Translators without Borders receives grant from Microsoft

(DANBURY, CT USA –21 April 2014)Translators without Borders has received the Technology for Good grant from Microsoft to develop a multi-device app for crisis relief. The app, entitled Words of Relief Digital Exchange (WoRDE), helps improve commmunications during a crisis between affected communities and aid workers when they do not speak the same language.

“Translation and language are critical components of effective crisis response,” said Rebecca Petras, Program Director of Translators without Borders. “We are dedicated to providing tranlsation and language solutions for aid workers and affected populations during and immediately following a crisis – and this grant allows us to explore how technology plays a critical role in that response.”

The grant includes a package of cash, software, and Azure cloud-based services worth about 250,000 USD.

The Words of Relief Digital Exchange (WoRDE) app, which is to be developed using Agile methodology, enhances TWB’s overall Words of Relief initiative to improve communications during a crisis when the population and aid workers speak different languages. Words of Relief and WoRDE are initially being developed in Kenya; the first languages to be offered will be Swahili and Somali.

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