In mid-June, Krabu Grupp OÜ handed over to the Center of Registers and Information Systems a ready-made architectural solution and a prototype of the user interface, which will form the basis for the development of the national translationaleco-environment.

Krabu Grupp has created a prototype of an artificial intelligence-based platform that includes information and ordering exchange, machine translation, file editing and transcription, as well as a translation memory database. The solution will simplify and harmonize the translation of public documents and make it much easier for authorities and translators alike to translateofficial information.

“We have faced several multifaceted tasks – from universal technological consultations and creating conditions for the Estonian language development in a multilingual world to analyzing business processes and describing the system architecture,” said Irina Rosinskaya, Chief Project Analyst of the Krabu Grupp.

Architecture and prototype represent the first stage in the creation of a system and describe its fundamental configuration, elements, their relationships with each other and with the environment, as well as the principles that guide its further development. The analysis and prototyping of a centralized translational eco-environment was supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

“This is the first step towards creating a solution that in the future will make it possible to arrange the management, ordering and execution of translations in a single environment. Thanks to the storing of the translated texts, translation memory databases will appear in the platform, which will save resources as the frequency of use of the system increases. The goal is that in the future the new solution will allow to use the possibilities of automating translations from the Estonian language more actively and ensure the data protection of translated texts,” explained Heilika Kutsch, Head of Communications of the Center for Registers and Information Systems.

In this project, Krabu Grupp used the FullStack+ approach, which is a combination of IT competencies and know-how from related fields. In addition to the IT department, the company’s translation agency, which has an extensive network of partners and customers, was also involved in the project. Representatives of various Estonian translation agencies, officials, freelance translators and representatives of other stakeholder groups also shared their suggestions.

“The history of Krabu Grupp started almost 10 years ago with a translation agency, and today’s IT project has become an interesting reference to our origins. Over the years of work in the field of translation, we have accumulated vast experience of cooperation with state authorities and local governments, fine-tuned our processes and implemented a number of technologies. We will also join forces with other market players so that the state has a worthy instrument for exchanging information in various languages. As a result of the symbiosis of our IT- and translation business directions, both the state and the translators will receive an excellent centralized machine translation system that is convenient and capable of facilitating the challenging effortsof a translator, as well as improving the quality of information exchange for government organizations,” said Kirill Krabu, Board Member of Krabu Grupp.

Krabu Grupp is a company founded in 2012 on the basis of Estonian capital. The cornerstone of the company’s activities is a holistic value chain that integrates several related areas. The high level of synergy between the elements of the value chain allowed the enterprise to develop a FullStack+ approach, in which the work performed can include the analysis and development of IT- and communications solutions, as well as related services that are not directly related to the IT field.

In February 2020, the website of the biggest Tallinn district newspaper, Lasnamäe Leht, was completely redesigned from a static archive to an information portal with local news. The creation of this portal was part of the program by Krabu Grupp, publisher of the newspaper, to develop this information channel.

The initiative to create the portal came from the Communications Department of Krabu Grupp, which is publishing Lasnamäe Leht already for the third year. The paper edition and online version have different concepts: while Lasnamäe Leht is published once a month and contains mainly city district government information, the information portal www.lasnaleht.ee is updated more frequently, publishing more diverse info about the life of the capital’s largest city district. The portal is now open – come, read and comment on the news, and share your own information.

“This is our personal initiative, we started working on the idea about half a year ago. The cooperation in publishing Lasnamäe Leht is a good example of a public-private partnership in which local authorities and a company work together on an object of importance to society. We decided to extend our contribution to this partnership and to include our IT expertise in developing the newspaper’s website. The portal is currently running as a pilot project – we hope it will be adopted in 2020 and we can continue to develop this resource,” said Kirill Krabu, Member of the Management Board of Krabu Grupp.

The idea behind the portal is to give Lasnamäe residents access to information about what is happening literally under their own windows. For visitors to the district, the portal provides a better opportunity to learn about Lasnamäe and its history, and to read the latest news. The main emphasis is on local life, development of the district, and local events. “We are unlikely to be involved in the debate on global political issues, but we will be happy to talk about which roads are planned to be repaired, or to share interesting facts about the various sites in Lasnamäe,” Kirill Krabu added.

Lasnamäe Leht is a monthly issue by the city district government, and it has been published since 2002. The newspaper is published in Estonian and Russian, and is distributed free of charge. The circulation of the paper is 60,000 copies.

Krabu Grupp OÜ, established in 2012, is a company providing communication services and information technology solutions. Its Communications Department publishes, among other things, internal magazines and newspapers for Baltic enterprises, as well as organises other internal media channels and creates content for them.

