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(disclaimer: information provided by LISA, - BB)
Since 1990, the leading international hardware and software publishers and translation service companies have been meeting regularly to increase the professionalism of the localization business by exchanging process, technology and standards information. Today, with over seventy members and liaising groups worldwide, the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) have established itself as the authoritative source for localization procedures and multilingual document publishing for the Information Technology industry.
Rather than acting as a traditional standards body per se, members view themselves as a results oriented implementation group focusing on improving the bottom line of their company's localization business. Meeting four times each year, The LISA Forum motivates localization professionals to discuss non-proprietary information about product and translation costs, QA testing and product internationalization procedures among other key business issues. They cooperate on language technology and localization production initiatives to foster the growth and standardization of the industry.
As an example of the type of projects LISA members support, the 1993 LISA Survey provided the membership with the first snapshot of the localization industry. For software publishers, it explored organizational models, procedures, translation volumes, language coverage and variants, and the use of language technology. For localization vendors it covered resources, financial structures, client base, scope of activities, organization, terminology, project management, QA, translation tools, and client/vendor relations. The 1994 and 1995 Surveys continue this tradition.
LISA attracts qualified professionals with particular management, technical and production expertise. Membership is growing because of the results achieved not only within their constituency but also for the industry. In collaboration with ISO and TEI (the Text Encoding Initiative), they have published a Tutorial for an industry standard terminology interface format (ISO 12200 - TIF). A select group of LISA members (Stream Internationaly, Xerox, IBM, Microsoft, Mendez Translation, Oracle and Sybase, among others) are presently developing guidelines in the language QA domain for document management and multilingual publishing solutions.
LISA members also research various machine translation and language processing tools, resources and technologies for group development partners with special interests in solving production problems. The LISA Showcase, a CD-ROM catalogue listing detailed profiles of relevant technology, tools, service vendors, publications and standards supporting the localization industry, is another example of the conspired work the organization produces.
LISA members gain top-level information on localization technology, partnership and standards information. Membership gives you the opportunity to network with the largest publishers, translation vendors and language technology developers in the world. You have access to their methodology and non proprietary information and can participate in LISA projects and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Members receive the quarterly meeting summaries and all distributed information from the Forums, the LISA Newsletter, ISO Technical Committees 37 and 46 initiatives and, can attend the LISA Forums as well as various localization and technical training workshops.
Annual membership costs $2600.00 for software publishers, hardware manufacturers, and translation and localization vendors. Special fees are arranged for University R&D and linguistic training centers and non-profit organizations.
LISA Administration
2bis rue Ad-Fontanel
CH-1227 Carouge
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 301 5760
Fax: +41 22 301 5761
Internet:
MANOBILE@DIVSUN.UNIGE.CH