NTIF celebrates 15 years in the spirit of sisu
Finland is not only the official home country of Santa Claus, but a recognized leader in innovation and according to recent reports, the happiest country in the world. No better place then, for the 15th edition of the Nordic Translation & Interpretation Forum (NTIF).
As thought leaders and language industry professionals from all over Europe gathered in Helsinki, it was to find inspiration in the concept of sisu—a unique Finnish blend of resilience and determination. Sisu in the face of adversity, as AI and language models rapidly reshape the industry, means awareness and agility. As B2B marketer Yuliya Salorenko stressed in her keynote, only through acceptance and authenticity can we stay relevant.
A re-occurring theme of the conference was building bridges between partners and stake-holders 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. 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, emphasize 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 take-away 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 on 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, 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.
Joel Willans is an Englishman living in Helsinki, and also an award-winning author and the creator of the social media sensation Very Finnish Problems, where he shares humorous insights into Finnish culture with over 1.3 million followers, including prime ministers, presidents, and sports stars. In his keynote, Joel describes the concept of sisu as stubborn resilience. That is celebrating May Day with a massive national picnic in 8 degrees and rain, and then surviving winter without an industrial-grade sunlamp the size of a pool table. That pretty much sums up the optimism and ambition of an industry back at the drawing board—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 create the warmest atmosphere, from debating to dinner and dancing.
Summarized by Lea Backhurst