In November 2019, Estonia’s main business periodical Äripäev included Krabu Grupp in its rating list of gazelle firms. “Gazelles” are companies that have been able to increase their turnovers and profits by at least 50% over three years. Every year, less than 1% of Estonian companies receive a Gazelle status.

Over the past three years, the turnover of Krabu Grupp has more than tripled. In seven years from the date of its foundation, the company has grown exactly tenfold. If in the first years the growth was achieved due to the strengthening of the market position of the company´s communication and translation divisions, it was the later-added IT line of activity, which made a significant contribution to the successful development of recent years.

“Our strategy was initially aimed at finding synergies and expanding within the existing competencies, it has not changed much since the first day of the company’s existence. All business units — translations, communications and information technologies — together or separately, serve a common goal: providing integrity for a better world. And as reflected by rating, such a set of services suits the world. We express our gratitude to our customers and partners for their cooperation, as well as to the Äripäev editorial board for its annual efforts on elaborating such ratings,” said Kirill Krabu, Chair of the Board of Krabu Grupp. Äripäev will publish the full rating of Estonian gazelle firms at the end of December 2019.

The Äripäev gazelle rating is being issued for the 20th time this year. As of this date, many of the enterprises that previously appeared in the ranking have already turned into large and stable companies. Every year, about a thousand fast-growing enterprises in Estonia are propelled into the gazelle firms rating.

The concept of a gazelle firm was introduced in the 1980s by the American economist David Birch, who was actively involved in the subject of small business development. The scientist was the first to carry out the laborious task of studying the individual growth paths of thousands of American companies, proposing a methodology for their classification based on representatives of the animal world – from “mice” to “elephants”. This technique describes gazelles as a small group of enterprises combining high dynamism and sustainable growth. According to D. Birch, gazelles, accounting for only 4% of the total number of firms, create approximately 70% of new jobs.

Krabu Grupp is an international enterprise founded in 2012 on the basis of Estonian capital. In its activities, the company seeks to create purpose and quality reception in the relations between people, between a human being and a machine, as well as between machines serving human beings. The company has developed and is actively using the FullStack+ approach, combining different areas of activity with a focus on consulting, development and other services in the field of IT and communication. In 2019, Krabu Grupp received ISO 9001 quality management certificate.

In October, Krabu Grupp passed the final audit of the quality management system, as a result of which the company attained the ISO 9001:2015 international certificate in the areas of IT, communication and translation. This certification was conducted by Bureau Veritas Estonia.

The ISO 9001:2015 international standard is based on recognized principles of quality management, the fundamental of which is customer focus. The application of ISO 9001:2015 ensures that customers receive high-quality goods and services in accordance with their expectations, which, in turn, contributes to stable operations and ensures the profitability of the enterprise.

“We began to systematically prepare for ISO 9001 certification in 2018, when, due to the growth of Krabu Grupp, it became necessary to create a quality control system. We reviewed, optimized and documented processes in all areas of activity and created a management system focused on continuous improvement of the quality of services provided,” said project manager Yana Kalinistova.

The standards of the ISO 9000 series cover various aspects of quality management and provide recommendations and tools for organizations who want their products and services to constantly meet customer requirements with constantly improving quality. The ISO certificate is an internationally recognized quality mark, which makes it easier to find a common language between enterprises that have not previously cooperated.

“The audit of Krabu Grupp was held in a positive atmosphere. It is worth noting that the company has developed and implemented a quality management system on its own, without using external competencies. And the result is good,” said Raivo Miagi, Chief Auditor of Bureau Veritas.

Founded in 1828, Bureau Veritas is a leading certification organization in Estonia and the world. The company, headquartered in Paris, employs more than 65,000 people and has offices in 140 countries. In Estonia, the bureau has been operating since August 1996. Today Bureau Veritas serves about 700 clients in Estonia, which makes it the market leader in certification. The range of services of the organization includes audit and conformity assessment of various management systems. Along with the certificate, the sign issued by Bureau Veritas is also an internationally recognized symbol.

Krabu Grupp is an international company founded in 2012 on the basis of Estonian capital. In its activities, the company seeks to create meaning and understanding in the relations between people, between a human and a machine, as well as between machines that work for the benefit of a human. The company has developed and is actively using the FullStack+ approach, combining various areas of activity with a focus on consulting, development and other services in the IT sphere.

The Krabu Grupp Company and Tallinn Health Care College have signed an agreement to develop systematized databases of the online e-learning environment for enacting case studies, as well as for testing knowledge and skills.

The project involves both IT-and translation divisions of the company, since the IT solution being developed will be available in three languages.

