The European Commission’s translation service, DG Translation, is one of the world’s biggest translator workforces. It has developed its own machine translation system, eTranslation, available for use by its 1,400-strong body of translators and indeed all other staff in the EU institutions. It has also been rolled out for use by national public administrations, SMEs and university language departments across the EU, and is being deployed to bolster the EU’s digital single market. 

Paul Kaye, a translator in DG Translation’s English department, describes the development of the system, how it fits within the translation service’s CAT tool set-up as part of a human-centred process, where it works well and where it doesn’t. He will discuss translator attitudes to the system and will also report on a recent comparison of eTranslation’s performance against other leading MT systems. The talk will include brief updates on recruitment possibilities to EU translation services and on DG Translation’s activities in the UK in the light of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Target audience: People interested in how a large public translation service is responding to and making use of developments in machine translation.