LOTS - Localisation Technology Laboratory and Showcase

Launch of the LOTS Laboratory

On 6th June 2003, Prof. Kevin Ryan launched the Localisation Technology Laboratory and Showcase (LOTS). The LOTS Laboratory has been set up and run by the Localisation Research Centre (LRC), at the CSIS department. Among the attendees to the event were Reinhard Schäler (director of the LRC), Gerry Slattery (Business Development Manager National Technological Park), and a large number of professionals of the localisation industry, including translators, translation tools developers and project managers from companies in Europe and US.

During the inauguration, Reinhard Schäler gave an introduction to the laboratory in the context of the ELECT project (funded by the European Union) which aims at promoting the localisation of digital content in Europe. Then, Rafael Guzmán, coordinator of the LOTS laboratory, gave a description of all the resources available, and a demonstration on how to access the laboratory remotely over the Internet. After that, a number of contributing companies gave a short presentation on their tools, which was followed by a very animated round table discussion about issues generated by translation tools, solutions, and suggestions. The event finished with a cheese and wine reception at the atrium of CSIS. The general feedback was most enthusiastic and encouraging.

The LOTS laboratory gathers a wide range of the main software programs used in the industry of translation and adaptation (localisation) of digital content (e.g. software user interface, websites, online help, etc), and it keeps updating it on a regular basis, which makes it unique in its type. All these tools are made available to people involved in the localisation industry, researchers, journalists, and students, for learning and evaluation purposes.

Full information on the LOTS laboratory is available at www.electonline.org

[Picture 1 shows the official launch of the LOTS Laboratory on 6th June 2003 in the CSIS building: from left to right: Dr Hendrik J. Kockaert (Lessius Hogeschool, Senior lecturer of Translation and Interpretation), Paul Quigley (STAR, Director of Technology Solutions Europe), Rafael Guzmán (LRC, Coordinator of the LOTS Laboratory), Professor Kevin Ryan (UL, VP), Reinhard Schäler (LRC, Director).