December 20, 2024 The Eighth Automatic Translation Symposium: Utilizing Generative AI and AI Translation in Municipalities

  The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), in cooperation with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and the Global Communication Development Promotion Council, is researching and developing multilingual translation technology and its implementation in society. This effort aims to eliminate all language barriers worldwide and realize global and free exchange.
 The Eighth Automatic Translation Symposium will be held at the Shinagawa Intercity Hall under the theme of "Utilizing Generative AI and AI Translation in Municipalities." At the symposium, researchers will present lectures on the latest technological trends and specific case studies of how local governments are using translation machines in response to the growing number of inbound travelers. The latest automated translation products and services from companies and organizations will also be exhibited.

1. Time and date

 12:45 pm to 5:00 pm on Wednesday, February 19, 2025
 (Doors open at 12:45, lectures take place from 13:30 to 16:00 and exhibitions are open from 12:45 to 17:00)

2. Venue

 Shinagawa Intercity Hall (approximately five minutes on foot from the Konan Exit of JR Shinagawa Station)
 Shinagawa Intercity Hall Building, 2-15-4 Konan, Minato-City, Tokyo

3. Program (tentative, speaker names listed without honorifics)

 Theme: Utilizing Generative AI and AI Translation in Municipalities

(1) Opening remarks
 SUDO Osamu, Chair of the Global Communications Development Promotion Council (Professor at the Faculty of Global Informatics, Chuo University and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo)

(2) Greetings from the organizers
 The MIC

(3) Lectures
 Keynote talk: How Do Large-Scale Language Models Overcome the 'Language Barrier?'
 By OKAZAKI Naoaki, Professor at School of Information Science and Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo

Lecture 1: Leveraging Multilingual Translation Technologies in Municipalities
 By TSURUTA Chikako, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Lecture 2: Case Studies of Multilingual Interpretation Services in Municipalities - Proven Track Record at Itabashi City, Tokyo
 By Konica Minolta, Inc.

Lecture 3: Using Automatic Translation in Municipalities to Assist Inbound Travelers
 By TOPPAN Inc.

(4) Closing remarks
 TOKUDA Hideyuki, President, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
 *An exhibition of the latest simultaneous interpretation and automatic translation systems will also be held.

4. Organizers

 MIC, NICT, and Global Communications Development and Promotion Council