Leamington company Comtec makes the Innovation 50 power list
Midlands-based translation service provider, Comtec, has been included in the Mills & Reeve Innovation 50 2019 report. The biennial Innovation 50 power list celebrates the most innovative organisations in the region.
Comtec’s work on Huawei Mobile’s StorySign app – providing a complex range of sign language, interpreting and translation services – ensured a place in the Innovation 50’s ‘Communications’ category. The expert judging panel included business leaders like Paul Bassi CBE, CEO of REI PLC; Anita Bhalla OBE Chair of Performances Birmingham; and Paul Faulkner, Chief Executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.
Comtec’s Director, Sophie Howe, said, “Being included in Mills & Reeve’s Innovation 50 report is a great honour and really reflects how innovative the team at Comtec are. Last year we developed a service package for Huawei Mobile’s StorySign app, which combined all our specialist expertise. We recruited sign language interpreters, deaf actors, translators, language interpreters, and even 10 signing Father Christmases, to help develop the app in 9 different languages.”
Innovation has been at the heart of Comtec’s services since it was founded over 30 years ago. The company is a market leader in introducing new ideas, technology and ways of working to the translation industry: continually refining and improving its services to help multinational clients promote their brands and products to customers worldwide.
“We loved the Huawei sign language package” – Innovation 50 judges
Comtec’s core values of ‘we’re always learning’ and ‘we don’t standstill’ were put into practice with the StorySign project. Sophie Howe says, “Our clients are always changing, evolving and adapting, so we do too. When we were approached to work on the StorySign app we had to develop a very different service package to anything we’ve done before.”
StorySign is an AI app from Huawei Mobile which deaf children can use to read popular children’s stories such as Spot The Dog. Comtec worked with Aardman Animations and creative agency FCB Inferno to develop the app, providing a diverse range of language support.
There is no one international sign language, so each language version of StorySign needed to be signed using its own unique version of sign language.
Comtec recruited native deaf actors to become ‘Star’ the animated avatar that signs the story, sign language interpreters to communicate with the actors and language interpreters to make communications easy between the director and the sign language team.
Comtec also provided language and sign language support for the launch of the app, including a StorySign video (with signing Father Christmases) and interpreters and sign language interpreters for a trip to Lapland for deaf children and their families.
Watch the StorySign video here – https://bit.ly/35yUF9X
Account Manager Tanya Bain, who worked on the project, said: “At Comtec, we like a challenge so we weren’t daunted! We enjoy using our expertise to find new solutions and approaches that help our clients. With StorySign, it was wonderful to be part of something that really enhances people’s lives. Storytime is something I remember very fondly from when I was growing up, so helping to bring this experience to deaf children across Europe is very rewarding.”
Download the Innovation 50 report here – https://bit.ly/2qdokW2
To learn more about Comtec’s work with Huawei Mobile’s StorySign, please read this article – https://bit.ly/2pjEAo1
Comtec’s innovative approach to translation services is also explored in this video – https://bit.ly/32fOKVe