Suspects to get Skype translation at Brussels Airport
In this way judicial interpreters will be able to follow interviews with suspects at Brussels Airport via the Skype webcam system.
The project has several advantages. Interviews will be able to proceed more quickly and travel costs will be limited.
At present if the police and an examining magistrate wish to question a suspect who does not speak Dutch, an interpreter who is under oath, has to be present so that an arrest can go ahead. Detectives often waste considerable time waiting for an interpreter to reach the police station or court building. This problem should be sorted by using Skype technology via the internet.
Interpreters are able to see the questioning at home via a webcam and can provide a simultaneous translation.
Wenke Roggen of the Brussels public prosecutors’ office: “The trial will start with one interpreter. He has been kitted out with all the necessary equipment.”
We have another solution for this problem… our product imlingo enables a chat between two people who do not speak the same language. In this way even an interpreter under oath is not needed.
However…we do appreciate the pro-technology attitude amongst public services which was noticed recently. (e.g. Touchscreen voting station in Finland government).
Do you know any other examples of a good usage of technology in public services? Please share them with us in comments in our Fan Page.
