Over Two Hundred Computer Experts from Around the World will Gather in Waxhaw, North Carolina

Every two years JAARS sponsors the CTC in Waxhaw, North Carolina, for Wycliffe Bible Translators, several of the Bible societies, SIL International (JAARS partner organization that engages in language development and translation), and other related organizations’ computer and information technology and translation personnel.

Dennis Steenwyk, JAARS senior vice president for information technology said, “The purpose of the CTC is to review the state of field-related computing in SIL, and to stimulate the best use of computing resources on the field.”

Brian Chapaitis, the chairman of this Computer Technical Conference added, “The exciting thing being done is the dissemination of knowledge, sharing information that those in other parts of the world may not have heard.”

Working together now means that there is more “national involvement” of people from nations that once only received translations in their languages, but are now actively engaged in translation themselves. Chapaitis pointed out, “We can assist them in more ways than we could before, for example with low power computers, sufficient for language analysis and translation.”

The CTC disseminates timely information to SIL field entities and is advisory in nature to international entities within SIL and to other partners in Bible translation.

The busy conference attendees can feast on 81 different reports with topics ranging from “SIL language Software Development,”” “Enterprise Architecture Overview,” “Linux—Advantages of IPCOP,” to “Unicode Transition Update.”

A significant report will be given by Dave Pearson of the United Kingdom, SIL International’s permanent representative to United ations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He will report on how SIL has become more widely known and appreciated outside of its traditional sphere of influence and application.

SIL’s Non-Roman Script Initiative, which involves development of ways to publish non-Roman scripts, has brought wider exposure to SIL and SIL software in development circles. The far-reaching implication of SIL’s software development has been involvement by SIL in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Recurrency workshops were held the two weeks prior to the CTC. These workshops provided an opportunity for participants to receive additional technical training in new areas of expertise that would help to meet the needs of support workers and field linguists.

As part of Wycliffe Bible translator’s family of organizations, JAARS desires to see the Bible translated into every language in the world that still needs it. Its provision of quality technical support services and resources helps to speed this translation process.

Contact: Arthur Lightbody, JAARS Special Assistant to the President for Public Relations, Office: 704-843-6048 Cell Phone: 704-608-3033, arthur_lightbody@sil.org