Kiwa Digital Commissioned by Cherokee Nation to Preserve the Cherokee Language

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December 15, 2025

Cherokee Dictionary App event collaborators

Kiwa Digital, A New Zealand tech company promoting Māori language and culture, has been commissioned by the Cherokee Nation, the largest Native American tribe in North America to help revitalize the Cherokee language.

Auckland-based Kiwa Digital has developed, and will continue to expand, the official Cherokee Nation Dictionary App, which is available for download on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. It currently includes more than 6,000 Cherokee words, audio recordings, grammar notes, phonetics, syllabary, and biographical information on first-language speakers. Cherokee Nation translators and Kiwa staff plan to continually add new entries.

Cherokee Nation leaders and Cherokee language speakers joined representatives from Kiwa Digital on Tuesday, December 9th to launch the new Cherokee Language Dictionary app during an event at the Durbin Feeling Language Center.

Speaking at the unveiling of the App in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said, “Every Cherokee family, no matter where they live, can now carry this resource in their pocket. This app represents our sovereignty, our knowledge, and our commitment to keeping the Cherokee language strong for generations to come.”

Cherokee Language Department Executive Director Howard Paden noted the app has already had a tangible impact, “In just a few months, Kiwa Digital took what we have documented of our language and made it accessible to our citizens. This work helps prevent further erosion and supports the revitalisation of Cherokee in our communities.”

Built on Kiwa Digital’s CultureQ platform, the App incorporates advanced digital features, including secure AI-assisted learning tools, while remaining firmly governed by the Cherokee Nation. All language data is hosted on the secure AWS platform, upholding Indigenous data sovereignty and community control.

The Cherokee Nation’s approach to language revitalisation is distinguished by its scale. Through immersion schooling, first-language speaker programmes, workplace incentives, legislative investment, community-led language planning, and digital innovation, the Nation has shown how Indigenous languages can move beyond preservation and back into everyday use.

Steven Renata, Managing Director of Kiwa Digital, said at the launch, “The Cherokee Nation’s language strategy is genuinely world-leading, and it is a privilege to work together to deliver technology that aligns with their vision, governance, and long-term aspirations.”

About Kiwa Digital

Initially established as a post-production software company in 2003, Kiwa Digital now specializes in Indigenous language preservation through digital tools. It’s unique cultural perspective and advanced technologies help it build more than apps, as its mission is to uplift and empower Indigenous voices, people and cultures around the world.

Logrus Global Launches a Free Tier of Translation Quality Measurement Tool Perfectionist

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December 15, 2025

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As AI and machine translation become default tools in production, one uncomfortable truth is becoming clearer: fluent output is not the same as reliable output. In real workflows, quality can change with a prompt, a glossary update, a model version, or a routing decision. That variability creates operational, legal, and brand risk — especially when organizations publish at scale.

In manufacturing, the rule is simple: if you don’t measure, you don’t control. Translation Quality Evaluation (TQE) is that measurement layer for multilingual content. And when the content matters, TQE cannot be wishful thinking or “quick scoring” — it must be grounded in human judgment and executed as scientifically developed metric taking into account customer specifications and science of measurement, in a repeatable process.

That’s why Logrus Global built Perfectionist, a cloud-based Translation Quality Evaluation platform that helps teams run automatic and human-in-the-loop evaluations using a diverse portfolio of metrics — without the need to send Excel scorecards by email, or the overhead of building a bespoke QA program from scratch.

Perfectionist combines an underlying database, process automation, and multiple metrics (Acceptance Testing / Acceptance Rate, LOGIPEM, ATA, GEMBA-SQM, and calibrated MQM scoring — linear and non-linear) so organizations can benchmark anything and measure quality frequently and consistently across languages, vendors, linguists, AI/MT engines, content types, use cases, and scenarios, or calibrate their other resources and methods.

Why the industry needs Perfectionist now

Human MQM evaluation remains the gold standard. MQM provides a structured method to identify and quantify errors with severity and a scoring model — so results are stable, comparable, and actionable (not just a subjective “grade”). Perfectionist also implements decision-specific metrics: Acceptance Testing (Acceptance Rate) to select the right model per content type, LOGIPEM to distinguish between the quality of two AI/MT-generated datasets, the ATA metric to verify translator qualifications, and GEMBA-SQM for AI-only evaluation – alongside multiple MQM scoring options (linear calibrated and non-linear calibrated).
AI workflows require more frequent measurement, not less. When outputs can shift, you need ongoing evaluation to detect drift, qualify changes, and keep risk under control.
Statistically sound sampling makes human evaluation practical. You can get fast, reliable signal from a sufficient sample — often faster and more cost-effective than attempting to operationalize an “automatic metric” that still requires calibration to human judgment.
You can benchmark anything — and choose the right model with evidence. Evaluate suppliers, compare MT vs LLM outputs, select the right model per content type via Acceptance Testing (Acceptance Rate), validate post-editing performance, track quality trends over time, and more.

