TRANSALSA PROJECT

AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION FOR SALSA LISTSERV

copyright FUNREDES 1994

Contents:

• Letter to a software provider
• manager summary
• project document

  
  

I am pleased to provide you, enclosed, with the brochure of the Networks and Development Foundation (FUNREDES), our International

Non Governmental Organization.
As you  will  read, its mission is to  support the  spreading  of 
the  New Information and Communication Technologies in the
Developing Countries,  and primarily in Latin American and the
Caribbean.     

As it is considered, that in this process, the language barrier is a key element, FUNREDES decided to introduce a new service to the subscribers of the SALSA electronic conference. Namely: to deliver each contribution to the discussion in three languages: Spanish, French, and English. Also, a modern list-moderating and archiving style will be adopted, in order to adapt the referential character of the conference to the actual and future evolution of the Internet. In order to do so, FUNREDES need a good automatic translation software support, (preferably PC based).

We are asking for your participation in this project, contributing with a translation software package, and covering of part its costs.

For your company, this will be a valuable field experience to test your products in order to offer added value network services. Also we are confident that this operation will positively project the image of your company, directly in various market segments, and indirectly in the Internet community by the planned publications.

The first year cost of the project is estimated at US$ 13,200, plus the software package. The FUNREDES counterpart, which includes a migration, organization, conference management and experiment evaluation, is estimated at US$ 6000. The first year external budget, covering the cost for a person responsible for technical management and moderation is evaluated at US$ 7200. Prospects for budget balancing exist for the following years.

We are looking forward that this offer will open interest in your side and conclude positively. We are presenting this offer to the other best translation software providers and we will select what we consider the best offer.

Best regards,
Yacine Khelladi
Project officer.
..
Attached:

• Manager summary
• FUNREDES brochure
• Project document with annexes

MANAGER SUMMARY

FUNREDES is following on, with the same team, the actions of the REDALC Office of Union Latina, a regional research network project office. Also it participated in the launching of various national research networks (Peru, Dominican Republic and Haiti) and we developed of a friendly user interface to networks (MULBRI).

FUNREDES is extending these actions, and launching new ones in the field, such as a regional project for the whole Caribbean, user oriented training programs, interactive multimedia designed to sensitize on the importance of networking, and research on its impact. FUNREDES also manages various public electronic conferences, and conducts project towards their improvement.

The SALSA conference is a contribution (beside the Caribbean Integration Through Information Infrastructure (CARITIN) project of FUNREDES) to the regional integration process of the Caribbean. Aiming the reinforcement of the regional cultural common background, SALSA sets up links between particulars and institutions, mainly among the cultural and scientific community, in the whole Caribbean region.

With this project FUNREDES has a double objective:

• Improve networking tools for developing countries,
• Enhance the effectiveness of SALSA towards its objective as regional integration tool.

• Experiment networking products at a real scale.
• Marketing projection.

Also, to incorporate the essence of the evolution of the Internet, such as the growing importance of the information access mechanism over e-mail and the end-user empowerment, it is considered turning the SALSA list into a more modern tool: a moderated and archive coupled referential conference.

In the new SALSA list all messages will be translated in two languages and concatenated, with the supervision of a moderator. The long ones will be kept in archive and their abstract sent to the list subscribers.

FUNREDES commits itself to use this software only for this matter, and to include the following statement in each translated message: "This message has been translated with the support of the xxxxxxx software, kindly supplied by xxxxxxx ". Also various project evaluation documents will be edited and papers published.

The total cost of the project is estimated at US$ 13,200. Your participation, with the software package, and covering part of the costs, will be low investment-high projection return. The cooperation agreement should be one year long.

PROJECT DOCUMENT

1 Definition
2 Considerations.
3 The automatic translated archive coupled list project. a. Goals.
b. Configuration.
c. Implementation steps.

ANNEXES: 1 The SALSA list.
2 Agreement terms of reference. 3 Budget.
4 SALSA actual list members.

1 Definition

This project aims the introduction of computer sopported translation, moderation and archiving in the SALSA electronic confrence. It is the Translated Salsa list Project: TRANSALSA.

2 Goals.

With this project FUNREDES has a double ambition:

• Improve networking tools for developing countries, and develop adapted methodoligies for their implementation.
• Enhance the effectiveness of networking in general, and the SALSA conference in particular, as a regional integration tool, through the reinforcing of the common background (and beside the Caribbean Integration Through Information Infrastructure (CARITIN) project of FUNREDES).

