In APAC, the report showed that almost two-thirds (63%) of multilingual event organisers say they are not currently using Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) for major business events.
There is a significant gap when it comes to awareness and adoption of multilingual event technologies for business events across the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, which is impacting audience engagement.
This is according to findings released by multilingual event technology provider Interprefy in its ‘Accelerating Global Communication’ report. It found that while business event organisers in these two regions strongly recognise the value of real-time multilingual communication at an increasingly wide range of professional events, including internal business meetings and larger industry events, there is a gap in the understanding and awareness of the different/multiple language services available. The report’s main findings include:
Attendees expectations’ are not being met with live translation and interpretation
In APAC, almost two-thirds (63%) of multilingual event organisers say they are not currently using Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) for major business events like trade shows or large business conferences and half of APAC event organisers (49%) are unaware of RSI altogether. What’s more, 15% of multilingual business event organisers in the region do not use any RSI, AI-generated live text captioning or AI-powered speech translation services at all for business events or professional meetings.
In the Middle East, adoption of live translation and interpretation services is slightly more advanced, but significant gaps remain. 40% of multilingual organisers in the region still do not use RSI for core business events such as trade shows, large business conferences and user conferences.
Frustration is inevitable when attendees can’t fully participate in an event
Among business event organisers in APAC who have attended international events, 92% report feeling frustrated when multilingual live translation or interpretation services are not available. In the Middle East, while the overall level of frustration is slightly lower at 85%, over half of all participants (52%) find it extremely or very frustrating when the event does not provide live translation or interpretation services.
Accuracy concerns of AI-generated live text captions is hampering adoption
Over half of business event organisers in the Middle East (55%) say the number one barrier to adopting multilingual live translation services is concerns over the accuracy of AI-generated live text captions and their failure to capture meaning correctly. This is also the top concern in the APAC region, although slightly lower at 47%.
Data security is another concern
Organisations are prioritising information security, and this is a vital consideration when selecting a live translation service or interpretation solution. In the Middle East, nearly half (49%) of event organisers are concerned about confidential discussions being processed or stored by AI. In APAC, 41% also raised concerns about data privacy and security.