ISO certification for the translation industry is a must have. This is a statement that all translation agencies should be aware of.

A generic management system that translation companies can choose to go for is ISO 9001, which will invariably help translation agencies ensure that they fully understand the needs of their clients and that the translation process is carried out efficiently. The standard provides a set of standardized requirements for an organization’s quality management system, including requirements for the planning and development of the system, its implementation and operation, and the evaluation and improvement of its effectiveness. Many translation agencies use ISO 9001 as a framework for ensuring the quality of their services, including the management of their internal processes and the communication with their clients.

ISO 17100 is the international standard for the core processes, resources, and other requirements for the provision of translation services. It covers the entire translation process, from the initial analysis of the source text to the delivery of the final translated product, and specifies the requirements for the competence, independence, and impartiality of translators and revisers. Translation agencies can use ISO 17100 as a framework for ensuring the quality of their translation services and as a way to demonstrate their commitment to professional and high-quality translation services.

Translation agencies can also go for another certification – ISO 18587, which is the international standard for post-editing of machine translation output. It provides guidelines and requirements for the post-editing of machine translation output to ensure that it meets the necessary quality standards for the intended purpose and audience.

The standard covers the entire post-editing process, including the assessment of the machine translation output, the identification and correction of errors, and the adaptation of the translation to meet the required level of quality. It also specifies the required competencies and skills of post-editors and the necessary resources and processes for post-editing.

ISO 18587 is applicable to all types of machine translation output, including rule-based, statistical, and neural machine translation. It is intended for use by organizations that use machine translation as part of their translation process, as well as by service providers that offer post-editing services.

Moreover, translation agencies can also go for ISO 27001, which relates to information security. Translation agencies handle sensitive information like law firms, accountancy firms, or software agencies. This relates, for example, to birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, and legal documents, including terms and conditions and contracts. Therefore, ensuring that documents and information are stored safely is extremely important for any translation agency

Thus, translation agencies can choose to go for ISO 27001 certification, which will help them to, first of all, identify relevant risks for their management system relating to the information that is handled by the translation agency, and also it will make sure that for example information such as the memory of certain translation blocks are adequately stored and that the agency will be able to use such blocks of information whenever they are required.

Get your ISO certification for the translation industry by contacting Luke Desira!