implement and evaluate the Next Generation Localisation Factory. The Centre's is based on two horizontal, basic research tracks-Integrated Language Technologies (ILT) and Digital Content Management (DCM)-and two vertical, applied research integration projects-Next Generation Localisation (LOC) and Systems Framework (SF).
