Monday 24 February 2025 Room II «Achievements» Advancements in LT: Achieving Inclusivity and Accessibility for All

09:30-10:15 [45′]	Inauguration by High-level Representatives
09:30-09:40	Master of Ceremony: Mr. Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi (Director for Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP), UNESCO)
09:40-09:47	Mr. Tawfik Jelassi (Assistant Director General for Communication and Information, UNESCO)
09:47-09:54	Mr. Eric Thill (Minister of Culture, Government of Luxembourg)
09:54-10:01	Ms. Agnete Masterens Hanssen (State Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Norway)
10:01-10:08	Mr. Paul de Sinety (Délégué Général à la Langue Française et aux Langues de France, Ministère de la Culture, France)
10:08-10:15	Mr. Simon Krek (President, ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA), Slovenia)

10:15-10:30 [15′]	LT4All Overview by Organizing Committee
10:15-10:20	Mr. Jaco Du Toit (Chief of the Section for Universal Access to Information and Digital Inclusion, Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, and Secretariat of the Information for All Programme, UNESCO)
10:20-10:25	Ms. Sakriani Sakti (Professor and Head of the Human-AI Interaction Research Laboratory at Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, Member of ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA) Board, and Chair of International Speech Communication Association (ISCA)/ELRA Special Interest Group of Under-resourced Languages (SIGUL))
10:25-10:30	Ms. Maite Melero (Established Researcher, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain) / Ms. Alice Millour (Associate Professor, Université Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis, France)

10:30-11:00 [30′]	Setting the Scene
Moderator Onsite	Mr. Gernot Kubin (Professor, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Austria)
Moderator Online	Ms. Cao Luwen (Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Rapporteur	Mr. David Yarowsky (Professor, Johns Hopkins University, USA)
10:30-10:40	Mr. Sarmad Hussain (Senior Director Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) and Universal Acceptance (UA) Programs, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Pakistan) Internationalized Domain Names and Universal Acceptance for Digital Inclusion
10:40-10:50	Mr. Christopher Morse (Computational Linguistic, Zenter fir d’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch, Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) Redefining Progress in the Margins: Lessons from Big Tech & Small Data
10:50-11:00	Q&A Session

11:00-11:40	Coffee Break + Poster Session P1 Language Technology for Language Diversity Coffee Break offered by the Government of Luxembourg during a short presentation of the exhibition “D’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch(en)” by H. E. Mr Eric Thill, Minister of Culture of Luxembourg, in Salle des Pas Perdus
[40′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

11:40-13:20 [40′]	Session O1 LT Advancements in Enabling Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Denise DiPersio (Associate Director, Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, USA) Mr. Ilan Kernerman (Chief Executive Officer, Lexicala by K Dictionaries, Israel)
Moderator Online	Mr. Jan Niehues (Professor, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
Rapporteur	Ms. Maite Melero (Established Researcher, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain)
11:40-12:00	Mr. Christophe Ropers (Linguistic Engineer, Meta AI, USA) / Ms. Marta R. Costa-jussà (Research Scientist, Meta AI, France) Automatic Speech Recognition and Machine Translation for all Languages
12:00-12:10	Ms. A. Seza Doğruöz (Associate Professor, Universiteit Gent, Belgium) Linguistic Diversity and Multilingualism for Humans and AI
12:10-12:20	Ms. Anushah Hossain (Research Director of Script Encoding Initiative, University of California, Berkeley, USA) Bridging Scripts and Standards: The work of the Script Encoding Initiative
12:20-12:30	Mr. Wang Han (TV Anchor & Advocate for LR Protection, Hunan Broadcasting System Media Group, China) From Media Communicator to Guardian of Languages: My Commitment to Protecting and promoting Linguistic Diversity
12:30-12:40	Mr. Partha Talukdar (Researcher, Google DeepMind, India) Towards Linguistically and Culturally Inclusive LLMs
12:40-12:50	Mr. Alessandro Fusacchia (Vice President of Social Impact, Translated, Italy) Towards a Truly Universal Translator?
12:50-13:20	Panel Discussion

13:20-14:30	Lunch Break + Poster Session P2 Language Technology for Education, Inclusion, Innovation
[70′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

