[Ict4devwg] Rosetta Foundation makes vital information available in native languages

[Vern Weitzel]

http://www.iwr.co.uk/information-world-review/news/2248552/rosetta-foundation-makes-vital

Rosetta Foundation makes vital information available in native languages

In a bid to end “global information poverty”, a charitable organisation called 
The Rosetta Foundation is initiated to extend the rights of individuals to 
access life critical information in their native languages


By IWR News Desk, Information World Review 27 Aug 2009

The University of Limerick, the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) 
and the service provider Welocalize have come together to support the launch of 
the not-for-profit foundation.

The foundation seeks to make vital information on basic healthcare available to 
individuals all over the word irrespective of their social status, linguistic or 
cultural background, and geographical location. It also intends to deploy a 
localisation technology platform for volunteer translators and not-for-profit 
organisations that can contribute to the translation and distribution of 
life-guarding information to communities in need around the world.

The foundation is a spin-off of the Localisation Research Centre at the 
University of Limerick, Ireland, and CNGL, a major research initiative supported 
by the Irish government.

Reinhard Schäler, founder of the Rosetta Institute, said: “Our initiative will 
widen the narrow focus of current mainstream localisation and bring the digital 
world closer to the three quarters of the world’s population who currently do 
not have access to it.”

Sponsored by Welocalize, the Rosetta Foundation is implementing an accessible 
and affordable open-source translation management system (TMS) that helps 
automate the critical tasks associated with the creation, translation, review, 
storage and management of global content. With TMS, it has access to a robust 
platform for managing, translating and delivering global content and can support 
the translation efforts of non-profit and non-governmental organisations in 
providing information to communities in need, in their local language.

At the same time, it also benefits from an existing GlobalSight community of 
1,500 members to solicit volunteers dedicated to promoting equal access to 
information through language and cultural diversity.

The European launch will take place at the Action for Global Information Sharing 
(AGIS) ’09 conference in Limerick, Ireland, scheduled between 21 S eptember and 
September 23, 2009 and the US launch will take place at the Localisation World 
conference on 20 October, 2009.

Smith Yewell, chief executive, Welocalize said: “This initiative could help 
extend the benefits of the translation industry to the people that most need it. 
Individuals all over the world are deprived of critical information in their 
native language that could potentially save their lives. We believe that in 
order to grow and meet global content demands, we must collaborate to innovate. "