The Parliament of Gibraltar is to benefit from Tynwald’s transcription expertise, in particular its world-class knowledge of voice recognition technology, as highlighted in a recent report by the Gibraltar Chronicle:
http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=23848
The move comes after a demonstration of the pioneering technology to delegates from jurisdictions that along with Gibraltar included the Channel Islands, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands – all members of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BMIR) of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) - at a conference held in the Isle of Man in 2010.
Contact was maintained between Tynwald and the Parliament of Gibraltar which has led to the joint project, headed by Senior Hansard editor Ian Faulds who has been working with Clerk to the Parliament of Gibraltar Melvyn Farrell. Mr Faulds explained: ‘At the 2010 conference Mr Farrell provided us with an extract of proceedings from which we created a sample transcription then presented it to the Gibraltar delegates within 24 hours.’
The Tynwald Hansard team, with their specialist skills in converting diverse audio material into text, is now facilitating the Parliament of Gibraltar’s transcription operation, with the January 19 sitting of the Gibraltar parliament the first to have been transcribed using voice recognition technology.
At its launch in October 2008 the Tynwald system for automatic recording parliamentary proceedings represented a world first for the Isle of Man, employing bespoke speech recognition software to accommodate some 40 different voice profiles into a single-channel feed.
Tynwald remains the only parliament in the world to employ real-time voice recognition technology to create Hansard text using bespoke software originally developed in Australia.
Speaker of the House of Keys Hon Steve Rodan, MHK, has long been a keen proponent of the technology and was fully supportive of Tynwald’s adoption of the system in 2008. ‘It was a proud moment when, in March 2008, the parliament of the Isle of Man became the first in the world to begin using voice recognition technology, initially in the Tynwald chamber then, from October 2010, in all three chambers.
‘Voice recognition technology plays an important role in furthering parliamentary democracy, providing the public swift access to the words of their politicians. Fundamental to this joint project is the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in that it provides a productive forum in which members may share experience and expertise and, in so doing, help strengthen the long-standing bonds between all nations of the Commonwealth. To this end the collaboration between the Isle of Man, in its role as a world leader in speech recognition technology, and Gibraltar is a practical demonstration of the valuable networking opportunities the CPA affords its members.’
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