Perfectionist also supports automated approaches where appropriate — but with one principle: automation must be calibrated against golden human judgment. Perfectionist is built to make that calibration measurable, repeatable, and scalable.

What’s new for 2026 before 2026 even started

After extensive development of new quality metrics, Logrus Global has introduced a free tier of Perfectionist. After self-registration, users can run up to three free evaluations per week, with no subscription required.

Users can apply standard MQM-based evaluation workflows, including linear-calibrated and non-linear-calibrated scoring. They can also use Acceptance Testing (Acceptance Rate) to select the right AI/MT engine per content type, LOGIPEM to compare outputs of different engines (especially raw vs post-edited), the ATA metric to verify translator qualifications, and GEMBA-SQM for AI-only evaluation where appropriate.

Availability

Perfectionist is available at https://perfectionist.app/

About Logrus Global

Headquartered in Pennsylvania, Logrus Global is a language technology and localization company focused on enterprise translation quality, risk management, and measurable AI/MT adoption practices.

The Week in Review: Language Industry News December 8-14

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December 15, 2025

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This week’s stories spotlight academic achievement, strategic acquisitions, regional celebration, security milestones, and cross‑continental collaboration. From scholarships in natural language processing (NLP) to African language support, the industry continues to evolve through both people‑driven and technology‑driven initiatives. Here are five standout moments from the week you shouldn’t miss.

Collaboration and Expansion

Translate.One has acquired Landoor, a Milan‑based language service provider, to expand its global footprint. The acquisition brings Landoor’s expertise in legal, financial, and technical translation into Translate.One’s portfolio. Leadership emphasized that the move enhances capacity, strengthens European operations, and supports long‑term growth.

Phrase has partnered with African Languages Lab to improve support for African languages across its platform. The collaboration focuses on expanding linguistic resources, improving model performance, and ensuring more accurate representation of diverse African languages. Both organizations emphasized the importance of inclusive language technology and long‑term investment in underrepresented African languages.

Community and Certification

Shruti Joshi has been awarded the ninth Antidote Scholarship for her work in natural language processing (NLP). The scholarship recognizes emerging talent in computational linguistics and supports students advancing research in language technologies. Joshi’s selection highlights the growing importance of academic contributions to the future of NLP.

RWS is among the first organizations to achieve Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 with a perfect score. The certification validates the company’s cybersecurity practices for handling sensitive US defense information and projects. RWS noted that the achievement reflects its commitment to security, compliance, and operational excellence.

The Nordic Translation & Interpretation Forum (NTIF) celebrated its 15th anniversary, highlighting the Finnish concept of sisu — a blend of determination, resilience, and grit. The event brought together industry professionals to reflect on the forum’s history and its role in fostering community across the Nordic region. Organizers emphasized continuity, collaboration, and the cultural values that shape the event’s identity.

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From scholarships in NLP to cybersecurity milestones, this week’s stories show an industry advancing through both innovation and collaboration. Translate.One’s acquisition of Landoor and Phrase’s partnership with the African Languages Lab highlight how global networks are expanding and diversifying. Meanwhile, NTIF’s anniversary and Shruti Joshi’s scholarship remind us that community and emerging talent remain central to the sector’s future. Together, these developments reflect a language industry building resilience, reach, and representation.

For more stories like these, visit our News section.

Argo Translation Strengthens Multilingual Services with Magnum Group Acquisition

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December 14, 2025

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Argo Translation, a pioneering language service provider headquartered in Chicago with over 30 years of experience, announced the strategic acquisition of Magnum Group, Inc., an award-winning multilingual communications company established in 1992 and based in Philadelphia. The acquisition strengthens Argo Translation’s ability to meet the increasingly complex communication needs of global organizations across government, commercial, and nonprofit sectors.