14:30-16:00 [90′]	Session O2 LT Innovations for Inclusive Communication Across All Ages & Diverse Abilities
Moderators Onsite	Mr. Wolfgang Minker (Professor, Ulm University, Germany) Ms. Ethel Ong (Professor and Dean, De La Salle University, Philippines)
Moderator Online	Ms. Irina Illina (Associate Professor, LORIA-INRIA Grand Est, France)
Rapporteur	Mr. Eric Jackson (Assistant Professor of Practice, University of Arizona, USA)
14:30-14:40	Ms. Sainimili Tawake (Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Disability Forum, Fiji) Inclusive Communication and Accessible Information: Empowering People with Disabilities in the Pacific
14:40-14:50	Ms. Pooja Gambhir (Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Information Technology (AIIT), Amity University Noida, India) Breaking Barriers: Next-Gen Voice Activated Companion for Inclusive Mobility
14:50-15:00	Mr. Martin Curzio (CEO & Co-Founder, ELDES -AI powered Sign Language Learning, Uruguay) The Silent Revolution: AI-Powered Sign Language for a Fully Accessible World
15:00-15:10	Ms. Gifty Ayoka (Executive Director, Talking Tipps Africa Foundation, Ghana) Inclusive Voices: Advancing Language Technology for People with Impaired Speech Communicating in Local Languages
15:10-15:20	Ms. Cao Luwen (Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, National University of Singapore, Singapore) Natural Speech Analysis for Detecting Cognitive Decline: a Focus on Words and Voice Quality
15:20-15:30	Mr. Shri Narayanan (Professor & Vice President, University of Southern California, USA) Speech and Language Technologies for Mental Health and Wellbeing across Lifespan
15:30-16:00	Panel Discussion

16:00-16:40	Coffee Break + Poster Session P3 Language Technology Solutions in a Multilingual World
[40′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

16:40-18:20 [100′]	Session O3 LT Solutions for Revitalizing Endangered Languages
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Abake Adenle (Founder, Ajala.ai, United Kingdom) Mr. Garry Anaquod (Special Projects Coordinator, Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre, Canada)
Moderator Online	Ms. Uma Pappuswamy (Professor, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Manasagangotri, India)
Rapporteur	Mr. Lucas Ondel (Researcher, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (LISN-CNRS), France)
16:40-16:50	Mr. Menno Van Zaanen (Professor in Digital Humanities, SADiLaR / North West University, South Africa) The SWiP Project: Enhancing the Digital Presence of South African Languages on Wikipedia
16:50-17:00	Ms. Cat Kutay (Senior Lecturer, Charles Darwin University, Australia) Learning in Our Language
17:00-17:10	Mr. Tatsuya Kawahara (Professor, Kyoto University, Japan) Speech Technology for Preservation and Revitalization of the Ainu Language
17:10-17:20	Mr. Mark Fišel (Professor of Natural Language Processing, University of Tartu, Estonia) Smugri: Language Technologies for Low-Resource Finno-Ugric Languages and Dialects
17:20-17:30	Ms. Jeannette Stewart (Founder/President, Translation Commons, USA) Digital Tools for Cherokee and the Role of a Morphological Analyzer in Language Empowerment
17:30-17:40	Mr. Nick Thieberger (Director, PARADISEC, Australia) The Importance of Digital Language and Music Archives for Language and Cultural Continuity: an Example from the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC)
17:40-17:50	Ms. Claire McGuire (Manager, Policy and Advocacy, International Federation of Libraries and Archives (IFLA) and the IFAP Expert of Working Group Information Preservation, France)
17:50-18:20	Panel Discussion

Tuesday 25 February 2025 Room II «Challenges» Unveiling the Complexities: Navigating Challenges in LT

09:00-09:30 [30′]	Session Keynote 1
Moderator Onsite	Ms. Ailbhe Ní Chasaide (Professor, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
Moderator Online	Mr. Martin Benjamin (Technology and Language Expert, African Academy of Languages (ACALAN – Mali) and Kamusi Project International, Switzerland)
Rapporteur	Mr. Ali Mehdi (Senior Director, Heritage Lab, Canada)
09:00-09:20	Ms. Lorna Williams (Prof Emerita/Special Advisor, University of Victoria / First Peoples Cultural Foundation, Canada) Wa7 szum’in’stum’ ti nqwelutenlhkalha 2025. Technology where are we now?
09:20-09:30	Q&A Session

