Singapore’s Kent Ridge Digital Labs (KRDL) and Australian software developer Adacel Technologies Ltd. have partnered to start a new Singapore-based software company focusing on Internet-based translation for Asian languages.
Adacel and KRDL have planned to invest more than S$1 million (US$580,000) over a two
year period to establish the new joint venture, name of which is not
confirmed. The new company is slated to be incorporated 1st July this year.
It will focus on providing translation services at the beginning.
Both Adacel and KRDL have been working on machine translation systems for
Asian languages for seven years and 10 years, respectively.
By merging their
machine translation operations, the joint venture aims to be a leading
global supplier of technologies and services for the translation of Asian
languages.
“We aim to create a company in Singapore that is a leader in Internet-based
translation for Asian languages,” said Silvio Salom, managing director of
Adacel.
He also said the new company has the potential to establish Singapore as a
hub for global Asian language translation requirements.
“We chose Singapore because the right brains are here, the right
technologies are here. KRDL has the leading technologies in translation for
Asian languages.”
Silvio said the Singapore-based joint venture will offer its services over
the Internet.
The joint venture company will focus on four business segments.
They are an Internet-based Asian Translation Bureau Service; Asian language translation technology products for major government and corporate organizations;
specific service applications for industry segments which have specialized
lexicon needs and translation requirements for example in patents; and
embedded systems for manufacturers who could use the joint venture’s
intellectual property to provide consumer equipment with translation
capability.
About 40 percent of the Internet users are non-English speakers, but 80 percent of the Web sites are in English.
Thus the opportunities for machine translation in
Asian languages are tremendous since machine translation is an essential
tool for globalization and international trade.
Currently, the joint venture has translations for Chinese, Malay,
Indonesian Bahasa, and Thai. Within the next eight to 12 months, new Asian
languages to be included are Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese, Silvio said.
