The goal of the NEMLAR (Network for Euro-Mediterranean LAnguage Resources) is to create a network of qualified Euro-Mediterranean partners to specify and support the development of high priority LRs for Arabic and other local languages in a systematic, standards-driven, collaborative learning context. The project will focus on identifying the state of the art of LRs in the region, assessing priority requirements through consultations with language industry and communication players, and establishing a protocol for developing a basic LR kit for the major forms of the region’s predominant language – Arabic, and other local wide-spoken languages where appropriate.

These tasks can be devided into the following sub-tasks:

• qualify and support at least one leading LR actor in each country in the network (from research institutes in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and possibly more) in partnership with recognised European centres of excellence in Arabic and other indigenous speech and text processing.
• develop and disseminate a ‘map’ of Euro-Mediterranean stakeholders, national and cross-border projects, and existing language resources and processing tools addressing the existing linguistic diversity in the region (local variants and/or common forms of Arabic and other widely-used local languages)
• survey and analyse the key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the development of Arabic and other language resources in the region and establish a set of key priorities for developing LRs
• specify a standard set of minimum resources and tools per language (or local form of Arabic according to country) necessary for carrying out all further research and training on language resource development
• develop a standardised training course (with online support) that can be used by Euro-Mediterranean partner experts to train people for priority tasks in creating robust language resources
• ensure that there is an Arabic and/or other local language track, session or sub-event at every major language processing and language resource conference in Europe in the fields of speech and text
• create a NEMLAR website for collecting and disseminating global information on Arabic and local language resources, tools and technologies, and set hit targets when fully operational raise awareness of the state of play of Arabic and local language resource development among all stakeholders by disseminating a regular information newsletter, ensuring information feeds to existing networks and information sources, and by holding an international conference on current activities and future orientations in Arabic and local language resource creation and management half-way through the project.