This summer I will celebrate my 3-year anniversary with Eging TI and a 10-year career in the localisation industry and wow, how things have changed.

They do say that ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ – and I’ve definitely been learning and working in one of the world’s most rapidly evolving industries.

New translation technology

When I started working in the industry as a bright-eyed graduate the thought of machine translation (MT) made people shudder, but now I work in an organisation that is paving the way for this technology, offering outstanding results with advanced algorithms. MT has become more intelligent, useful and beneficial in recent years, and is expected to progress even further with the adoption of neural MT.

Cost vs quality vs time

10 years ago, people would look at the price per word rate to ensure that they stayed competitive and would perhaps offer a discount when needed. In the new world, to stay competitive, this isn’t the only option; through the clever application of technology and streamlined processes not only are we able to keep costs down without quality being compromised, but we are able to improve the level of service and volume of throughput. What is there not to love?

Translation was once a laborious and costly process, and in my three-year tenure at Eging TI, I have seen timeframes reduced and output increased.

We have introduced the use of our technology suite SmartMATE; undergone several integration projects with our customers to transfer content faster; improved the version control process; increased visibility through project tracking; streamlined the review process; and reduced the amount of ‘wasted time’ spent on a project.

There are no boundaries in this industry, there isn’t one solution that fits all, but it’s about working together to make it happen.

I love my job, not only because I love languages and opening the lines of communication between people that once was so difficult, but because every day is different. I work with a wonderful and diverse set of clients who have bespoke requirements; some require automated processes and integrated technology solutions, some require us to work with rare dialects from around the globe and some require advice on best practice, which will involve us stripping everything down to the core and finding the best process and starting again. Whatever it is, there is always some learning to be done for everyone and I love it. Here’s to the next 10 years.