The Rosetta Foundation

Origin of name

The foundation is named after the Rosetta Stone.

Goals and aims

1. Relieve poverty, support healthcare, develop education and promote justice through access to information and knowledge on a global scale
2. Provide access to information and knowledge through the removal of language barriers
3. Remove language barriers by providing an infrastructure for translation and localization, both internationally and locally
4. Use this infrastructure to create employment and prosperity leading to greater equality
5. Ensure that this effort is sustainable, global, and based on principles of social enterprise

The aim of The Rosetta Foundation is to provide information to as many people as possible, in their own languages. Some of the core concept are described in a paper published by Reinhard Schäler: Information Sharing across Languages.

European Launch

The European launch took place at the AGIS ’09 conference in Limerick, Ireland on 21–23 September 2009. The President of the University of Limerick, Professor Don Barry, announced the launch of The Rosetta Foundation on 21 September 2009 during his welcoming address to the AGIS '09 delegates. AGIS, Action for Global Information Sharing, provided an opportunity for volunteer translators, localization specialists and NGOs to come together to learn, network and celebrate their work.

North American Launch

The North American launch took take place at the Localization World conference in Santa Clara, California on 20 October 2009. This pre-conference workshop provided an overview of the organizational structure, the aims and objectives, and the strategic plan of The Rosetta Foundation. Participants were introduced to the Foundation’s translation and localization technology platform – GlobalSight.

International No Language Barrier Day

In 2012, The Rosetta Foundation declared 19 April the international "No Language Barrier Day". The day is meant to raise international awareness about the fact that it is not languages that represent barriers, but rather access to translation services that is the barrier preventing communities from accessing and sharing information across languages. The annual celebration of this day aims to raise awareness about and to grow global community translation efforts. One example for this is the BBB Volunteer Interpretation Service that helps communication in Korea and Interpreters Without Borders from Babelverse.

Translation Commons (Trommons)

On 18 May 2013, The Rosetta Foundation launched the Translation Commons, or Trommons. Trommons is an open, non-profit space for those offering free community language services. Trommons is powered by the Service-Oriented Localisation Architecture Solution (SOLAS). The Rosetta Foundation switched over production on 8 May 2013, attracting language communities from 44 countries within hours.

Social Localisation

The concept of "Social Localisation" was introduced for the first time by the Director of the Localisation Research Centre at the University of Limerick, Reinhard Schäler, at a special session during the Localization World Conference Silicon Valley on 10 October 2011. The main objective of social localisation is the promotion of a demand-, rather than a supply-driven approach to localization. Social localization supports user-driven and needs-based localisation scenarios. The Rosetta Foundation launched its initiative at a special event in Dublin on 27 October 2011 in the presence of volunteers, partner organizations and funders.

Areas of activity

The Rosetta Foundation supports the not-for-profit activities of the localization and translation communities. It works with those who want to provide equal access to information across languages, independent of economic or market considerations, including localization and translation companies, technology developers, not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations. . The objective is to cater to translations requirements beyond those services offered by mainstream translation service providers and use communities on the ground. By using local resources, the work of The Rosetta Foundation can promote development, healthcare, education and justice.

Technology platform

The Rosetta Foundation is actively involved in the development of GlobalSight and Crowdsight, which were initially used as its backbone. Both systems are open source systems originally developed by Transware and then moved into the open source space by their new owners Welocalize in early 2009. Sponsored by Welocalize, GlobalSight is an open-source Globalization Management System (GMS) that helps automate the critical tasks associated with the creation, translation, review, storage and management of global content. CrowdSight is another open-source application fully integrated with GlobalSight. It is used specifically to engage the right "crowd," group or community to deliver quick-turn translation for on-demand content. The GlobalSight community has over 1,500 members.

A first preview of Translation eXchange (now SOLAS Match), a major component developed as part of The Rosetta Foundation technology platform in collaboration with the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL), was given in a webinar by Reinhard Schäler and Eoin O Conchúir on 17 May 2011. SOLAS Match was developed at the University of Limerick and is based on ideas developed at The Rosetta Foundation Design Fest in San Francisco, 5–6 February 2012, by around 25 localisation experts supporting The Rosetta Foundation's mission. SOLAS Match matches translation projects with volunteers' expertise and interests.

SOLAS based on ORM design principles

Service-Oriented Localisation Architecture Solution (SOLAS) Design is based on the ORM design principles: O-pen (easy to join and to participate), R-ight (serve the right task to the right volunteer), and M-inimalistic (crisp, clear, uncluttered). SOLAS consists of SOLAS Match (matching projects and volunteers) and SOLAS Productivity (as suite of translation productivity tools and technologies). SOLAS was originally developed as part of the Next Generation Localisation research track of the CNGL at the University of Limerick. SOLAS Match has been released under an open source GPL license and can be downloaded from the SOLAS web page. SOLAS Productivity currently consists of six components, all sharing an XLIFF-based common data layer:

The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network

As of March 2010, The Rosetta Foundation has become a member of The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN).

The NTEN is a membership organization founded in 2000 made up of individuals, non-profit and for-profit organizations. NTEN aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations skillfully and confidently use technology to meet community needs and fulfill their missions. One aim of the NTEN is to offer networking opportunities among its members and a knowledge exchange on technology related issues. It also offers educational and training programs and aims to provide access to discounted products and services for nonprofit organizations.