RWS AR 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 11
LIFE SCIENCES – LOCALISATION
LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY
The Life Sciences sector encompasses a wide array of
businesses, including pharmaceutical companies, clinical
research organisations and medical device 昀椀rms. Each of
these entities carries distinct and speci昀椀c demands for
translation and linguistic pro昀椀ciency, largely in昀氀uenced
by regulatory prerequisites. In addition, these industries
are actively embracing digital strategies to augment
their operations.
Enterprises and translators, spanning both freelance
and in-house linguists, commonly engage with a range
of language technology tools. These include translation
management systems, collaboration platforms and
computer-assisted translation tools. These enablers
serve as the backbone for localisation teams who often
liaise with multiple stakeholders, ensuring the e昀케cient
creation, management and delivery of content tailored
for global audiences.
The localisation market for the Life Sciences industry
is expected to experience strong growth, with its
current market size at £3 billion, although this has been
tempered in the last 12 months by the impact of new
legislation in the United States, such as the In昀氀ation
Reduction Act, and bottlenecks in the US and European
regulatory approvals process.
FINANCIAL AND LEGAL – LOCALISATION
Financial institutions and legal 昀椀rms require language
services and content technology to facilitate a range
of activities, from secure communications and digital
marketing to regulatory submissions, eDiscovery and
content intelligence.
The market for localisation services within the 昀椀nancial
and legal sectors is estimated at £4 billion in 2021, as
per OC&C’s research. Growth in this market is driven
by demand for cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions,
the international expansion initiatives of customers
and the requirement for 昀椀nancial organisations to
ensure compliance with PRIIPS regulations. These
well-established catalysts have been joined in recent
times by the escalating need for content that supports
sustainability programmes.
LINGUISTIC AI
The collective addressable market for Language
Technology was estimated at £300 million, according to
OC&C analysis.
CONTENT TECHNOLOGY
Enterprises are seeking strategies to better manage their
disparate content management systems and achieve a
single source of truth across their content ecosystem.
Storing content in a structured format allows content to
be centrally managed and used multiple times across
any device and channel, including web, intranet, technical
documentation and virtual reality. According to OC&C's
2021 estimations, the addressable market for content
management sits at £2.8 billion.
IP SERVICES
Enterprises wishing to monetise and safeguard their
innovations and intellectual property need to collaborate
with a partner who understands all facets of the patent
process. This typically includes patent translation, patent
昀椀ling, renewal activities and in-depth IP research. The
potential market for RWS’s IP Services was estimated at
approximately £2 billion in 2021, according to OC&C's
2021 assessments, encompassing an anticipated £0.8-1.0
billion from renewal activities.
Linguistic AI and machine translation ("MT") technology
empowers organisations, regardless of their size, to
translate large content volumes securely, e昀케ciently and
in a cost-e昀昀ective manner. Recent advancements in
MT technology have signi昀椀cantly enhanced translation
quality, while also expanding the number of diverse
language combinations.
The market for Linguistic AI was estimated at £3 billion
in 2021, with future growth projections bolstered by
mounting client con昀椀dence in MT solutions, stemming
from the ongoing re昀椀nement of engine accuracy and
greater use of AI.
STRATEGIC REPORT
RWS Holdings plc — Annual Report 2023
11
