OTTAWA, September 16, 2005 - The Honourable Mauril Bélanger, Minister responsible for Official Languages, on behalf of the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry, announced today that the Language Technology Research Centre (LTRC), currently under construction on the campus of the Université du Québec en Outaouais, will receive $450 000 under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed by Industry Canada and the National Research Council Canada (NRC). Under the Government's Action Plan for Official Languages, the Centre will address the lack of research and development in the language industry by regrouping experts in language technologies under one roof. This contribution will allow the LTRC to build on previous work accomplished in partnership with the Language Industry Association (AILIA) and the private sector on the Language Technology Roadmap and to undertake specific marketing and branding activities.
"On behalf of Minister Emerson, I am very pleased with the enormous progress achieved since AILIA's creation in 2003, and I am encouraged by the fact that Canada's expertise in the language sector continues to gain visibility at home and on the world stage," said Minister Bélanger. "This research centre will firmly support a dynamic and constantly evolving industry."
In 2003, Industry Canada received $10 million as part of the Action Plan for Official Languages to help the language industry with its visibility and fragmentation issues. The language industry includes "the three Ts," namely translation, language training and language technologies. Given this mandate, Industry Canada helped create AILIA and set up the Language Industry Program (LIP), which funds marketing and branding activities for the industry.
"NRC's partnership with Industry Canada and the Language Technology Research Centre is a prime example of Canada's long-standing commitment to eliminate language barriers," said NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe. "We look forward to contributing NRC's expertise to develop novel tools that will help people learn, translate and use languages more effectively, reinforcing Canada's leadership in language industries."
The announcement was made in conjunction with AILIA's General Assembly and the First Language Industry Showcase taking place at the Ottawa Congress Centre, attended by over 150 of its own members as well as by users of language products and services and government purchasers.
For more information on Industry Canada's Language Industry Program, please visit http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/lip. For more information on AILIA, please visit http://www.ailia.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Christiane Fox
Office of the Honourable David L. Emerson
Minister of Industry
(613) 995-9001
Daniel Vincent
Director General
Language Technology Research Centre
(819) 934-4221
Media Relations
Industry Canada
(613) 943-2502
Viviane Pelletier
AILIA Communications
(514) 285-6596
