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PORTAGE: Machine Learning for Translation
Now Available to Canadian Universities!
PORTAGEshared statistical machine translation software system.
June 7, 2006
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) launched its PORTAGEshared statistical machine translation (SMT) software at the AI 2006 Conference in Quebec City this week. Aimed primarily at the growing need faced by Canadian Universities, the PORTAGEshared system will contribute to the development of Canadian expertise in SMT.
Machine translation is gaining renewed interest thanks to the use of statistical techniques, which produce improved performance compared to traditional machine translation systems based on expert systems. As a result, research and development (R&D) in SMT is spreading rapidly around the world. However, to begin a R&D program in SMT requires a significant effort in implementing a basic software system that can serve as a foundation for R&D activities. Canadian Universities wanting to conduct research in this field are faced with added challenges due to resources, know-how and tools available.
NRC’s Interactive Language Technologies Group of the Institute for Information Technology has been working on a major SMT research project for the last two years. The PORTAGE project and its expertise are already recognized internationally. NRC intends to offer a fully operational basic version of its system – PORTAGEshared – to Canadian universities interested in R&D in the SMT area.
This software is being offered to Canadian universities as source code and as an executable version, for research and education purposes. This SMT system will allow interested parties to start R&D activities in SMT without having to spend precious time developing a fully functional basic system.
The intent of sharing this expertise being the creation of a SMT community of practice in Canada, the licensing model used for PORTAGEshared encourages interaction between participating universities, the sharing of their experience, as well as the sharing of improvements that will be brought to the software system. The training of highly qualified personnel in the area of SMT is also an objective of this licensing program of the PORTAGEshared software system.
Research Contacts
Dr. Roland Kuhn
Research Officer
Interactive Language Technologies
NRC Institute for Information Technology
283 Alexandre-Taché Boulevard
Building CRTL, Room F2-001
Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7
Telephone: +1 (819) 934-4222
E-mail: Roland.Kuhn@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
Dr. George Foster
Research Officer
Interactive Language Technologies
NRC Institute for Information Technology
283 Alexandre-Taché Boulevard
Building CRTL, Room F2-056
Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7
Telephone: +1 (819) 934-3275
Fax: +1 (819) 934-2607
E-mail: George.Foster@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
Business Contact
Michel Mellinger
Business Development Officer
Interactive Language Technologies
NRC Institute for Information Technology
283 Alexandre-Taché Boulevard
Building CRTL, Room F1-023
Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7
Telephone: +1 (819) 934-2602
Fax: +1 (819) 934-2607
E-mail: Michel.Mellinger@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
