News

As Gail Kent (Director of Data, DG Connect) already stated in our ELRC impression video, “languages are at the heart of who we are”. Language is important to all of us. It allows us to express our feelings, to build relationships and to exchange information. Without language, there would be no literature, no documented history – and no romantic love letters.

“English is tough… but it can be taught through thorough thought though”– Did you understand that at first sight? Neither did we! On 24 September, the ELRC Technology Workshop “Simplify Language – Capture Audience” put a spotlight on how to achieve text simplification and create easy-to-understand language in order to support social inclusion and improve accessibility of information. The record number of more than 170 registrations proved that this topic matters to many of us.

AI Watch: The importance of LT in national AI Strategies in Europe

In 2018, the European Commission adopted the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence that was developed together with the Member States to maximise the impact of investments at European Union (EU) and national levels, on the one hand, and to encourage synergies and cooperation across the EU, on the other hand.

European Commission publishes results of SME survey on multilingual websites

Between March and May 2021, the European Commission (EC) invited small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from across Europe to participate in a survey on multilingual websites. Organised and promoted by DG CNECT in cooperation with DG GROW, the open consultation aimed to shed some light on the SMEs’ current interests, needs and existing solutions when it comes to website translation. In total, more than 1000 respondents shared their views and expectations with the EC, with the majority representing South and Central European Member States, such as Italy (37.9% of the respondents), Poland (12.0%) and Spain (10.5%).

Dear Readers of the ELRC Newsletter,

Welcome back from a hopefully nice and relaxing summer break! Now that almost everyone is back in the office, the next ELRC Country Workshops are already around the corner: on 29 September, we will first travel to Romania, then we will head to France on 20 October.