Latest winners of Pocketalk Impact Awards for pioneers of AI in language translation unveiled
Pocketalk, a provider of AI language translation solutions, has unveiled the winners of its second annual Impact Awards, honouring schools, community leaders, health and care homes and governmental organizations worldwide that use its services to improve teaching, accessibility and inclusivity for those who have English as an Additional Language (EAL).
The Youth Changemaker for UK and Germany trophies went to Upper Batley High School, in Yorkshire, England (pictured), and the Verbundschule Stuttgart-Rohr School in Germany, for their respective efforts including their students that don’t have the national language as their first tongue.
There are 1.7 million such students across the two countries for whom that applies. Including them in these pioneering schools academically and culturally enhances results, communication and understanding, and provides a template for others to follow when deploying the AI-powered language translation devices. Pittsburgh public schools in Pittsburgh, PA, US, was also recognized in the Youth Changemaker educational category for their similar efforts in America.
Integrating Pocketalk devices into the Batley classroom in Yorkshire, England, allowed one student and teacher to properly communicate for the first time, promoting tears as they enhanced their relationship, claimed the vendors in its press release. The UK rollout simultaneously improved the student’s ability to learn and integrate more fully into the Batley school, with deeper relationships established, and accessibility enhanced.
Batley HS currently have over 455 learners with EAL and almost 30 languages are spoken in its school, so translation assistance is very welcome. Its headteacher, Aman Singh Kang, and Kayleigh Hughes, English Teacher and SENco at the school are pictured at the top of the story.
Aim of the awards
The aim of Pocketalk’s Impact Awards, which started in 2023, is to recognise global individuals and organizations across the education, government and healthcare sectors, who are actively utilising AI technology to hold conversations across native languages around the world and thereby promote inclusivity.
“We are thrilled to recognize more leaders who are advancing translation solutions in their communities and organizations,” said Joe Miller, Head of Pocketalk’s US Business and CEO of Europe. “The ability to facilitate real-time, reliable, and accessible communication has been key. We hope these awards inspire others to create practices that make all languages easily accessible.”
The full list of the additional global Award winners, outside of the educational sector mentioned above, are:
Community Builder of the Year Award (governmental accessibility):
1. Amanda Gonzalez, Jefferson County Clerk, Colorado, US
2. Nicolas Flamand, Project Manager of the Normandie branch of Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF), France
Bridge Builder Award (healthcare accessibility):
1. Niagara County Healthcare, NY, USA
2. Living Well Partnership, Southampton, England
Language Visionary Award (business: tourist and residential accessibility):
1. US State Honoree: Michigan DMV (drivers), USA
2. City of New Orleans, LA, US
3. European City Honoree: Chemnitz, Germany.