Magnum Group brings a distinguished track record of excellence in multicultural strategy, transcreation, multimedia/post-production, strategic consulting, and full-service localization. Over its 33-year history, Magnum has been consistently recognized for outstanding achievement, including multiple honors such as SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year Award, the Top 50 Women-Owned Businesses in Pennsylvania Award, and the Top 500 Emerging Businesses in the US Award.

This specialized experience further enhances Argo Translation’s ability to serve clients with complex regulatory or compliance-driven communications needs.

The combination of Argo Translation’s technology-forward infrastructure, including its proprietary CMSConnect^® integration suite, translation memory management, AI speech translator, and AI-enhanced workflows, with Magnum Group’s award-winning creative and cultural consulting capabilities, will yield a seamlessly integrated, highly scalable multilingual communications team.

Argo Translation’s Founder and CEO, Peter Argondizzo, shared his enthusiasm for the partnership: “The acquisition of Magnum Group marks a major milestone in our growth journey. By joining forces, we bring together Argo Translation’s trusted global infrastructure and technology leadership with Magnum’s boutique-style creativity, cultural fluency, and strategic consulting expertise. Together, we are poised to raise the bar for multilingual communications and help our clients engage global audiences with clarity, cultural relevance, and speed.”

Operations will remain under Argo Translation’s leadership at its Glenview, Illinois headquarters.

About Argo Translation

Since 1995, Argo Translation has delivered comprehensive translation, interpretation, and localization services in more than 80 languages to organizations across numerous industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, legal, and market research. Argo Translation leverages state-of-the-art technology, including its proprietary CMSConnect^® platform, translation memory management, AI-enhanced workflows with human editors, and more to streamline multilingual content delivery with unmatched accuracy and efficiency. The company is committed to exceptional customer service, responsiveness to challenging deadlines, and guaranteed certified translation quality.

Phrase and African Languages Lab Partner to Strengthen African Language Support for Global Business

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December 12, 2025

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African Language Lab Partners with Phrase

Phrase, a global leader in AI-powered language technology, announced a new partnership with African Languages Lab (All Lab), a pioneering language solutions company focused on building high-performing AI for African languages to make technology and markets more accessible. The partnership integrates All Lab’s Mansa engine into Phrase Language AI, Phrase’s AI-powered translation capability, through the newly launched Bring Your Own Engine (BYOE) capability. This gives customers quick access to specialized African languages directly within the Phrase Platform.

Across Africa’s 2,000+ languages, more than 95% remain underrepresented in mainstream AI models. All Lab is working to close that gap by developing machine translation, small language models (SLMs), and curated datasets designed for high-quality communication at scale.

Through BYOE, Phrase customers can now integrate Mansa, All Lab’s flagship engine for 30 African languages, which is designed to deliver accurate, culturally aware contextual translation at scale. The integration expands multilingual reach for organizations operating across African markets, as well as global brands growing their presence on the continent.

“For all the talk about global AI progress, African languages are still treated as peripheral, a serious misalignment with the realities of one of the fastest growing and most economically significant regions in the world,” said Sheriff Issaka, Founder and Head of Research at African Languages Lab.

“We chose to partner with Phrase because its BYOE offers a straightforward, scalable way to deploy Mansa where it’s needed. We are excited to be part of Phrase’s customer and partner ecosystem that is open by design and allows customers to access the best technologies for their specific needs. This collaboration drastically reduces adoption friction and enables both African and global organizations to engage more substantively with African audiences. This is a meaningful step toward lowering barriers for everyone.”

The integration was sparked by initial conversations at LocWorld, where the African Languages Lab won the Process Innovation Challenge. Mansa is among the first solutions available through the BYOE framework, reflecting Phrase’s commitment to an open ecosystem that connects customers with best-of-breed AI and partner technologies.

“Building an open ecosystem is central to our strategy at Phrase. With BYOE, we are making it easy for customers and partners to bring specialized engines into the Phrase Platform so they can pair the right technology with each language, market, and use case,” said Edmund Ovington, VP, Global Partnerships & Ecosystem at Phrase.

“It is a tangible step in how we build our ecosystem. Open by design, flexible in practice, and focused on connecting customers with best-of-breed technology. African Languages Lab is exactly the kind of partner this framework was created for. Its leadership in African languages expands language access, strengthens our partner network, and helps customers grow with confidence across Africa and beyond.”

The partnership supports two complementary goals. For African Languages Lab, Phrase provides a powerful channel to scale adoption of Mansa through BYOE. By making the engine available, it also increases language access and positions both companies to better serve organizations expanding into Africa, as well as African businesses scaling internationally.