As part of the contract, the Krabu Grupp will create the SAHVER online e-learning environment, which allows to systematize and store the information necessary for learning, as well as to test students’ knowledge. The online environment will allow to manage the practical training and give feedback on the practice in online mode. In addition, the Krabu Grupp will create the possibility of authentication in this environment using Estonian digital solutions. Bellcom Estonia will be responsible for the development product.

The virtual training environment will be available in Estonian, Russian and English, that is why the Krabu Grupp translation agency will also be involved in parallel in the course of the development work. “In this project, we shall once again apply our FullStack+ approach, where, in parallel with IT development, we involve related areas of activity, which allows us to make the process of developing a system more holistic. While the developers will work on the code, the translators will work on languages, and during the testing of the system we will also conduct language testing to ensure its usability from the first day,” said the Krabu Grupp Development Manager Kati Krabu.

“Through introduction of the SAHVER system, a higher education institution will be able to create an innovative and exciting learning environment for students, the main goal of which is to increase the effectiveness of e-learning, mentoring and simulation training in online mode, and to develop digital competence of students and employees of a higher education establishment by virtue of the above system. When developing the interface of the environment, the emphasis will be focused on a usability feature and on following the visual identity of a higher education institution to create an attractive and reliable learning environment,” said Are Kangus, head of the SAHVER work group, educational process manager at the Tallinn Healt Care College.

The project is financed by the “Institutional Development Program for Scientific and Developing Institutions, as well as for Higher Education Institutions”, that is, at the expense of Supporting Strategic Development of Institutions (Asutuste STRateegiliste Arengu toetamine or ASTRA) foundation.

The information system will be made as an online environment based on the Moodle educational platform. With the help of this system it will be possible to access lecture materials, as well as to perform tests and exams. In addition, the Krabu Grupp will create authentication capabilities in the environment using Estonian electronic solutions such as ID-card, Mobile-ID, Smart ID and student accounts in the national educational information system ÕIS.

Krabu Grupp is a company based on Estonian capital founded in 2012. The cornerstone of the enterprise’s activity is a holistic value chain that unites several interconnected spheres. The high level of synergy between the elements of the value chain has allowed the enterprise to develop the FullStack+ approach, where the works performed may include the analysis and development of IT- and communication solutions, as well as related services that should not be necessarily directly related to the IT sphere.

The Krabu Grupp and Executive Council of Kristiine borough of the city of Tallinn have signed an agreement on the translation of information materials of the borough administration into Russian and Estonian. In accordance with the terms of the tender won by the Krabu Grupp, the enterprise will be responsible for written translations of information materials until the end of 2020.

The Krabu Grupp Translation Agency will be engaged in the written translation of materials of the borough administration for the next two years. The main goal of cooperation is to work together on the materials of the city district newspaper, which is issued by the borough administration.

“Our translation agency has been cooperating with various executive councils of Tallinn´s boroughs since 2016, therefore the city life topics are familiar and well known to us. We hope that our contribution helps to improve the interaction between the administration and the residents of the borough,” said the project manager of the Krabu Grupp Translation Agency, Aleksei Kuznetsov. The newspaper of the Kristiine borough is a monthly publication of the city district administration. It is published in Estonian and Russian and is distributed free of charge.

Krabu Grupp OÜ is a company founded in 2012 offering translation-, communication- and information technology solutions. For over 7 years, the company’s translation agency has been a partner of various government and commercial organizations – from ministries and boards to enterprises from TOP-10 list of Estonia.

Earlier this week, some native Russian-speaking members of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) said they wouldn’t vote for a resolution, as they claimed that the content pertained only to ethnic Estonians and was without due consideration for other nationalities.

"This place is really important for us – many of our partners are within a 5-minute drive. Also, the location itself has long been a symbol of innovation and development prospects. For these reasons, we decided to establish our office in Ülemiste", Member of the Board of Krabu Grupp Jekaterina Tšikova said.

Krabu Grupp’s expansion is in response to the growth of the company – thanks to developments that have taken place in the company in recent months, both the number of our employees and external partners are increasing.

As our linguistic analysis shows, their opinion is based on a mistaken belief. The text of the resolution could be translated into English as follows: “Today marks the 75th anniversary of a tragic day, 14 June 1941, when thousands of the people of Estonia were affected in a bloody reprisal by the communist Soviet regime. On this tragic date, armed members of the occupation forces arrested more than 10,000 Estonian inhabitants in the dead of night and early the following morning.”

The key phrase here is “Eesti inimesed” (people of Estonia), which some Riigikogu members interpreted as meaning only “ethnic Estonians.” They concluded that the resolution excluded other nationalities that were victims of the deportations. In this case, however, capitalisation of the word “Eesti” is key. When the word is used as an adjective to denote nationality, the first letter is not capitalised. Had the resolution referred only to ethnic Estonians, the text would have read “eesti inimesed” (“Estonian people” or “people who are Estonian”), which could be interpreted in different ways.

