- What is the LTRC?
- What are language technologies?
- Who are the LTRC's partners?
- How is the LTRC linked with its partners?
- How can the linkages between the LTRC and its partners benefit the Centre’s clientele (researchers, students, and enterprises that are using or creating language technologies)?
- What are the benefits of having the LTRC as a partner?
- What is the LTRC's mission?
- In what areas does the LTRC focus its research?
- What are the unique features of the LTRC?
- What does the LTRC offer to researchers?
- What does the LTRC offer to companies that are developing language technology applications?
- What does the LTRC offer to students?
- What does the LTRC offer to those who are planning to launch a business in language technologies?
- Who may submit a proposal to the LTRC?
- How does one submit a proposal to the LTRC?
- What happens next if a project is accepted?
- What is the LTRC?
Located in Gatineau, on the campus of the Université du Québec en Outaouais, the LTRC is an independent, not-for-profit organization that undertakes research and development in language technologies. The LTRC brings together under one roof the knowledge and skills of a critical mass of language and technology experts: researchers, academics, entrepreneurs and government specialists.
The LTRC acts as a technology centre for the language industry. It aims to become a world leader in research and development in the field of language technologies.
- What are language technologies?
Language technologies are computer-based tools for processing oral and written information, regardless of the language used. They encompass:
- multilingual text processing (e.g., machine translation, translation and revision assistance, and information retrieval);
- management of information from multilingual texts (e.g., automatic indexing and synthesis, information search from one language to another, document classification);
- support for language training (e.g., evaluation of language knowledge level, tools to assist in writing and reading, pronunciation coaching);
- speech processing (e.g., voice recognition, biometric voice identification, text-to-speech and speech-to-text conversion).
- Who are the LTRC's partners?
The LTRC was established by a partnership of three organizations:
- the Translation Bureau;
- the National Research Council Canada; and
- the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
The LTRC works with these partners on a daily basis.
The LTRC also collaborates with several partners in the language industry and in the field of economic development:
- Industry Canada;
- Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions;
- ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation du Québec;
- the City of Gatineau's Corporation de développement économique;
- the Association de l'industrie de la langue / Language Industry Association (AILIA).
The LTRC has close links with all of these organizations, ensuring solid support for its activities in terms of development and strategic positioning. Through these partners, the LTRC also has access to those who use the technologies developed at the Centre.
- How is the LTRC linked with its partners?
The Translation Bureau is one of the founding members of the LTRC and participates in the work of its committees. The Bureau is involved in proposing, supporting and approving research projects (Scientific Committee) and takes an active role in decision-making (Board of Directors) and in establishing the LTRC’s strategic directions (Strategic Steering Committee).
The National Research Council Canada (NRC), through its Institute for Information Technology, is one of the LTRC’s main collaborators, along with the Université du Québec en Outaouais and the Translation Bureau. The NRC’s Interactive Language Technologies Group was created in 2003 after receipt of funding through the Government of Canada’s Action Plan for Official Languages, to increase research and development in language technologies and thus to support the LTRC’s objectives.
NRC is actively involved in several LTRC committees and sits on its Board of Directors. In addition to its technological expertise, NRC supports technological development in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). An IRAP advisor’s office is located in the LTRC building, which facilitates direct consultation with businesses working in the language technologies sector.
The Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) is also a founding partner of the LTRC, and it has contributed substantial resources to the development of the Centre. The UQO has taken the lead in obtaining the funding necessary for constructing the building that houses the Centre. UQO representatives are active on various LTRC committees (Board of Directors, Strategic Planning Committee and Scientific Committee). Some 15 professors are associated with the LTRC and are conducting research activities at the LTRC or in related fields. The UQO Foundation also provided funding for the Centre’s start-up and continues to provide support.
As stated in the Government of Canada’s Action Plan for Official Languages, Industry Canada is piloting the federal branding initiative for the Canadian language industry, both within Canada and internationally. This initiative complements that of the LTRC. Industry Canada maintains close linkages with the LTRC and provides valuable support to ensure the Centre’s long-term viability.
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) is an important donor to the LTRC, having contributed $9.1 million for the construction of the building that houses the Centre. Through its business office in Gatineau, CED works with a clientele that is composed primarily of SMEs (including social economy enterprises), not-for-profit organizations and communities. Its mandate to support the development of SMEs is directly relevant to the LTRC and the SMEs associated with the Centre’s projects.
In addition to its financial contribution of $5.75 million to the LTRC building, the ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation du Québec supports the ACCORD project. The aims of this project include branding various regions of Quebec as centres for specific industrial skills, recognized in North America and around the world. The project is based on regional collaboration and targets language technologies as an emerging sector in the Ottawa Valley region.
The City of Gatineau’s Corporation de développement économique is working with the LTRC to create a language technologies cluster in the Gatineau region.