About African Languages Lab (All Lab)

The All Lab is an AI research and technology leader dedicated to bridging the digital language divide for African languages by building high-quality data, models, and solutions that work at scale. Its goal is to remove the technical and commercial barriers that keep African languages off the digital map. By making enterprise-ready language AI straightforward to adopt, it helps organisations communicate effectively across Africa’s linguistic diversity.

It combines rigorous field linguistics with industrial-scale data engineering and modern AI to design, build, and deploy production systems. Focusing on 30 African languages, All Lab delivers machine translation, automatic speech recognition, and bespoke model-training. By removing technical, commercial, and operational friction, it helps organizations reach millions of speakers with accurate, culturally appropriate technology. All Lab is the trusted partner for organisations that need to reach Africa’s linguistic audiences at scale.

About Phrase

Phrase is a world leader in AI-led language technology, helping organizations open the door to global business by reaching more people, making deeper connections, and driving faster growth across languages and cultures.

The cloud-based Phrase Platform comes equipped with all the key capabilities a business needs to drive a multilingual content strategy, from AI-driven machine translation and world-leading translation management, to software and multimedia localization, best-in-class workflow automation, quality evaluation, and analytics. The Phrase Platform is designed to connect, streamline and manage every possible translation task across the enterprise.

Connect with Phrase: LinkedIn | YouTube

New Program Helps Educational Interpreters Become Licensed Trainers

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December 12, 2025

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A new Interpreting in Educational Settings: Training of Trainers (IES ToT) program is now available for interpreters who work in schools and want to move into training and leadership roles. This new course prepares educational interpreters to teach The Academy of Interpretation’s 24-hour IES curriculum and support school districts that need more qualified interpreter training.

The IES ToT program gives participants a simple, structured way to learn how to teach other interpreters who work in K–12 settings. After completing the program, graduates become licensed trainers who can deliver the full IES course to school staff, new interpreters, language service providers, or community programs. The goal is to help improve language access for students and families by increasing the number of trained professionals available to teach these skills.

“There is a growing need for trained educational interpreters in schools, and many districts don’t have anyone on staff who can offer this kind of specialized training,” said Maria Teresa Buendia, Assistant Director of Education at the AOI. “This program lets experienced interpreters share their knowledge and help raise the standard for everyone.”

The course combines online lessons with live Zoom sessions where participants learn facilitation skills, adult-learning strategies, and how to use AOI’s full set of curriculum materials. Graduates receive a digital trainer certificate with a verification QR code and official licensing to teach the course. Two cohorts are scheduled for February 2–5, 2026 and September 14–17, 2026. The virtual format allows interpreters nationwide to join without travel.

To qualify, applicants should have experience interpreting in educational settings and be proficient in English and another language. Students who refer a friend, colleague, or interpreter to the IES ToT program will receive $50 upon completion of the course. Details and the application form are available on the Academy of Interpretation website.

“Educational interpreters play a major role in how families communicate with their schools,” said Sameh Abdelkader, Director of Education. “We hope this program helps more interpreters grow into training roles so they can support districts that are trying to improve communication and compliance.”

The AOI is now accepting applications for the February cohort. Districts or interested interpreters who are unable to participate in the February or September classes are encouraged to contact the AOI directly to schedule.

For more information or to apply, visit:

https://www.academyofinterpretation.com/trainingoftrainers/interpreting-in-educational-settings

About the Academy of Interpretation:

The Academy of Interpretation (AOI) is a leading organization in the language services industry, dedicated to professionalizing the field and maintaining high-quality standards. AOI offers education, training, and credentialing to interpreters, translators, and language professionals to ensure effective communication across linguistic and cultural divides.

RWS Among First to Achieve CMMC Level 2 Certification with Perfect Score

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December 11, 2025

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RWS (RWS.L), a global AI solutions company, has achieved Level 2 certification under the US Government’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program – paving the way for access to sensitive defense contracts.

Level 2 CMMC compliance requires defense contractors and their partners to implement, document and verify 110 rigorous cybersecurity controls through independent third-party assessment. Contenta, part of RWS’s content technology portfolio, achieved a perfect score in its assessment. Companies without Level 2 certification cannot legally access or process controlled information, effectively excluding them from most defense projects.