09:30-11:00 [90′]	Session O4 LT for All: Empowering Communities or Reinforcing Dependence?
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Fatiha Sadat (Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada) Mr. Daan van Esch (Technical Program Manager, Google, Netherlands)
Moderator Online	Ms. Nomsa Juliet Skosana (Digital Humanities Researcher, South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), South Africa)
Rapporteur	Mr. Priyankoo Sarmah (Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India)
09:30-09:40	Mr. Keoni Mahelona (CTO, Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, New Zealand) Lauleo: Bringing our voices together for the future of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi
09:40-09:50	Mr. Ian Gilmour (Ian Gilmour, Founder, Bezoku LLC, USA) Heterogeneous foundations for Low Resource Language Models – why technical debt skews representation in language technology and opportunities for greater representation
09:50-10:00	Ms. Evelyn Chibaka Epse Fogwe (Professor, University of Buea, Cameroon) Fostering Language Community Empowerment and Development: The Holistic Approaches – Some Cameroonian and Canadian Cases
10:00-10:10	Mr. Marolop Sahat Martua Manalu (Staff for Indigenous Education and Cultural Affairs, Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago – AMAN, Indonesia) Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Indonesia: Challenges and Realities in a Diverse Archipelago
10:10-10:20	Mr. Romain Deceuninck (Founder, Liv. Corsica, France) LIV – Un écosystème IA adapté aux langues et cultures régionales. LIV – A Comprehensive, local, Community adapted AI Ecosystem
10:20-10:30	Ms. Eugenia Urrere (Founder, Indigenius, Argentina) Neither Empowerment nor Dependency
10:30-11:00	Panel Discussion

11:00-11:40	Coffee Break + Poster Session P4 Language Technology for Language Revitalization
[40′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

11:40-13:20 [100′]	Session O5 The Impact of Language Technology: Enhancing or Undermining Human Roles?
Moderators Onsite	Mr. Trond Trosterud (Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway) Ms. Anne Lambright (Head of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Moderator Online	Mr. Luis Chiruzzo (Assistant Professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay)
Rapporteur	Ms. Ioana Vasilescu (Senior Researcher, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (LISN-CNRS) & University Paris Saclay, France)
11:40-11:50	Mr. Steven Bird (Professor, Charles Darwin University, Australia) We don’t trust those mobiles!
11:50-12:00	Ms. Mona Elswah (Research Fellow, Center for Democracy & Technology, USA) The Role of Human Moderators in Low-Resource Languages: Kiswahili as a Case Study
12:00-12:10	Mr. James Muldoon (Reader in Management, University of Essex, UK) The Hidden Human Labour Powering Artificial Intelligence
12:10-12:20	Mr. Emmanuel Lallana (Professorial Fellow, University of The Philippines, The Philippines) Modern Slaves, Precariat, Proletariat: AI and Work in a Developing Country
12:20-12:30	Ms. Alice Delorme Benites (Professor, ZHAW Zurich University, Switzerland) I Should Be the One Asking the Questions! Taking Turn and Defining Roles in AI-Interpreted Conversations
12:30-12:40	Mr. Tahar Bouhafs (Chief Executive Officer, CSA Research, USA) Bridging the Digital Linguistic Divide in the AI Era
12:40-12:50	Mr. Brett Frischmann (Charles Widger Endowed Professor of Law, Business and Economics, Villanova University, USA) Humanity in the 21st Century
12:50-13:20	Panel Discussion

13:20-14:30	Lunch Break + Poster Session P5 Language-specific Tools
[70′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

