“Language technologies are important to facilitate our daily life, to make communication easier for the blind and visually impaired and those with dyslexia, and to ensure that the Maltese language does not face digital extinction. This is why I have called for funding for research, development and innovation in the field of language technologies.” MEP Francis Zammit Dimech made these remarks after meeting academics and researchers from the University of Malta working on a project to enable automatic speech recognition of the Maltese language.
The research team explained how they were making use of various speeches delivered by Maltese MEPs at the European Parliament to develop an application able to recognise the Maltese language. The researchers said that an initial prototype of the application will be launched by the end of the year. Zammit Dimech recalled how a Partit Nazzjonalista Government had worked to make the Maltese language an official language of the European Union. He said that such circumstances further confirm how crucial such decision was, and that he will be assisting the group to obtain further raw material and contacts to boost collaboration with other universities.
The Project MASRI (Maltese Automatic Speech Recognition), which brings together efforts from the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology, the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, and the Department of Artificial Intelligence, has so far benefitted from funding thanks to The University of Malta Research Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT). The research team also informed MEP Zammit Dimech how funding for research was a major barrier in their research. In this regard, Zammit Dimech recalled how, following consultation with stakeholders in Malta, he had tabled a number of amendments at the European Parliament, on a report addressing the challenges faced by languages in the digital age, including to increase investment in research, and provide the facility to academic institutions to create language technology platforms. Zammit Dimech said that MEPs in the Committee on Culture and Education, of which he is a member, have called on the European Commission to establish a large-scale, long-term coordinated funding programme for research, development and innovation in the field of language technologies.
Zammit Dimech said that Member States which are small in size and have their own language, need to make language technology as a priority, in order to heed to the linguistic challenges that they face. Zammit Dimech said that unless we prioritise language technology, the Maltese language will face ‘digital extinction’ due to a lack of technology support. He added that the Maltese language needs to be boosted on digital platforms and applications in the face of a deepening digital divide between widely-used and lesser-used languages. He expressed concern over the current widening technology gap between well-resourced and less-resourced languages, and on the need to take concrete measures such as the project MASRI, to ensure the Maltese language is well integrated and used within the digital sphere, including on digital platforms and applications and through digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa.
“We want policies that foster technology development for the Maltese language, because the preservation of a language is crucial to live together in the modern digital world, while safeguarding our national identity,” concluded Zammit Dimech.