• Experiment new networking tools at a real scale.
• Marketing projection, directly in specific market segments and inderectly in the Internet community through publications.

2 Considerations.

The SALSA conference looks further participating in the regional integration process, by increasing communication and understanding among the Caribbean community, through the reinforcement of their common cultural background.

The principal challenge of the conference is to set a dynamic change in the pattern of human communications in the region, as for communication habits and practices, that are still strongly centralized outside the region.

"[email protected]", a 46 direct members electronic distribution list, launched in September 1993 and managed by FUNREDES, is assumed to reach a close to 300 persons indirect target. SALSA connects actors of the socio-cultural field and scientific community from 26 different countries speaking three different main languages.

The linguistic barrier is a key element that tends to slow down the regional integration process, and that represents an obstacle for the conference towards its objectives. The educational level does not allow, in this region, to overcome this linguistic problem as it happened in industrialized countries. To improve the intra-caribbean communication and information sharing, it is then required to improve the available networking tools and their use. This will be reached by making communication easier, and information more accessible and understandable for other languages speakers. That is why it is considered to introduce the translation process as part of the conference service.

Also the conference will become a modern tool which incorporate the essence of the evolution of the Internet.

Two parallel phenomena call for a drastic change from the actual way of functioning:

• the growing of the number of regional and sub regional listservs conduce to a dramatic increase of the number of messages reposted in several listservs;
• the recent evolution of the Internet reduces the importance of e-mail in favor of the information access mechanisms.

3. The implementation of the project.

1. The new configuration of the SALSA distribution list.

• All the original messages posted to the listserver will be sent by the listserver to the moderator. The contributions will be translated into the two other languages with the support of a suitable translating software and the result concatenated in a single file (with the original message).

• The moderator will proofread the proposed translations in order to avoid important mistranslation, check the spelling, and edit the document, including the statement citing the software used.

• The moderator reposts to the listserver the translated short messages and an abstract for the longer ones, that will be kept in the on-line electronic coupled archive.

Implementation steps:

• The first step will be to look for and to reach to an agreement with a software provider, and to select a qualified person to work as a translation supervisor and conference moderator.

• The next step is installing the software, and reconfigurating the electronic list soft and hardware. Then, the new list configuration, the translation and the archiving processes will be tested, and improved if necessary. The new configuration and the communications protocols have be compatible with the list members software and hardware (ex: accent less).

• Then a message explaining the new translation and archive retrieval system and its procedures is sent to all the list members, and even to other eventually interested people. The reanimation of the list will be driven by the team.

• After 6 months, FUNREDES and its counterpart, will drive an evaluation process of the technical aspects of the system as, translation quality, technical efficiency, archive system, etc. Recommendations will be emitted and applied. An evaluation document will be generated.

• After 12 month FUNREDES will evaluate the list efficiency towards ist objectives, as well as the technical aspects. A final document will be edited with the software provider participation or agreement. After this step the list moderation and management costs will be sustained by FUNREDES.

• FUNREDES will prepare for publication a methodological paper on managing and moderating electronic automatic-translated archive-coupled lists, probably in the ISOC News (Internet Society Newsletter).

• If the project is considered successful FUNREDES will employ this methodology to other network tools.

ANNEX 2: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH A SOFTWARE PROVIDER

FUNREDES:	The software provider:
- covers the project	- furnishes the software and
management costs.	and installation assesment.

- covers the hardware
reconfiguration cost
and the running tests.

• in agreement with the - covers the moderator's software provider hires salary for the first moderator. year of the project.

  
  
  

FUNREDES commits itself to use this software only for this matter, and to include the following statement for each translated message: "This message has been translated with the support of the xxxxxxx software, kindly supplied by xxxxxxx ".

ANNEX 2: Budget.

(In US Dollars)

SOFTWARE PROVIDER

FUNREDES

Step 0 0 1500	(project document, partners research, moderator selection, project administration)
Step 1 Software 1000	(installation, reconfiguration costs, hardware for moderator, list animation)
Step 2 600/month 1000 1-6Th month (moderator)	(Test and evaluation, technical improvements and follow-up)

Step 3         600/month       1000 (evaluation, improvement)
6-12th month   (moderator)

After the first year, all the cost are sustained by FUNREDES.

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