Remote Interpreting: Feeling Our Way into the Future Published by The ATA Chronicle New communications technologies make interpreting available where it wasn’t in the past. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the way we will work remotely, because what’s going on is game changing and shaking our profession from top to bottom. In April […]
via Remote Interpreting: The Elephant in the Room — A Word In Your Ear
Preamble for translators and interpreters: Maybe (just maybe) machines will not replace “all” human translators and interpreters, but all of us will be replaced by some language experts using the latest technologies. It is therefore paramount to play catchup and get on-board with actions to become technologically savvy without delay!
I recently read an 11/29/17 Washington Post Article by Marwa Eltagouiri about an 84-year-old physician who lost her license to practice medicine because she refuses to use a computer, thus failing to comply with New Hampshire State Law on medical record-keeping protocols. In reality, the case centers more around the opioid epidemic and this physician’s inability to meet the State’s electronic drug monitoring program regulations. Whatever the situation, the entire case goes to underline the “electronic” (vs. paper) component that is clearly at the heart of the issue. Regardless of what the physician believes, it is now the law to keep electronic records. That is how fast the world has moved forward in ascertaining the cyberspace as the “factual” space, as well as modern technologies as the underpinning supports for some interactions.
Although some discussions are still going on as to whether doctors have it “better” or “worse” today as a result of this technological revolution, such disagreements are do not change the fact that things “are” what they are.
Just 30 years ago –which, in historical terms, is a short period– the National Institutes of Health via NCBI still wondered if doctors had a positive or negative attitude towards computers! From those “opinion pieces,” we now see ourselves working in a world completely different from the one for which most “older” physicians were preparing 30 or 40 years ago. Everyone in the healthcare and medical fields has had to “suffer” through a very steep technology-learning curve, especially in the last two decades. In 1999 I was working at a large insurance company that employed many nurses and doctors, and I remember all of them saying they would never -ever!- use computers.
Life is not a straight line. At the end of the last century (Wow! that sounds like a long time ago!), we were implementing (*) Y2K conformity requirements, (*) the newly instituted HIPAA provisions (or equivalent efforts in other parts of the world), and (*) the novel C.L.A.S. mandate (and other cultural competency efforts around the globe). In the last 15-20 years, these monumental programs were incorporated into our routine and are now a “mainstream” aspect of our daily life.
My point, then, is that our “way of life” –our daily activities as we perceive them today– is a concept that must be re-evaluated constantly as internal and external forces change and shape it into something different than what we were “used to” just a few years ago. The rate of innovation brought about by the accelerated developments in available technologies is speeding up such rate of change. I look at my grandkids, and all of them were born after Y2K. Even for my adult children, the Cold War is a remote history lesson. Yesterday, TCM showed a movie from my youth and talked about the cinematographic importance of this “classic.” Statistically speaking, a hundred years ago I would have been dead already for a couple decades, as life expectancy for women did not even reach 40 years old!
We must at all times be aware of our surroundings, which includes perceiving, understanding, and adapting to the technological changes (extraordinary and progressive) going on around us!
I met Debbie Wemyss of DW Consulting Solutions LLC via the excellent seminars offered by the Small Business Administration’s SCORE program. I attended one of her training sessions on how to harness the power of Linkedin and came out of that class with a list of ways to connect with other professional and business interests in this cyber world platform. I am working on some of her tips and tricks but quote below some of her “Favorite tips for Linkedin Success” which are just the tip of the iceberg….
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DON’T DO THIS! ARE YOU MAKING THESE COMMON MISTAKES?
