While the importance of the World Wide Web as a source of information and a vehicle for doing business is rapidly increasing, so is the need to make web services multilingual. Since all major telecommunication network operators aspire a role as Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Application Service Provider (ASP), it is clear that they invest resources in research and development in the field of multilingual web services. Because of the multilingual character of the research companies try and organize the work in an international framework. Such a framework is provid ed by EURESCOM, the European Institute for Research and Strategic Studies in Telecommunications. EURESCOM is devoted to collaborative R&D in telecommunications. It works as a virtual company using the resources of the shareholders (i.e., the former national Telecommunication companies) to perform high-impact research projects. The project BabelWeb was a collaboration of five companies, viz . BT Research, Portugal Telecom Inovação, CSELT (today TILab, the research company of Telecom Italia), France Télécom R&D, and KPN Research, that acted as project coordinator. In today’s market the Telecommunication companies need knowledge of and technology for the development of multilingual web services for several reasons. All companies seeing their traditional home market develop into a multilingual and multicultural environment because of massive migration. Thus, they need to offer their own services in multiple languages. In addition, all Telecommunication companies are trying to acquire a position as ISP, developing and hosting web services for other companies that are active in a global market.

Malek Boualem