“Achieving CMMC Level 2 is a major milestone for RWS,” said Tim Russell-Jones, General Manager of Content Technology at RWS. “Being among the first, and attaining a perfect score in the assessment, is a proud moment for our content technology team and reflects our continued commitment to achieving the highest cybersecurity standards.”

RWS’s Contenta solutions, part of the Generate segment, are used in some of the world’s most demanding environments, including the US Navy, US Air Force and numerous global defense contractors. It remains an industry-proven solution for technical content creation, digital publishing, and visualization, fully optimized for secure, end-to-end content publishing.

Contact us to learn more about RWS’s CMMC certification.

About RWS

RWS is a global AI solutions company helping the world’s largest enterprises bridge the gap between human understanding and AI.

Our proprietary Cultural Intelligence Layer, powered by 250,000 data specialists, cultural and language experts and deep domain professionals, backed by 45+ patents, makes enterprise AI culturally fluent, contextually accurate and secure, ensuring every interaction reflects a brand’s tone, context and customer values.

Through our Generate, Transform and Protect segments, we deliver intelligent content, enterprise knowledge, large-scale localization and IP protection for global growth. Trusted by 80+ of the world’s top 100 brands, RWS provides the confidence, governance and expertise organisations need to deploy AI safely, responsibly and at scale. Headquartered in the UK, RWS is listed on AIM.

CAMB.AI Announces Strategic Partnership with Kompact AI by Ziroh Labs

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December 10, 2025

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CAMB.AI, a global leader in AI-powered multilingual voice translation and content localization, announced a strategic partnership with Kompact AI by Ziroh Labs, the pioneering CPU-first AI platform that enables large language models to run efficiently on standard CPUs without compromising performance. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in democratizing enterprise AI access, combining CAMB.AI’s industry-leading voice synthesis technology with Kompact AI’s groundbreaking runtime to optimize LLMs for CPUs with no degradation through input and output quality.

The CAMB.AI-Kompact AI partnership represents more than a technical integration, it embodies a shared commitment to democratizing access to advanced AI capabilities. By combining proven voice synthesis technology with revolutionary CPU optimization, the partnership enables organizations worldwide to deploy sophisticated multilingual communication systems without traditional infrastructure barriers.

Strategic Alignment: Shared Vision for Accessible AI

Both companies believe advanced AI should be accessible beyond big-budget enterprises, continuing their legacy of disrupting industry norms:

CAMB.AI pioneered emotionally authentic multilingual dubbing for live sports with brands like NASCAR, Major League Soccer, YES Network, Australian Open, FanCode and Comcast NBCUniversal.
Kompact AI proved large language models can deliver top performance on optimized CPU infrastructure, challenging the GPU-centric model.

Transforming Enterprise AI Deployment: From GPU Dependence to CPU Freedom

This partnership represents a paradigm shift in how enterprises deploy and scale AI applications. While the industry has been locked into expensive GPU infrastructure for AI workloads, Kompact AI’s revolutionary CPU-first approach delivers 50% cost reduction in AI inferencing while maintaining full model quality, eliminating the need for quantization or distillation that traditionally compromises accuracy.

“Just as we’ve democratized multilingual communication by making voice translation accessible across 150+ languages, this partnership with Kompact AI democratizes access to powerful AI infrastructure. Enterprises no longer need to choose between performance and accessibility. They can now deploy our MARS7 and BOLI models on standard CPU infrastructure while achieving broadcast-quality results,” said Akshat Prakash, Co-Founder and CTO of CAMB.AI.

Speaking about the partnership Hrishikesh Dewan, Co-Founder & CEO at Ziroh Labs said, “We are excited to enter into a partnership with CAMB.AI. This strategic alliance will create unprecedented opportunities for enterprises to deploy sophisticated AI via Kompact AI without traditional barriers, another step towards facilitating accessibility in an effort to democratize AI. CAMB.AI has a proven track record of delivering broadcast-quality voice synthesis at scale and combined with our CPU-first optimization runtime, this promises to be a gamechanger when deploying multilingual AI models across industries from sports to education to healthcare.”

Technical Excellence: Where Voice AI Meets CPU Innovation

The integration uses Kompact AI’s advanced CPU optimizations and hybrid architecture to run CAMB.AI’s models with exceptional efficiency on standard CPU hardware, solving key enterprise challenges:

Infrastructure Democratization: Deploy voice translation without costly GPU clusters or cloud GPUs.
Edge Capability: Enable real-time multilingual translation on edge devices, even offline.
Scalable Simplicity: Scale voice AI workloads linearly without rising infrastructure costs.