The Centre de développement d’entreprises technologiques in Gatineau supports the development of the LTRC through its international reach and its leverage with SMEs located in Gatineau and elsewhere in the province of Quebec that are seeking to develop or strengthen their export capacity.
While the LTRC undertakes and encourages research, development and technology transfer activities in the language industry, the Association de l'industrie de la langue / Language Industry Association (AILIA) for its part seeks to increase competitiveness among enterprises and to promote industry stakeholders in Canada and internationally. Together the LTRC and AILIA are working to highlight the value of the Canadian language industry.
The LTRC and RALI (Recherche appliquée en linguistique informatique), the Université de Montréal’s laboratory for Applied Research in Computational Linguistics, share the same vision on several important issues related to automatic language processing. Several researchers associated with the LTRC have worked with RALI in the past, which helps to maintain a natural synergy between the two organizations. Recently, the RALI and NRC collaborated on a joint project at the LTRC to develop a tool that enables users to automatically locate potential translation errors. Begun in September 2004, the project, called TransCheck, was completed in November 2005. It is currently in the prototype phase.
The expertise and knowledge of CRIM (Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal) (automatic speech recognition) complement those of NRC (language processing in texts). The two organizations collaborated on joint projects before the LTRC was created, and LTRC can benefit from this ongoing synergy in technological development.
- How can the linkages between the LTRC and its partners benefit the Centre’s clientele (researchers, students, and enterprises that are using or creating language technologies)?
The mandate of the Translation Bureau is to provide translation, terminology and interpretation services to various levels of government in Canada. It brings practical and essential experience to the work of language professionals. In this way, its contribution complements that of the researchers at the National Research Council Canada and the educators at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. The Bureau is able to target concrete needs in these fields, which can broaden the scope for the other participants (e.g., multilingual chat or revision memory) and allow better service to researchers, students, and developers or users of language technology solutions. Through the Bureau, researchers working with the LTRC gain access to the contents of TERMIUM and to text corpora through the central archiving system, two important tools for their work.
With the National Research Council Canada, the LTRC can offer an environment where participants’ skills and experience are complementary. This environment is rich and diversified in terms of skills and effective in terms of the development of innovative technologies leading to competitive new products and services.
For the Université du Québec en Outaouais, the LTRC creates a skills base on the university campus and provides an excellent entry point for its clients. This gives the industry effective access to the skills of the various partners, as well as access to the synergy between these various skills (e.g., language studies and computer science). The LTRC plays a role in skills integration.
The projects undertaken at the LTRC benefit from Industry Canada’s efforts to brand the Canadian language industry both nationally and internationally.
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions offers assistance programs to innovative firms to support the commercialization of technologies and the start-up of new enterprises.
Quebec’s ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE) supports regional and economic development, research, and innovation by promoting coordination and collaboration between economic, scientific, social and cultural fields. The aim is to contribute to job creation, economic prosperity, scientific and sustainable development, as well as locally and regionally driven community development through community–government partnerships.
In 2003, the ACCORD project, which is supported by the MDEIE, identified language technologies as a niche of excellence in the Gatineau region. This approach aims at increasing economic activity in the region by helping to position it in North American and global markets.
The Centre de développement d’entreprises technologiques promotes the LTRC within its network and presents possible research projects. It may eventually initiate international agreements.
The Association de l'industrie de la langue / Language Industry Association (AILIA) achieves exceptional visibility, both nationally and internationally, for technologies developed in Canada. AILIA participates in various fairs and language industry events, and it produces and distributes promotional materials for the industry. The Association also helps technology developers to access potential users for their development projects (e.g., translation firms and language schools that are members of AILIA).
Many of the LTRC’s clients could benefit from the results of joint projects carried out by RALI (Recherche appliquée en linguistique informatique), the Université de Montréal’s laboratory for Applied Research in Computational Linguistics, and the LTRC. These clients range from researchers seeking complementary expertise and skills to commercial enterprises that could potentially market the resulting technologies.
CRIM has worked with many researchers, enterprises and developers in the language industry, notably with researchers at the National Research Council Canada, RALI and language technology enterprises. Collaboration at the scientific level is thus greatly facilitated.
- What are the benefits of having the LTRC as a partner?
Translation Bureau – "The Bureau can identify concrete needs based on the rich and unique day-to-day experience of language professionals. These needs can improve the direction of research projects and at the same time lead to interesting solutions in the field of language technologies. Workable solutions could, over time, translate into viable commercial products (through partnerships with the private sector) and could have an impact for the Bureau, as well as for the entire translation industry."
National Research Council Canada – "The involvement of a research group within a broader collaborative team is advantageous, particularly when efforts are complementary. The presence at the LTRC of researchers and users, as well as the links with the language technologies industry, make it possible to undertake projects that have the potential to generate benefits sooner. Also, the mission of the LTRC helps focus R&D and technology transfer efforts in the language technologies sector."
