Straker Teams Up With Microsoft to Improve Translation of Te Reo Māori

In September 2022, Straker signed a partnership with Microsoft to see the two companies combine efforts to increase te reo Māori translations in print and online media. Microsoft New Zealand’s managing director, Vanessa Sorensen, will lead the project.

This partnership occurred after a meeting between Straker CEO Grant Straker and Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, during New Zealand’s recent trade delegation to the US. The project will incorporate Straker’s existing translation software into the Microsoft Translator app, allowing people to translate online news articles into te reo Māori.

Why Te Reo Māori?

Grant Straker of the Ngāti Raukawa firmly believes in preserving indigenous languages and cultures. He is proud of his Māori heritage and hopes to see the continued growth of te reo Māori in Aotearoa.

Straker offers multilingual translations and services in many regions, yet of all the languages the company translates, te reo Māori is the most expensive. The lack of skilled translators for the language often drives up the price, causing many companies to exclude it from their global expansion plans.

Partnering with Microsoft will hopefully make te reo Māori translations more accessible and keep Aotearoa on the map.

How The Project Leverages the Latest Technology

This project will combine human translation with artificial intelligence, focusing on translating news articles at scale so that Māori can enjoy them in their native language. It will apply the AI-powered tools Straker uses for its commercial translations. However, the service will not be rendered for financial gain.

The system uses machine translation to speed up the translation process, allowing websites to increase their translated content offering and global marketing efforts. The AI-powered technology learns as it works, building a database of common te reo Māori phrases for future translations.

The Impact of This Project

This partnership aims to make digital communication more welcoming to indigenous language speakers and encourage more Māori and Pasifika to join the technology industry. It can help private organizations build a global strategy while preserving local languages and cultural heritage.

Click here for more about Straker and its translation services.