We most often associate technology with translation and localization. But the world of interpreting is impacted by technological change as well.

The second North American Summit on Interpreting, which will be held this weekend in Washington, D.C., will focus partly on the role being played by technology in language interpreting.

The conference title, “Quality Interpreting in a Push-Button World,” emphasizes the fact that the interpreting industry is being impacted by rapid technological change right along with its sister industries: translation and localization.

Of course, translators are constantly being exposed to new translation tools and keeping up with competition from machine translation. And localization is all about technology.

But the link between the oral field of interpreting and technology is not immediately clear. As the conference program puts it, “Technology is rapidly transforming the interpreting profession, often in ways we are not fully aware of.”

Some examples of how language interpreting is changing with the times are telephone and video interpreting technology; web-based oral communication; and, of course, the way individual interpreters and language service companies can leverage technology to promote their business.

Other subjects to be covered at the conference are the profession’s identity, being an employee versus freelancing, and the state of research in the field.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.