This linguistic issue is familiar to many professional translators, and the Institute of the Estonian Language has also weighed in, noting that place names are written with a lowercase first letter when referring to peoples and tribes. As a result, it is incorrect to accuse the authors of the text in question of discriminating against anyone on the basis of ethnicity. As a capital letter is used in the word “Eesti,” it is clear that the text refers to all inhabitants of Estonia without prejudice to their ethnicity.

We enjoy working with different languages and appreciate the differences. Our goal isn’t to disparage or accuse anyone but only to spread the word about correct usage.

Similarly, multilingual interpretation management is no less important than the translation process. Any snags or glitches can get in the way of the interpreting or even bring it to a crashing halt. If all that needs to be translated is a short text from one language to another, a more casual approach might work. However, for more complex projects involving many languages or many interpreters, a lack of high-quality management could impair all facets of the service.

For customers, it’s always more convenient to deal with just “one turnkey solution” – not with all of the dates, deadlines, order specifications, names of interpreters and partners or other details. Our job is to make sure that our customers find us an effective, streamlined option – and we try to be that single solution for our customers. This allows your business to focus on its main activity.

Let’s say you need to organise a conference where the proceedings are in Estonian but the participants need simultaneous interpreting in two languages – English and Russian. It’s likely that the main organiser of the event will have to shoulder the responsibility of arranging the interpreting. They have to find interpreters, agree on the time slots and budget and provide them with all the essentials – even accommodation, food and transport. In addition, the interpreters will need all of the information on terms and the background needed to prepare for the simultaneous interpreting. They also need to be furnished with booths and headphones, the conditions for installation of the equipment need to be agreed, a suitable location found in the conference hall and the participants must ensure they have all that they need

The person preparing the event as a whole has to focus mainly on the quality end result, which means there is the probability of overlooking a particular detail. For example, interpreters might not receive the texts of the presentations ahead of time. It’s just a little detail, but it means the interpreter has to improvise due to a lack of sufficient preparation. Improvising is not compatible with the overall quality of an international event. There are many fine details that need to be considered; for this reason, it is more important to delegate the “sub-project” to professionals and then focus on the main issues related to organising the event.

Naturally, every customer wants to get results as quickly as possible, and at the lowest price. That might even be possible, although unlikely. If a customer places a text without an urgent deadline, and the translator happens to have some time during that period without other pressing deadlines, the work will get done rapidly even though the customer didn’t expressly request so. This rarely happens because translators are usually quite busy. It’s easier for translators to plan their work if customers know how quickly they need the finished translation or – even better – the customer gives some advance warning that they’ll need a text translated in the near future. That gives time to prepare the translation and set aside time to fulfil the order. This would be an ideal situation, ensuring both the maximum quality of the translation and the lowest possible price.

Occasionally, a translation is needed “yesterday.” In such a case, the translation bureau will realise it is an exceptional case and the job will be fast-tracked accordingly. However, rushing can end up costing customers more. Usually, an expedited order means overtime, the need to change (and grind) gears and other inconveniences, all of which end up being reflected in a higher price. To keep the price at a reasonable level, it’s worth asking the bureau how fast the job would be translated if it were a standard order. Perhaps the standard pace will be sufficient to satisfy the customer. If a translation has a very short turnaround, the price-quality ratio becomes an important consideration.

The time allotted for the translation determines how much the translator has to rush and whether the proof-reader will be able to look over the text carefully. Sometimes, proofreading isn’t even needed, such as when the customer wants an overview or summary of a text and precise phrasing is not important, yet machine translation is not desired either. In general, we don’t favour that kind of work, but we are ready to work with the customer and consider various options to see what can be done. This type of work usually costs less, because proofreading is not included, but one shouldn’t expect particularly high quality. Nor will the price be low if the translation is needed quickly. But if the customer already knows the basic gist of the text, it might be a reasonable course not to order a full translation of the text.

The format of the text also has a consequence. A .pdf file can’t be edited and has to be converted to text. Working with files for specific applications used by the customer can be more complicated. The translation service has little in common with conversions in other formats, and so we recommend that files be sent in common text formats. Most translation providers have the basic suite of Microsoft Office applications for text, presentations and spreadsheets, but they’re unlikely to purchase licences for specific and expensive programs to fulfil a small order. Large companies have a solution for this: they can provide translators with access to the specialised programs, but it comes down to mutual trust. When it comes to data protection, we follow a consistent set of principles and work in an atmosphere of mutual trust – that’s the path to the best results.