Université du Québec en Outaouais – "The LTRC facilitates collaboration with other researchers in industry and public agencies, creating a mobilizing effect to combine key skills and create centres of excellence. Another major contribution of the LTRC is the transfer of knowledge and technologies from the university to industry and users. In effect, the LTRC is a springboard for the development of applications based on knowledge and technologies developed by the university."
Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation du Québec – "The LTRC is part of an emerging technology centre for the language industry, located in Gatineau. It will greatly facilitate and contribute to networking among researchers, academics and entrepreneurs. At the heart of a growing sector of the economy, this group of researchers and experts will stimulate investment in Quebec’s public and private sectors, and foster spinoff enterprises."
Association de l'industrie de la langue / Language Industry Association (AILIA) – "By promoting synergy among the stakeholders and helping to establish a critical mass of enterprises working in the language industry, we are strengthening Canada’s position as a world leader in leading-edge technologies."
Centre de développement d’entreprises technologiques (CDET) – "The LTRC is a powerful development tool that confirms the language industry as a sector of excellence in the region. By supporting the LTRC, the CDET is contributing to the economic growth of an important sector in the Gatineau region."
Laboratoire de Recherche appliquée en linguistique informatique (RALI) – "We have identified two things: first, the possibility of working with highly qualified researchers at the LTRC and second, a certain level of funding support."
- What is the LTRC's mission?
The LTRC's mission is to carry out and promote research, development and technology transfer activities in language technologies, in the form of collaborations among academia, governments, associations and industry. In this way, the LTRC contributes to the advancement of knowledge and works to benefit the Canadian language industry.
- In what areas does the LTRC focus its research?
Technologies developed at the LTRC are intended to:
- increase productivity in translation, in the creation of multilingual and multicultural texts, and in language training;
- facilitate textual information management and information retrieval in many languages;
- promote the development of standards in terminology, quality control and linguistic databases.
- What are the unique features of the LTRC?
The LTRC offers:
- a unique environment that brings together researchers, academics, entrepreneurs and specialists from all three levels of government;
- facilities located near government resources and a source of potential users in the National Capital Region;
- a collection of internationally recognized research and development teams.
- What does the LTRC offer to researchers?
The LTRC offers researchers:
- leading-edge research infrastructure, including extensive terminological databases and the archives of the Translation Bureau of Canada;
- a pool of advanced students and trainees;
- specialists in intellectual property management and the commercialization of research;
- funding leverage, as well as expertise in approaching partners and primary funding agencies.
- What does the LTRC offer to companies that are developing language technology applications?
The LTRC offers companies:
- researchers and experts who can help with project conceptualization and implementation, if desired;
- leading-edge research infrastructure, including extensive terminological databases and the archives of the Translation Bureau of Canada;
- a pool of advanced students and trainees to help implement projects and maximize their impact;
- funding leverage, advice to help identify funding sources, and expertise to support further activities with our partners and primary funding agencies;
- specialists in intellectual property management, marketing and the development of language technology enterprises;
- a secure setting for conducting language technology projects or launching a business in this field.
- What does the LTRC offer to students?
The LTRC offers students:
- interesting and instructive research projects;
- an opportunity to network with internationally recognized researchers and experts;
- leading-edge research infrastructure, including extensive terminological databases and the archives of the Translation Bureau of Canada;
- an opportunity to gain practical experience in research and development.
- What does the LTRC offer to those who are planning to launch a language technology enterprise?
The LTRC acts as a business incubator. It provides a secure setting, at a reasonable cost, with direct access to government agencies in the National Capital Region, which are potential sources of both financial and technical assistance.
- Who may submit a proposal to the LTRC?
Canadian individuals, businesses and organizations may submit research project proposals to the LTRC.
- How does one submit a proposal to the LTRC?
First, you must submit your idea to the LTRC's Strategic Steering Committee by contacting the LTRC's director general, whose contact information can be found on the Contact Us page. The Committee is composed of representatives from LTRC partner organizations, who will assess your idea and determine if it conforms with the LTRC's mission and objectives.
- What happens next if a project is accepted?
If your idea is accepted, the Strategic Steering Committee will propose an approach for developing a detailed project proposal and will also suggest possibilities for broader collaboration.
Your proposal should take full advantage of the combined contributions of the LTRC and its key partners: the Translation Bureau (www.translationbureau.gc.ca), the National Research Council Canada (www.iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca) and the Université du Québec en Outaouais (www.uqo.ca).
At this stage, your formal project proposal will be examined in strict confidence by the LTRC's Scientific Committee. If the proposal is scientifically sound and relevant, the Committee will recommend it to the LTRC's Board of Directors for approval. The Board will evaluate the project's start-up conditions and monitor its progress in order to maximize its impact.
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