Address by Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minister for Science, Technology & Commerce at the official opening of new European Head Office ofBerlitz GlobalNETWest Pier Business Campus, Dún Laoghaire on 26th October, 2000, at 2.30pm.

I am delighted to be with you all today at the official opening of the new European headquarters for Berlitz GlobalNET here in Dún Laoghaire.

Today’s event is significant not only in terms of your company’s Irish operation, but also for the Berlitz Group as a whole - I am told that this office is now one of the three main production hubs within your Group.

The Berlitz organisation has been around for well over a century and it has come a long way in that time. In the climate of today, with the ease and frequency of international travel, and with fluency in several languages becoming the norm for our young people, it is difficult for us to imagine the world of the late nineteenth century when Maximillian Berlitz first got involved in teaching languages in Rhode Island, and eventually founded the organisation which is now so successful today, and which still bears his name. Phrase books and foreign language dictionaries, not to mention foreign travel, must have seemed quite exotic to most people of that time.

And just as we might find it hard to comprehend the world of Maximillian, one can’t help but wonder what someone like him would make of his company today, and of the world in which it is operating. The "tools of the trade" used today in the teaching of languages might very well be largely incomprehensible to people of the Victorian age.

However, I suspect that Maximillian Berlitz would be quite pleased that, just as he himself was at the forefront in pushing out the frontiers of language-learning in his time; the Berlitz organisation is still adapting and changing to the needs of its market in modern times. Embracing the latest techniques and technologies seems to have been part and parcel of what this company has been about since it came into being.

The Berlitz GlobalNet operation here in Dún Laoghaire is a good example of this approach - it involves the very latest of modern technologies. Through the services that you are providing, such as e-business globalisation consulting, multilingual content and document management, multimedia and Web localisation, you are helping companies in a wide variety of industries to avail of the tremendous opportunities which are now presenting themselves in the exciting world of e-commerce.

The Berlitz operations here in Ireland do not quite stretch back to the time of Maximillian, although I understand that you have had an Irish connection in the past. I am told that James Joyce once worked with Berlitz as an English Language Instructor during his time in Trieste. It would be interesting to know what his colleagues, and students, of that time made of the great man, and particularly of his use of language.

In the decade or so that Berlitz has been doing business here in Ireland, you have grown steadily. Your Irish operation now employs about 350 high calibre people, and is the premier provider of localisation and translation services to the software and telecommunications industry. 60% of your workforce are highly skilled software and testing engineers. As a result of your success in this arena, your company has now become a major player in the provision of eBusiness related translation and localisation activities. Clearly this capability is an important part of the infrastructure here in Ireland.

It is indeed most encouraging to learn that, when the Berlitz parent company unveiled a leading-edge translation portal, Berlitz IT in November of 1999, providing an online translation service, which offers corporate clients translation of documents via the Internet, the development of this application was mainly undertaken by software engineers here in Ireland.

I understand that your company is working closely with Enterprise Ireland in a study on ‘best practice’ for e-business, and I sincerely commend you for this work.

Your work with the Irish Exporters Association will enable their members and associated companies to get their marketing and other materials on the Web translated into the languages of their target markets. This will enable these companies address their potential customers in their native language and greatly increase their success in these international markets.

The localisation industry, although relatively young, has already gained considerable experience in the linguistic and cultural adaptation of IT applications to the requirements of a wide variety of countries and cultures. This industry is ideally positioned to become the enabler for the multilingual, inclusive information society. Given the diversity of languages and cultures in Europe, web-based multimedia and contents localisation has now become one of the major growth areas for both the localisation and language technologies across Europe.

According to Computer Economics, 75% of current Web users are English speakers, but it is predicted that, in time, the English language will become less pervasive. By 2002, Internet users will be predominantly non-English-speaking, and it is estimated that by 2005, 57% of Internet users will speak a language other than English. The languages that will cause this shift are Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese. However, English may remain the language that dominates Web sites for business e-commerce.

Today Ireland provides a high quality cost effective Telecommunications infrastructure essential for e-commerce activities. I am happy to say that due to the Government’s Telecommunications Strategy, this country is quickly becoming a highly effective e-marketplace

As regards telecommunications infrastructure, our intention is to have vigorous competition by world class telecommunication services providers, which will supply low cost, broadband connectivity throughout this country. This Government has signed a major deal with Global Crossing, which provides Ireland with new capacity which is 15 times larger than our current capacity. This network will connect Ireland to 26 European cities and to the United States. This deal was a milestone in our development as an Information Society.

Another connectivity initiative is the 360 Networks Atlantic project. It is the first Transatlantic fibre optic cable to land directly here in Ireland and will offer direct connectivity between most North American and European Cities. These are milestones in our development as an Information Society and ensures our place on the global playing field.

In a further initiative, the Government has ensured that the benefits of the Information Age will be made available to all citizens, by rolling out Broadband fibre optic cable to over 120 towns, touching on 21 Counties. This roll out is due to be completed by 31 December of this year.

We intend to enhance business awareness of ICTs by helping business to adopt and harness the potential of ICTs through our development agency initiatives and by developing business and consumer trust in e-business through awareness campaigns.

This Government recognises that investment in people as well as technology is crucial. We are taking steps through expert groups, the State training agencies and the education sector to develop appropriate skills, to promote innovation and to meet emerging skills gaps in the ICT industries and e-business areas.

We recently announced a major research and development initiative - Science Foundation Ireland - to establish Ireland as a location for world class research excellence in niche areas within the ICT and e-business areas. It represents the largest ever financial commitment by Ireland in the R&D area.

We believe that a balanced e-regulation framework, which creates the necessary confidence and trust in e.business by enterprise and consumers alike and which encourages growth in this area, is absolutely essential. We believe in competition, where possible and regulation, where necessary. The E.Commerce Act 2000 has created a legal framework to facilitate the growth of e-business and electronic transactions. We have established legal recognition of e-business transactions in most areas of business, private law and public administration by giving the same status to electronic signatures, electronic originals, electronic writing and electronic contracts as their paper-based counterparts. Ireland is one of the first countries in the world to have adopted comprehensive legislation of this kind.

We consider that ICT’s offer substantial opportunities to deliver better government by maximising the use of ICT in a client-centred manner for the delivery of its services to business, consumers and citizens. We are currently developing a number of initiatives in this area.

I congratulate all of those associated with the Berlitz operation here in Dún Laoghaire and I wish you all continued success in the future and exciting years ahead.