Re: [egov] RE: A proposal regarding the Language TranslationSubcommittee

[Todd Harbour <toddh@fgm.com>]

I'm tossing in my 2 cents on this one as I work in this area, and I think
that I may be able to save people a lot of unnecessary work. Let me try to
explain what I am thinking. I think that the entire notion of diplomatic
communications should live within the eGov TC versus the HumanMarkup TC. I
say this primarily because I think that the emphasis is backwards. By that I
mean that the concepts, vocabulary, and <ELEMENTS> are inherently
governmental in nature. These are serious concepts that in many cases are
exclusively controlled by authorities (e.g., sanctions, embargoes, and
treaties). While there are aspects of internationalization and localization,
if we were to look at what domain "owns" these concepts, it is indisputably
governments. In my experience, I can easily see an organization like OASIS
trying to establish a standard for something like diplomatic communication
by a host of "experts" who do not belong to the community only to have the
entire specification ignored. I would hate to see this happen to the
HumanMarkup group. If you were to ask where are all the government
representatives, I think that we would agree that they are in the eGov TC --
where the diplomats are. What do others think?

On 1/9/03 9:16 PM, "Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga" <rkthunga@humanmarkup.org> wrote:

> 
> I wanted to bring up a couple of points regarding the potential
> "Language Translation" Subcommittee.  During our first TC meeting last
> month, we briefly discussed how it wasn't only language that we were
> addressing in this proposed SC, but the broader context of culture,
> social, and even ideological differences between governments, government
> agencies, and citizens.  I believe that we proposed considering it
> within a broader umbrella of 'Internationalization'.
> 
> The HumanMarkup TC is specifically looking at many of these issues.  In
> the broader range of services, one of our special interests is in
> establishing diplomatic services.  We are in the process of forming a
> Diplomatic Communications subcommittee within the HumanMarkup TC partly
> to this effect, to explore the codification of some of the protocols
> used within these communications processes.
> 
> I would actually be willing to represent interests pertaining to these
> issues, as well as broader language and translation issues, through both
> my work at the Fund for the City of New York and the HumanMarkup TC.
> Although the spot of chair is currently open, it may be too early for me
> to consider a role such as this due to my own schedule.  However, I
> would certainly be able as a representative for this arena to ensure
> that traction is made in coordinating these activities as well.
> 
> From my standpoint, it is also very important that work in this arena
> proceed hand-in-hand with both the work on the upcoming Diplomatic
> Communications SC within HumanMarkup, as well as with ensuring we gather
> representation from international diplomatic agencies within the eGov
> TC.   From the standpoint of the effort as a whole, it seems important
> that features relating to cross-cultural translation, linguistic and
> otherwise, are taken into account from the onset.
> 
> ---
> Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga
> (917) 494-1684 (m)
> HYPERLINK "mailto:rkthunga@humanmarkup.org"rkthunga@humanmarkup.org
> HumanMarkup TC - Chair
> Fund for the City of New York - Technology Consultant
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rex Brooks [mailto:rexb@starbourne.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 7:34 AM
> To: John.Borras@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk; Reynolds, Peter;
> Tony.Jewtushenko@oracle.com
> Cc: egov@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: [egov] RE: A proposal regarding the Language Translation
> Subcommittee
> 
> 
> Please excuse my brief interjection. I don't usually post to lists in
> which I don't actively participate. However, in this case I suspect you
> might benefit from some relatively objective  advice. I think you would
> be well-advised to choose an idependent OASIS member rather than a
> member-company representative for chairing a subcommittee where you
> can't field a government representative.
> 
> I will return to monitoring silently.
> 
> Ciao,
> Rex
> 
> At 12:06 PM +0000 1/9/03, John.Borras@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk wrote:
> 
> Peter/Tony
> We certainly will need to have a discussion to sort out our respective
> remits but as yet we don't have anybody to lead our sub-committee so
> we'll have to take a rain check on that for now.  I'll add it to our TO
> Do list and we'll get back in touch as soon as we can find a name.
> Regards,
> John
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Reynolds, Peter" <Peter.Reynolds@bowneglobal.ie>
> 
> 
> 29/12/2002 16:41
>      
>       To:        "'Patrick Gannon'" <patrick.gannon@oasis-open.org>,
> Evdemon John <evdemon_john@bah.com>, John.Borras@e-envoy.gsi.gov.uk
>       cc:        egov@lists.oasis-open.org,
> "'Tony.Jewtushenko@oracle.com'" <Tony.Jewtushenko@oracle.com>
>       Subject:        RE: A proposal regarding the Language
> Translation Subcommittee
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> Patrick is correct in his outline of the scope of the Translation Web
> Services TC.
> 
> There are probably areas where your sub-committee can work with not just
> the
> TWS TC but the XLIFF group as well. I have been involved with the XLIFF
> TC
> since that started and that has some of the most knowledgeable people in
> this area as members. Tony Jewtushenko is chair of the XLIFF TC. It
> might be
> worth having a discussion so each group knows what each other is doing
> and
> how we can work together.
> 
> I will be out of the office next week but available in the week starting
> January 6th.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Peter.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Patrick Gannon [mailto:patrick.gannon@oasis-open.org]
> Sent: 26 December 2002 17:55
> To: Evdemon John; John.Borras@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk
> Cc: egov@lists.oasis-open.org; Peter.Reynolds@bowneglobal.ie
> Subject: RE: A proposal regarding the Language Translation Subcommittee
> 
> 
> John E.,
> 
> From my understanding of the charter of the Translation Web Services TC,
> their scope is focused on defining the vocabulary and WSDL interactions
> between publishers of information and translation vendors.  To the
> extent
> that Governments have unique requirements regarding how they need to
> interact with translation vendors to translate documents, web sites and
> information used in transactions, then it would likely be appropriate
> for
> the e-Government TC's Language Translation Subcommittee (LTS) to
> establish a
> Liaison with the Translation WS TC.  It was my understanding, however,
> that
> the scope of the LTS was broader than that of the T-WS TC.
> 
> In either case, I have included the T-WS TC Chair, Peter Reynolds, in
> this
> email thread so that he can more appropriately interact with the
> e-Government TC Chair. Possibly there would be someone from the T-WS TC
> who
> would volunteer to Chair the LT Subcommittee and provide the Liaison
> function.
> 
> Respectfully submitted from an Observer,
> 
> Patrick Gannon
> President & CEO
> OASIS
> PO Box 455, Billerica, MA  01821
> +1-978-667-5115 x201 (Office)
> +1-408-242-1018  (Mobile)
> +1-978-667-5114  (Fax)
> patrick.gannon@oasis-open.org
> http://www.oasis-open.org
> http://www.xml.org
> http://xml.coverpages.org/
> http://www.ebxml.org
> http://www.legalxml.org
> http://www.uddi.org
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Evdemon John [mailto:evdemon_john@bah.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2002 11:29 AM
> To: John.Borras@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk
> Cc: egov@lists.oasis-open.org;
> Subject: A proposal regarding the Language Translation Subcommittee
> 
> 
> WRT the proposed Language Translation subcommittee, might this entire
> subcommittee be replaced with a liaison (or liaisons) with the new OASIS
> 
> Translation Web Services TC?
> 
> John Evdemon
> Senior Associate
> Digital Strategies
> Booz | Allen | Hamilton
> 
> 
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=========================================
Todd Harbour                            571-276-2196 (Cell)
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