Language equality in the digital age – Towards a Human Language Project

Please note: Each EPRS Study is assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a safe and long term way of ensuring a hyperlink to the full text of this report. However, when ESO creates this record, on occasion the DOI still has not been activated by the EU Bookshop. If you find the source url hyperlink does not work please use the alternative location hyperlink listed as a related url.

Please note that in this case there are two separate hyperlinks - one to the main study itself, and one to an annex.The EU is a unique endeavour involving more than 500 million citizens sharing about 80 different languages, and while multilingualism is a key feature, it is also one of the most substantial challenges for the creation of a truly integrated EU.

Language barriers have a profound effect on cross-border public services, on fostering a common European identity, on workers’ mobility, and on cross-border e-commerce and trade, in the context of a Digital Single Market.

The emergence of new technological approaches, based on increased computational power and access to sizeable amounts of data, are making Human Language Technologies (HLT) a real solution to overcoming language barriers. However, several challenges, such as market fragmentation and unsubstantial and uncoordinated funding strategies, are hindering the European HLT community, including research and industry.

Moreover, language technologies are not properly represented in the agenda of European policy-makers, although they are likely to be crucial for the construction of a fair and truly integrated European Union.

Based on the analysis of the current state of affairs, the external authors of this study argue for setting up a multidisciplinary large-scale coordinated initiative, the European Human Language Project (HLP).

Within the HLP, eleven policies are proposed and assessed. These policies are grouped into: institutional policies, research policies, industry policies, market policies, and public service policies.

• Primary Source

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union: Publications available via the EU Bookshop http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/directorate-general-for-internal-policies-of-the-union-cbf.cKABstF7wAAAEjwYYY4e5K/

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, March 2017: Language equality in the digital age - Towards a Human Language Project http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/598621/EPRS_STU(2017)598621_EN.pdf

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, March 2017: Language equality in the digital age - Towards a Human Language Project. Annex http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/598621/EPRS_STU(2017)598621(ANN)_EN.pdf

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