14:30-16:00 [90′]	Session O6 Multilingual Communication: AI-based Translation vs Lingua Franca?
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Ayu Purwarianti (Associate Professor, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia) Mr. Phil Malone (Co-founder, Access Agriculture, Belgium)
Moderator Online	Mr. Eddie Aronovich (Chief AI Officer, Qhali Inc., Peru)
Rapporteur	Ms. Martine Adda-Decker (Senior researcher, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France)
14:30-14:40	Ms. Juliane House (Professor, Universität Hamburg, Germany) English as a global lingua franca: A threat to multilingual communication and translation?
14:40-14:50	Ms. Katharina von der Wense (Professor, University of Colorado, USA) AI-Based Translation of All of the World’s Languages: Realistic Goal or Far-Fetched Dream?
14:50-15:00	Mr. Janne Pölönen (Secretary General for Publication Forum, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies – TSV, Finland) Reform of Research Assessment, Lingua Franca and AI-based Translation
15:00-15:10	Mr. Daniel Pimienta (Head, OBDILCI, Dominican Republic) Inventory and Comparisons of All Methods for the Measure of Languages Online: Implications for the Internet’s Lingua Franca
15:10-15:20	Ms. Aimee Ansari (Chief Executive, CLEAR Global, USA) Reliance on Lingua Franca: Kulaktan Kulağa, Stille Post, Tichá Pošta, Rikkinäinen Puhelin, χαλασμένο τηλέφωνο, Téléphone sans Fil in Humanitarian Crises
15:20-15:30	Mr. Ondrej Bojar (Associate Professor, Charles University, Czech Republic) Machines against Lingua Franca
15:30-16:00	Panel Discussion

16:00-16:40	Coffee Break + Poster Session P6 Language Technologies and the People
[40′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

16:40-18:20 [100′]	Session O7 How to Properly Evaluate LT: Addressing Challenges in Quality, Reliability, Usability, and Ethical Frameworks
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Marie Jean Meurs (Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada) Mr. German Rigau (Deputy Director, Hizkuntza Teknologiako Zentroa (HiTZ) – Basque Center for Language Technology, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Spain)
Moderator Online	Ms. Claudia Borg (Associate Professor, University of Malta, Malta)
Rapporteur	Mr. Nathaniel Oco (Lecturer, De La Salle University, Philippines)
16:40-16:50	Mr. Prado Daniel Héctor (Consultant International, Argentina) Platform of Digital Language Resources for the Indigenous Languages of Latin America: Its Creation and the Challenges for Indigenous Languages in the Development of Language Tools
16:50-17:00	Ms. Sunayana Sitaram (Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research India, India) Towards Reliable and Effective Multilingual Evaluation for all Languages of the World
17:00-17:10	Ms. Mandana Seyfeddinipur (Director, Endangered Languages Documentation Programme, Germany) “LT 4 whom?”
17:10-17:20	Mr. Damián Blasi (Research Professor, Catalan Institute for Advanced Study, Spain) Language Technologies across the World’s Languages: Fairness, Incentives and Policy
17:20-17:30	Ms. Gloria M.T Emezue (Professor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State & Lanfrica, Nigeria) Data Farming and the QRUE Frameworks: The NaijaVoices Experience
17:30-17:40	Mr. Te Taka Keegan (Associate Professor, University of Waikato, New Zealand) Māori Algorithmic Sovereignty: Idea, Principles and Use
17:40-17:50	Ms. Natasha Ita MacDonald (Vice President, Heritage Lab, Canada) / Mr. Ali Mehdi (Senior Director, Heritage Lab, Canada) Ai!: Building Inclusive Pathways to Indigenous Language Learning and Knowledge Access
17:50-18:20	Panel Discussion

18:30-21:00	Gala Dinner
[150′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

Wednesday 26 February 2025 Room II «Solutions» Envisioning Future Solutions: Shaping LT Tomorrow

09:00-09:30 [30′]	Session Keynote 2
Moderator Onsite	Ms. Natasha Ita MacDonald (Vice President, Heritage Lab, Canada)
Moderator Online	Mr. Alp Öktem (Language Technology Expert, Col•lectivaT / CLEAR Global, Spain)
Rapporteur	Mr. Pierpaolo Di Carlo (Research Fellow, University at Buffalo, USA)
09:00-09:20	Ms. Ludmilla Golovine (President and CEO, MasterWord Services Inc., USA) A Shared Future in Language Technology
09:20-09:30	Q&A Session

