Language Technologies are the Missing Piece in the Puzzle in Europe's Digital Agenda

Brussels, Belgium, June 24, 2012 --(PR.com)-- On 19 June 2012, over 160 key players of the Language Technology (LT) industry met in Brussels for the first LT-Innovate Summit.

The event showcased new technologies in LT, fostered investment opportunities, but most importantly, it successfully conveyed the message that Language Technologies are the missing piece in the puzzle of the EU’s strategy for the Digital Single Market.

Philippe Wacker, Secretary General of LT-Innovate (http://www.lt-innovate.eu), stated: “A multilingual infrastructure is as important for Europe as a broadband infrastructure!

“Making content produced in any language available to 500 million Europeans is the real opportunity in the decade ahead.”

Jochen Hummel, LT-Innovate Chairman and CEO of ESTeam (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/search/results/?q=ESTeam) emphasized: “What we need in Europe are language highways!”

Prof. Hervé Bourlard, chairman of IDIAP (http://www.idiap.ch) and Founder of successful LT startup Koemei (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/koemei-switzerland/) provided an important clue as to how this could be achieved: “Europe’s investment in pipes should go hand-in-hand with an investment of comparable magnitude into creating multilingual conversational middleware that would allow people to access content generated by anybody, anywhere, anytime seamlessly through any device and in any language of their choice.”

Jochen Hummel concluded: “The language infrastructure is an important piece of enabling technology that the EU should procure as soon as possible. It would be a major booster for the European content economy with positive spill-over effects for almost every segment of the economy and society at large.”

12 innovative LT companies win the LT-Innovate Award 2012

During the Summit, 30 promising companies presented themselves in front of a Jury of investors, entrepreneurs and experts in the LT field. The Jury picked the twelve best to win the LT-Innovate Award 2012.

The Winners were announced during the Gala Dinner and received their trophies from Members of the European Parliament Katarína Nevedalová, Amelia Andersdotter and Séan Kelly. They are:

- 3DS Exalead, France (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/3ds-exalead-france/)
- Bitext Innovations, Spain (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/search/results/?q=bitext)
- Call Trunk Holdings, United Kingdom (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/calltrunk-uk/)
- Interverbum Technology, Sweden (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/interverbum-tech-sweden/)
- Kwaga, France (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/kwaga-france/)
- LingleOnline, Ireland (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/lingle-ireland/)
- Multilizer, Finland (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/multilizer-finland/)
- NICE Systems, United Kingdom (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/nice-systems-uk/)
- TEMIS, France/Germany (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/temis-francegermany/)
- Textkernel, Netherlands (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/textkernel-netherlands/)
- XTM International, United Kingdom (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/xtm-international-uk/)
- Yocoy Technologies, Germany (http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/topic/profile/yocoy-germany/)

Background Information
What are Language Technologies (LT)?

LT is the branch of information technology that deals with natural language information. It can roughly be split into three segments: intelligent content, translation and speech.

LT Innovate – The Forum of Europe’s Language Technology Industry

LT-Innovate was founded in January 2012 as The Forum for Europe’s Language Technology Industry. As of June 2012, it gathers 100+ European companies – mostly small and medium-sized - developing products using intelligent content, speech and translation technologies.

LT-Innovate provides a collaborative platform through which members can:

- Stay informed with latest news, views and developments in the European LT industry;
- Gain access to market analysts who will provide concrete data on the LT industry and forecast future trends;
- Engage in discussions, identify opportunities and solve problems through collaborating in industry-driven Special Interest Groups (SIGs);
- Provide collective feedback to policy makers at national and European level to shape future policies and programmes.

Press Contacts
Philippe Wacker
Secretary General
phw (@) lt-innovate.eu
+32 2 219 0305

Myrna Ródriguez-Hausséguy
Communications Coordinator
mrh (@) lt-innovate.eu

Event website: http://www.lt-innovate.eu/summit
http://www.twitter.com/ltinnovate - http://www.twitter.com/langtechnews
http://ltinnovate.blogspot.com