Already under the Connecting Europe Facility, the European Commission had built several applications starting from its automated translation service eTranslation. These developments have been reinforced under the DIGITAL Europe Programme, resulting in more applications, which are now available through the full suite of eLangTech. In addition to machine translation, the portal currently includes text summarisation, speech-to-text, anonymisation support and named-entity recognition.
Through these multilingual language tools, the European Commission helps:
· national and European public administrations, when they need to deal with multiple languages;
· small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), so that they can compete fairly and innovate in today’s digital environment.
It also reinforces:
· the EU’s commitment against misinformation and disinformation;
· cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU.
The most recent addition is WEB-T – the multilingual automated translation solution, developed under the 2022 DIGITAL Language Technology Solutions call for tenders. The benefits of the solution include:
· making more website content multilingual in Europe: WEB-T facilitates the uptake of European machine translation services for websites provided by SMEs, NGOs, public administrations and academia across the EU;
· providing easy-to-use plugins: the European developers behind WEB-T have created a set of user-friendly open-source automated website translation solutions in form of plugins compatible with various content management systems;
· offering flexibility: with WEB-T, limited access to eTranslation will be offered by default, but the user can easily opt for different European machine translation services;
· creating business opportunities for Europe: WEB-T will spark European machine translation service providers’ interest, given that these solutions are open source and can be highly customised to make business.
While WEB-T is a new development, it leverages on the European Commission experience in website translation. Various EU institution websites – including those of the Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee – seamlessly integrate eTranslation. Users can select any of the EU official languages, trigger eTranslation and access content according to their preferences.
WEB-T does not only build on this expertise; it also addresses specific market needs, which DG CNECT identified in a recent SME survey on multilingual websites. This makes it an effective solution, catering for a diversified demand in the European digital landscape.
WEB-T is now available to all eligible eTranslation users on the WEB-T website. More technical information as well as connection details are also available there.