09:30-11:00 [90′]	Session O8 Co-Creating the Future of Language Technology: Government-Industry-Academia-Language Communities Collaboration Scheme
Moderators Onsite	Ms. Nicoletta Calzolari (Research Associate, Istituto di Linguistica Computazionale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy) Mr. Mark Durdin (Keyman Product Owner, SIL Global, Cambodia)
Moderator Online	Ms. Alejandrina Cristia (Director of Research, Ecole normale supérieure, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL University), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France)
Rapporteur	Mr. Jón Guðnason (Professor, Reykjavik University, Iceland)
09:30-09:40	Ms. Misako Ito (Regional Adviser for Communication and Information in Africa, UNESCO Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya) AKILI UNDE – An English-Kiswahili AI Dictionary for a Multilingual Cyberspace
09:40-09:50	Mr. Baldomero Cuma (Head of the Board of Advisors, The Mayan Languages Preservation Project, Guatemala) + Mr. Winston Scott (Director, Mayan Languages Preservation Project, USA) Mayan Language Preservation and Digitization: A Community Approach for Our Future | Li Kolok Ix ut Xyoob’ankil Ak’ Tzolom reheb’ Aatinob’aal Mayab’: Jun K’anjel sa’ Komonil re Xk’a’uxlankil li Qayu’am Chi Ub’ej
09:50-10:00	Mr. Eddie Avila (Rising Voices Director, Global Voices, Bolivia) Indigenous-Led Language Tech and Self-Determination
10:00-10:10	Mr. Sjur Nørstebø Moshagen (Chief Engineer, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway) Open Language — how to make technology speak all languages
10:10-10:20	Mr. Valts Ernštreits (Director / Representative of Latvia / Co-chair of AdHoc group IV on Digital Equality and Domains, University of Latvia Livonian Institute / Global Task Force Member, International Decade of Indigenous Languages – 2022–2032, Latvia) Digital Future of Indigenous Languages – a Ground to Prosper or a New Battlefield?
10:20-10:30	Ms. Lining Wang (Executive Deputy Director, Center for the Protection and Research of Language Resources of China at Beijing Language and Culture University, China) Language Resources Protection in the Digital Intelligence Era
10:30-11:00	Panel Discussion

11:00-11:30	Coffee Break
[30′]	Hall Ségur (Poster Area)

11:30-13:00 [90′]	Session O9 The Impact of Language Technology: Enhancing or Undermining Human Roles?
Moderators Onsite	Mr. Daniel Wilson (CEO, XRI Global, USA) Ms. Katrine Loen Thomsen (Deputy Managing Director, Arctic World Archive / Piql, Norway)
Moderator Online	Mr. Jose F. Quesada (Associate Professor, University of Seville & Lekta Language Engineering, Spain)
Rapporteur	Mr. Clement Ong (Assistant Professor, De La Salle University, The Philippines)
11:30-11:40	Ms. Heiura Itae-Tetaa (CEO/Founder, E-Reo, French Polynesia-Tahiti) De l’extinction à l’inclusion: redonner leur langue à des millions de personnes
11:40-11:50	Mr. Naftali Indongo (Researcher under the UNESCO Chair Indigenous Knowledge and Lecturer at Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia) Leveraging Language Technologies to Promote Resilience: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Reduce School Dropout among Namibian San Youth
11:50-12:00	Ms. Doaa Abu Elyones (Programme Specialist, Section for Bioethics and the Ethics of Science and Technology, Division for Research, Ethics and Inclusion, UNESCO, France) Linguistic Diversity through the Lenses of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI
12:00-12:10	Ms. Michelle Brown (Co-Investigator, Abundant Intelligences Professor, USA) Indigenous AI: Abundant Intelligences and IndigiGenius
12:10-12:20	Ms. Danielle Boyer (Founder, the STEAM Connection, USA) Building Language Revitalization Robotics Rooted in Ethical AI
12:20-12:30	Ms. Sofiya Zahova (Director, Vigdís International Centre for Multilingualism, Iceland) + Mr. Óttar Kolbeinsson Proppé (Project Manager, Centre for Language Technology-Almannarómur, Iceland) The Icelandic Approach to Language Technology
12:30-13:00	Panel Discussion

13:00-13:15 [15′]	Closing Session
13:00-13:05	Master of Ceremony: Mr. Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi (Director of Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP)8, UNESCO)
13:05-13:10	Ms. Diana Riba I Giner (Coordinator and Vice-Chair – Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), European Parliament)
13:10-13:15	LT4All General Chairs: – Mr. Jaco Du Toit (Chief of the Section for Universal Access to Information and Digital Inclusion, Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, and Secretariat of the Information for All Programme, UNESCO) – Ms. Sakriani Sakti (Professor and Head of the Human-AI Interaction Research Laboratory at Nara Institute of Science and Technology Japan, Member of ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA) Board, and Chair of International Speech Communication Association (ISCA)/ELRA Special Interest Group of Under-resourced Languages (SIGUL))