Last updated on June 12th, 2024 at 09:49 am

Language Services for International Development

On May 30^th, JR Language had the pleasure of attending the Society for International Development’s (SID) 2019 conference.  Held annually, it was the third time that our translation company was able to go to represent the language services offering.  We sent two of our business development representatives, Robert Kells and Douglas Dohr, to the conference to gather information and meet with potential clients.  They brought back some observations that we’ll share below.

The theme of SID 2019 was “Solving Wicked Problems of Development.”  SID devotes itself to tackling international development issues ranging from promoting access to education to water cleansing technology to ending hunger.  These problems cannot be solved without communication, and in a world where over 6,000 languages are spoken, professional translation and interpretation services are more valuable than ever.

At SID 2019, our attendees joined representatives from universities, governments, philanthropic organizations and more to learn about current events in international development and plans to keep improving the human condition.  Translation and interpretation services in Washington, D.C. alone are essential for international communication between the United States and the rest of the world, and at SID 2019, a microcosm of the globe came together in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

Our Take-Aways from the conference

Robert says:

“As in years past, the SID 2019 conference was a full day of learning about the important work that different NGOs are doing around the world and meeting the people who are working to complete the goals of their organizations.  The need for language translation and interpretation services varies from place to place and organization to organization, so it is important for our team to speak directly with these groups to understand the best ways to provide language translation and interpretation solutions now and into the future.

Document translation plays an important role in effective communication between NGOs and their team members based in different countries around the world.  Documents vary from financial statements, to progress reports, to public-facing information and surveys.  Quality and turnaround times are two important areas where a professional language translation agency can assist NGOs and their language needs.

Following our third year attending the conference, it is still clear that language translation and interpretation play a vital role in international development space.  Our translation agency is committed to continue supporting our clients’ translation needs, and we’re excited to support new missions around the world.”

Douglas says:

“The 2019 SID Washington conference was a great reunion of various agencies involved in international development work.  JR Language Translation Company was glad to meet with our partners in the development space.  This year they had an innovation competition.  We were introduced to some interesting collaborations where technology is helping to change lives in developing countries.  There was a fertility tracker app to help with family planning, a training platform leveraging virtual reality to help rural Vietnamese youth learn soft skills to prepare for jobs in retail or hospitality, and a group helping the youth of Myanmar get involved in the political system, to name a few.

We were amazed to see how the international development community is leveraging technology to stretch funding and improve the reach of their messages.  We’re always impressed at the innovation within the aid sector and look forward to continuing our mission to provide translation services for languages common and rare.

In addition to our partners who require our services, it’s always great to see our colleagues who provide translation and interpretation in this sector. We were able to make some new connections for rare languages and look forward to working with our new contacts on projects in international development in the future.  Despite the sunny May heat, our day was made even brighter by the people we met, and we cannot wait to go back next year!”