Together 2019 took place at the World Trade Center in Barcelona February 21-22, 2019. More than 250 people from 37 countries attended and around 250 more followed the event via live streaming. The theme this year was Mastering Digital Transformation.

The fourth edition of Together attracted an international audience of professional translators, interpreters and language service company representatives, primarily vendor managers. The purpose of the event is to bring both parts of the translation supply chain together as peers. Organized by Elia, the European Language Industry Association, it was a translation event where both translators and language service provider representatives worked hand in hand to develop and present a program.

The first day began on a high note with the well-received keynote “The digital mindset: Beyond the technological fads.” Professor Javier Zamora, who “learned digital with an analog accent,” proposed that as digital density increases, it will affect the physical world to the point where the digital and analog will converge, effectively eliminating the concept of an internet. Other speakers shared training and hiring best practices; integration of AI in daily life; and emphasizing the human side of the digital process. Another highlight was the Together Fair, a marketplace where professionals met face to face with language service representatives searching for specific skillsets.

All speakers expressed optimism about the future of translation as a vocation but stressed the need to prepare, unsurprisingly, for uncertainty due to advances in technology. When responding to a question about what skills to master in the digital age, Annette Schiller, president of FIT Europe, stressed, “Well, first of all, you need to be able to translate.”