Image source: Welsh Government, GOV.WALES, Open Government Licence v3.0
A Welsh Government minister has set out three priorities for working with the technology industry to make more digital tools and solution available in the Welsh language.
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language Mark Drakeford has published a written statement on the issue, saying the priorities reflect the results of a public consultation that ran last year.
First is to encourage the development of technology to increase the daily use of Welsh, especially in workplaces and in services. This will involve working with universities, procurement and tendering systems, and the private sector.
It will also involve making the Working Welsh/Iaith Gwaith logo more visible online and ensuring that tools such as Welsh language spelling and grammar checkers are up to date.
Reaching the users
Second is to ensure the technology reaches developers and end users. This will include sharing news and updates on its development through the Hwb portal so parents and teachers can help their children use more of the technology.
Along with this will be further development of the Helo Blod tools and resources page so developers and users of the tech know what is available and how to use it, and promotion of the trio writing methodology to make content and services as accessible as possible.
There will also be an effort in working with the National Centre for Learning Welsh to develop the technology behind its tools for Welsh learners.
AI initiatives
Thirdly, the Welsh Government will work with AI developers to improve Welsh language artificial intelligence. Drakeford said it already has a partnership with OpenAI and has done work to improve how Microsoft Copilot processes the language.
Drakeford said: “We want to make sure technology can understand Welsh in the way that Welsh speakers use it every day – like when we use a bit of Saesneg in our Cymraeg and vice versa. And we’ll work with our international partners so our work can help multilingual communities around the world.”
