Purpose of the workshop

To elicit the needs of larger organizations, in particular Local Authorities in Wales, with respect to Content Management, particularly in the face of statutory requirements for bilingual content, the growing need to support additional languages, the existence of multiple poorly connected content repositories, and the current difficulty of budgeting and tracking translation costs.

The workshop will develop a clear picture of the needs of the participants and outline requirements for potential solutions. The outlook for collaboration, and cost sharing will be discussed.

Date, location, cost

Date: 1st November 2006.
Location: Canolfan Halliwell Centre, Trinity College Carmarthen
Participants: A limit of 5 representatives from each organization is suggested.
Cost: A voluntary contribution of 50 pounds is requested from each participating organization to defray costs of the event. No organization will be excluded for inability to contribute.
Cheques to Topia Systems Ltd, 19 Llysmorfa, Carmarthen, SA31 2NU.

Parties involved

• Translation Unit Managers/Translators
• Communications Officers
• Content Contributors
• Finance Officers (with knowledge or requirements related to translation budgeting and tracking)
• Democracy Officers
• IT Architects/Managers

Aspects to be considered

The scope of the Workshop is flexible. Input from participants will be encouraged and, typically, new insights arise through the creativity of the group. The following aspects form the context of the discussion.

• Content Management Systems (CMS - as represented by commercial and Open Source products such as pTools, Cold Fusion, Plone, and many others)
• Computer Aided Translation Systems (CAT - as represented by systems such as Trados, Deja Vu, OmegaT, and closely related to Translation Memories and TMX.). 
• Billing and accounting
  
• Document Management (EDM - represented by Valid, Documentum, etc.)
• Other document-related workflows that impinge on internal or public content management or translation.
• Performance, cost reduction, and reduction in document processing time.

What outcome is expected from the workshop?

• The Big Picture:  Well designed systems improve efficiency and make our work easier. They also let us do more with less. Well designed systems start with a big picture of the tasks to be done, and an assessment of the overall needs.
  
• Summary of Typical Workflows: Supportive workflows for creating and managing multilingual documents will result in faster deployment of content internally and to the public web. Correct and flexible workflows support the real needs of translators and writers and enable easier and more accurate budgeting and accounting.
• Shared Understanding: A shared understanding of goals and experience provides an opportunity to share design, development, and training costs between organizations and remain compatible with an overall architecture.
• Insights on Collaboration: Working together allows the group to obtain more supportive, more powerful, systems than could be achieved alone. The Workshop will transcend techical/political barriers and explore the options for real collaboration.
  

A guiding vision for the Workshop

The Workshop is a confluence of the knowledge, experience, and goals of the participants.  The leader's long experience of systems architecture and design, and Requirements analysis, will guide the discussion to produce a clear, concise analysis document. This will be made available to all participants. Further comment and discussion may be planned, based on the success of the initial workshop, and the needs of the participants. 

Success will be measured by the degree of consensus that arises from the Workshop and the ensuing discussions, and by the new clarity that the analysis provides.

Format of the Workshop

A typical workshop takes this form

1. ice breaker
2. introductions
3. goal setting
4. brief introduction to the domain analysis technique
5. whiteboard based domain/problem analysis and exercises to document the domain
6. sketch a solution  
7. testing the proposed solution - a means of validating the solution and improving the analysis
8. sketch a logical implementation sequence
9. feedback from the participants, action items, further schedule etc.
   
10. conclusion
    

The workshop format is very dynamic. It encourages full participation, deep exploration of needs, understanding relationships between entitites,  and develops paradigms for solving difficult problems.

A start time of 9:30 for 10:00 will allow participants to drive from neighbouring counties. Prompt timekeeping is essential to cover the content in a single day, so please arrive on time.

A formal finishing time of 4PM will cater to those with an hour's drive home. Specific discussions can continue for another 30 minutes if required.

A more detailed agenda will be developed based on early feedback from the participants.

Topia Systems' goals

Without obliging the participants in any way, to open a larger discussion about what is feasible, desirable, and attainable in a reasonable timeframe in the area of shared content infrastructure software for local government and larger organizations. The final analysis document will be available to all the participants.

Once the final analysis is published (expected within a few weeks of the Workshop, depending on the amount of content, and workload). Topia Systems will be available to participants who wish to advance the goals of the project.

Topia Systems will share insights and experience from the project as it develops, and encourage new participants.

Depending on the level of interest and commitment of the participants, there is considerable potential for partnership and joint funding by the Welsh Assembly Government, and other counties. Topia Systems will be exploring this avenue, and will discuss opportunities for collaboration with the Welsh Language Board, Association of Welsh Translators, etc.

Other thoughts

Other authorities may choose to join the project later, and should have access to the outcome of this initial meeting. The Welsh Local Government Associations will be given access to the outcome, as will WLB, and AWT.

Location, Logistics

Halliwell Conference Center there is adequate parking. Ride sharing is encouraged.

An additional page on the website talks about Workshops more generally.

The number of participants is limited to 25, on a first-come first-served basis. Allocation of places will be as fair and flexible as possible consistent with the goals of wide participation, and a successful outcome.

More information

Call Russ Ferriday on 07789 338868, or email russf@topia.com immediately.