Background

The Information Age has led to insatiable demand for translation services that cannot be met with existing proprietary business models and the capacity of around 300,000 professional translators worldwide.

Early in 2007, the Translation Automation User Society (TAUS), a global community of 65 organizations, began to determine the industry-wide tools needed to meet ever-increasing commercial and societal demand for translation. The TAUS community soon concluded a shared industry database of translation memories and terminology was needed as a fundamental building block to support future growth and innovation.

In the summer of 2008, the TAUS Data Association was founded with the backing of 45 international companies to provide just such a giant multilingual database for the benefit of all. Prior to launch, over 200 companies & organizations across industry sectors provided guidance on the business model through TAUS meetings, surveys, and one-to-one consultations. A Global Steering Committee, with 18 representatives from multinationals and public bodies, agreed the final operating model, mapped the benefits to clients, providers, end users and technology firms and undertook ROI calculations.

TDA is committed to further developing the depth of its services to support members to gain competitive advantage, improve quality of service, and re-engineer the industry's business models to meet demand.

TDA Statutes (November 2009) - Download PDF (1.53Mb)