Translation company Straker has signed a partnership with software giant Microsoft

Fresh from adding the United Nations to its growing list of global enterprise customers, Straker Translations (ASX:STG) has announced a partnership with Microsoft to translate print and online media into Māori.

Māori is one of the most expensive languages to translate but, by combining Straker’s existing translation tools with Microsoft’s translator platform and AI, costs will be lowered significantly enabling news media to translate whole articles at scale.

New Zealand’s largest website, stuff.co.nz, has already expressed interest in a partnership to bring more Māori content to its readers and the possibility of incorporating the technology into Microsoft Teams is also being explored.

 

Teams work

The deal came about after a meeting between Straker’s founder and CEO and Microsoft’s President during the recent New Zealand trade delegation to the US.

Grant Straker said he was thrilled to be working with a global leader like Microsoft and combining the platform with the reach of Microsoft Teams.

“As a Māori born in the 1960s, I belong to a generation where Māori was not spoken or taught in schools, and actively discouraged in general, “ he said.

“Having spent 20 years growing a global technology company from Aotearoa, I see this project as a way to give back and make te reo Māori more accessible through relevant news content and a learning platform.”

Microsoft’s New Zealand Managing Director Vanessa Sorenson said she was keen to welcome more organisations with relevant skills and data to join in the project.

“Imagine if we can enable more businesses and organisations to provide information in both our national languages. That will dramatically boost inclusion of te reo Māori speakers, and support te reo Māori as a living, vibrant language people can use in their everyday lives,” she said.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be part of that.”

Straker also wants to see articles for translation being made available via Microsoft Teams to enable schools to participate on the translation process.

 

UN contract

The partnership follows Straker’s recently announced strategic multi-year contract with the United Nations Office for Project Services to provide global technical translation and revision services.

It’s the third UN contact won by Straker’s IDEST division based in Belgium which has served clients like the UN and European Commission for more than two decades.

Straker acquired IDEST in January 2022 to consolidate and extend its presence in the multi-billion-dollar-European translation market, and to accelerate its penetration of strategic relationships with leading global institutions.

It’s outperformed revenue expectations significantly contributed to Straker’s almost 80% increase in revenue for FY22 to $55.9 million, well ahead of guidance of $50 million for the period.

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Straker Translations, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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