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(Reference: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/TIPS-to-get-the-most-out-of-LinkedIn.html?soid=1113533254011&aid=P0gQVU1EOPM)
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As a micro-entrepreneur, I wear many different hats every day. From content creator to educator to business administrator to customer service agent, to tax accountant, and of course, the dreaded functions of marketing and sales. These last two are, for me, the most difficult task in the entire experience of entrepreneurship. Although I recently completed a Certificate in Small Business and Entrepreneurship (complementary to my BS in Business Management), all the theory (and even practice) learned serve little purpose to my end goals of selling my courses at a profit. I have learned through the years that you may have a “warehouse” -physical or in cyberspace- full of the most fantastic products, but if you don’t know how to take them to market, it is the same as having nothing at all. On the other hand, I have seen individuals with very doubtful products become millionaires because they simply were genius at marketing their product or idea. It is a skill like any other but, just as you can learn some skills, it is also true that you can “not” learn other skills. If you lack balance, you will not be able to ride a bike.
I have reached the point where I must admit my Marketing & Sales “gene” is yet to be found! That is why my learning experience with Debbie about all the fantastic opportunities rendered by Linkedin will come in so handy in 2018 and beyond. Until now, I have used this medium more as a sort of professional Facebook account than as a marketing tool. I learned so many tips and tricks, that my readers hopefully will be seeing some changes in the coming months. I learned that I could not do certain things in Linkedin: for example, to comply with Linkedin’s User Agreement Regulations (I admit I had not read them), I had to close an account I was using to promote my business! Instead of it, I had to open an “appropriate” company account in Linkedin for BRAUERTRAINING under my “personal” profile (I did not know that!). I am now merging, updating and upgrading the “combined” pages. I will also be adding at least three new contacts every day and will be giving and asking for recommendations. I will be more proactive in my networks and groups…. ufff… sounds like a lot of work… and it is… but at least I believe it is grounded in solid recommendations.
Finally, if you let me know what subjects you would like me to address in 2018, I will start researching those topics and hopefully providing insights in the matters that are important to us as language experts or language-experts-to-be! Also, let me know where I can improve…. I am always receptive to comments and suggestions. Feel free to send me a note via Linkedin or email me at claudia@brauertraining.com. Thank you for your continued support!
PS: Also, make sure to check upcoming training sessions using the ProZ.com platform, visiting http://www.proz.com/trainer/1271125.
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I am not the expert on Linkedin, so I will refer you to some of Debbie’s articles that will provide some fantastic tips…. and make sure to follow her and take some of her training sessions. They are worth your time!
Globally Speaking: Will I Have a Job Five Years from Now? [Podcast] http://info.moravia.com/blog/globally-speaking-will-i-have-a-job-five-years-from-now-podcast
Checking out ProZ.com Training Terminology 4 Legal Settings–Level 1: http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/13235-t28_terminology_4_legal_settings%E2%80%93level_1 via @prozcom
Register for my next training session @ ProZ: “Terminology Lists for Finance & Business – Level 1”: http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/13210-terminology_lists_for_finance_business_level_1_t21_w90 via @prozcom
This is a fantastic, short, high-content article. It should be read by translators as an introduction to the future of translation. Congratulations to KantanMT
We have entered a new age, and a new technology has come into play: Machine Translation (MT). It’s globally accepted that MT systems dramatically increase productivity but it’s a hard struggle to integrate this technology into your production process. Apart from handling the engine building and optimizing procedures, you have to transform your traditional workflow:
The…
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“Some will ignore the incursions of the disruptors and do nothing—this could be a fatal mistake for some.”
One of the few things we can count on is that “things change”. When I started out as a translator we used typewriters and listened to music on cassette tapes. We got our translations typeset on photographic paper—a revolution that had just displaced the “hot metal” linotype. Typewriters, cassette tapes and phototypesetting have all gone.
So what’s next in the translation world? Can we predict the likely course of events into the future? A certain Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, seems to think so.
Clayton Christensen , Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Christensen is best known for his book “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, where he articulates his theory of disruptive innovation.
Disruptive business models
Christensen studies how “disruptive” ideas and new technologies constantly evolve and displace the old—only to be discarded and replaced by new waves of innovation. His theories have been…
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