About CAMB.AI

CAMB.AI is building a global content localization infrastructure driven by AI-powered multilingual translation. With the world’s most advanced speech and translation AI capabilities, CAMB.AI enables seamless multilingual communication via video, audio and text, and across 150+ languages – preserving emotion, retaining authenticity and cultural nuance, and making stories accessible to new audiences. Its philosophy: “the Internet was made for English-speakers. It’s time to re-design it for the world.”

The company works with the world’s biggest brands including the Australian Open, Comcast-NBCUniversal, Dentsu, Eurovision Sport, IMAX, MLS, and NASCAR. Its MARS generative text-to-speech model was the first to be available on AWS Bedrock and the Google Vertex AI Model Garden. Other milestones include the first AI-driven multilingual live sports commentary (in the world, in Europe, in motorsports, and in a press conference); the biggest real-world deployment of AI; and the first Arabic movie to be dubbed using AI.

CAMB.AI has raised $18.5 million to date and is supported by investors including Comcast NBCUniversal Sports Tech, TRTL Ventures, Oraseya Capital, Courtside Ventures, Ikemori Ventures, 5Point Venture Partners, and Dubai Future District Fund. It has operations in the U.S., Canada, APAC, Europe, the Middle East, and India.

About Ziroh Labs and Kompact AI

Ziroh Labs is a global startup with offices in Palo Alto and Bengaluru. It is redefining AI infrastructure with Kompact AI, an AI platform that enables a large language model (LLM) inference on CPUs. This innovation eliminates the dependency on expensive GPUs, making AI workloads significantly more affordable and accessible. The platform is uniquely positioned to drive AI adoption in cost-sensitive and data-regulated industries.

NTIF Celebrates 15 Years in the Spirit of Sisu

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December 10, 2025

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Finland is not only the official home country of Santa Claus, but also a recognized leader in innovation and — according to recent reports — the happiest country in the world. So, there was no better place for the 15th edition of the Nordic Translation & Interpretation Forum (NTIF), which was held November 23-25, 2025.

Thought leaders and language industry professionals from all over Europe gathered in Helsinki to find inspiration in the concept of sisu: a unique Finnish blend of resilience and determination. Sisu in the face of adversity, as artificial intelligence (AI) and language models rapidly reshape the industry, means awareness and agility. As business-to-business (B2B) marketer Yuliya Salorenko stressed in her keynote, only through acceptance and authenticity can we stay relevant.

A recurring theme of the conference was building bridges between partners and stakeholders on all levels. As end-clients seek ownership of their localization processes, suppliers are inclined to develop different self-service solutions to offer visibility and control over workflows and even final output. The key is creating trust and synergy. In their joint presentation on risk management, Maarit Koponen — professor of Translation Studies at the University of Eastern Finland — and Mary Nurminen — a researcher and teacher at Tampere University — emphasized working together with buyers and content creators in defining workflows to minimize risk of linguistic errors, but also taking into account the risk of not providing localized content at all.

According to tradition, NTIF offered expert panel discussions and un-conference style moderated Think Tanks on topics such as interpretation and terminology. A general takeaway was the growing requirement for policies, guidelines, and regulations regarding the use of AI tools in the public domain. Leonardo Doria de Souza, senior adviser at the Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity, and a member of the Steering Committee of the European Commission’s Knowledge Center on Interpreting, shared his insights from over two decades of work regarding how public service interpreting can embrace innovation without losing its humanity.

Simultaneously, a panel on accessibility in the age of AI, including representatives from Finnish public service and AI-powered language service providers (LSPs), defined accessibility as customer experience. As combinations of first language, aging, and various impediments create complex requirements, accessibility is becoming more of a challenge. There is a highlighted potential for innovation and a great opportunity for the industry to take the wheel and influence buyers, decision-makers, and legislators.

In his closing keynote, Joel Willans — an Englishman living in Helsinki who is an award-winning author and the creator of the social media sensation “Very Finnish Problems” — focused on the concept of sisu, providing humorous examples such as celebrating May Day with a massive national picnic in rainy, 8-degree weather. It’s a concept that pretty much sums up the optimism and ambition of an industry going back to the drawing board — and learning to unlearn.

NTIF continues to be a conference-style celebration of an industry passionate about innovation. And despite the sub-arctic climate, organizers and party queens Anne-Marie Colliander Lind and Cecilia Enbäck once again created a warm atmosphere across all conference events.