Riga Stradiņš University: successful use of machine translation in internal workflows
Team Tilde November 12, 2023
Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) is one of the most modern universities in the Baltic states with an extensive choice of health care and social sciences study programmes, as well as a strong foundation in research and international recognition. Almost 30% of students and every fifth lecturer come from abroad, making RSU the most international university in Latvia and one of the leaders in the Baltic states.
The need for more efficient translation operations
This rapid growth of international students and personnel created demand for a fast and cost-effective translation solution. Lecture materials, internal documents, manuals, news, descriptions, and web content – all the essential information should be available in Latvian and English.
Multilingual content and internal communication were two of the main reasons why RSU decided to implement the custom-made language technologies developed by Tilde.
Machine translation where it’s needed, when it’s needed
While analysing the client’s specific and requirements, we combined the essence of machine translation tools and features. As a result, RSU personnel is equipped with everything needed to get the fastest, most secure, and precise translation results possible:
- Real-time text, whole document, and website translation in Latvian – English – Latvian,
- Tilde API to integrate the translation platform into internal environments such as Intranet, document management system and others for more efficient workflows,
- Terminology management portal to centrally store, search, and add industry-specific terms, their description and translation,
- Tilde machine translation plugin for Trados CAT tool for internal professional translators, that can benefit from translation memories and terminology all in one place,
- Data security and privacy, ensuring that none of the translated information is stored or analysed.
Teaching academic language to the translation engines
It is true that the language used in RSU documents and communication materials is slightly different from everyday vocabulary. That’s why using a generic machine translation engine for this case wasn’t enough.
The Tilde team of data specialists and AI experts used around 500 thousand already translated sentences from RSU to create a custom machine translation engine. This specialised engine is designed to meet RSU’s needs for specific academic vocabulary, thus giving more precise and higher quality translation results.
“In collaboration with Tilde, we have integrated machine translation services into our IT ecosystem, making it easy for every RSU employee to access. Tilde’s translation service integration on the intranet and Trados CAT plugin have been particularly popular. Additionally, the terminology management portal has allowed us to fine-tune specific terminology and translations used in the university, improving the accuracy and relevance of our machine translations. Through discussions and workshops with Tilde during the implementation phase, we were able to find the best and most efficient ways of introducing Tilde language technologies. As a result, RSU employees have experienced improved efficiency, accuracy, and a secure environment for translations of text and various documents.”
Uldis Donins, project manager at RSU
Speech transcription for academics
While exploring the world of language technologies further, RSU implemented an additional tool – Tilde Transcribe. With the help of speech recognition technology, users can automatically convert real-time speech or recorded audio/video files into text.
Tilde Transcribe helps the personnel automate routine tasks such as meeting and interview transcription and transform recorded lectures into written content.
We’re proud of Rīga Stradiņš University’s ability to implement language technologies for the accessibility and efficiency of the organisation. RSU’s determination and energy to inform and train colleagues on using machine translation is the key to successfully integrating technology into everyday work processes.
Are you curious about implementing language technologies in your organisation?
