Arabic Observatory of Translation (AOT)

The Arabic Observatory of Translation (AOT) is an initiative launched in 2022 by the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, one of the commissions of the Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It aims to organize Arab efforts in the field of translation by creating an Arabic observatory that serves as a literary hub where the efforts of authors, translators, and publishers converge, documenting the movement of translation in the Arab world.

On October 26, 2022, the Ministry of Culture, represented by the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in coordination with the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science (SNC-ECS). The purpose was to launch AOT as part of the Kingdom's projects with ALECSO to build a digital bibliographic database and services in the translation industry.

AOT, established in Riyadh City, is the sixth regional entity of ALECSO and the third entity since its inception. ALECSO has five external centers, two of which were established before ALECSO itself was founded. AOT was established thirty-two years after the last external center of ALECSO and is the second regional and international entity established in the Kingdom affiliated with educational, cultural, and scientific organizations, after the Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education (RCQE) under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which was established eight years ago.

AOT includes several sections offering specialized services such as bibliographies of translated books, studies and research in the field of translation, a directory of publishing houses and translators, and services for beneficiaries and practitioners interested in translation nationally and internationally. AOT's work is organized into four main tracks, which are strategic partnerships through developing and building sustainable partnerships with relevant parties in the translation sector to document their translation activity, monitoring and documentation through collecting the largest amount of information and diverse databases that contribute to the development and advancement of the industry in the Arab world, granting specialized studies and research in the field of translation, conducting periodic market research, and submitting periodic reports on key statistical and economic indicators, in addition to executive services that seek to create primary and sustainable sources of income for AOT.

AOT initiative aims to develop and enhance the translation sector competitively and sustainably and create an inclusive environment for many specialists and researchers, both individuals and institutions, in the Arab world. It seeks to meet the knowledge growth demands that translation entails, support international partnerships in translation fields, and enhance the position of translation, serving as a primary reference for accredited translations.

The program, one of the AOT projects, was announced by the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission on September 5, 2022. It aims to enhance the production and dissemination of independent research in the translation industry in the Arab world by supporting specialized Arab researchers to produce prestigious and impactful research on topics important to Arab countries. The program also supports the publication of translation research in scientific journals and encourages obtaining patents in various translation fields.

The program aims to provide financial support to researchers for presenting modern research in translation studies, developing research capabilities in the Arab world in translation, enhancing qualitative research, addressing current and future challenges in translation by investing in Arab capabilities, and providing scientific and technical solutions, as well as strengthening effective communication with researchers in the Arab world.

AOT has identified several research priorities for the Grant Program for Studies and Research, including artificial intelligence and machine translation, localization, translation databases, audiovisual translation, translation in commercial, legal, and marketing contexts, enhancing translator efficiency in entrepreneurship and innovation, Arabization, translation corpora and repositories, translator training and qualification, simultaneous translation using digital platforms, translation in cultural interaction contexts (e.g., museums, theaters, cinema), and remote interpretation.

The program goes through four phases which are: Electronic registration, submission of research proposals through the platform; review, where the scientific committee at the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission evaluates the proposals against specific criteria, and selected applicant are notified of the approval of their research proposals, and publication, where the completed research is included in AOT database.