ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the emerging and potential role of Translation Technology in disaster scenarios. The chapter first outlines the nature of disasters and their multilingual characteristics, drawing on evidence of multilingual communication requirements in recent disasters. The need for translation is established, followed by the need for translation technology. The types of translation technology that are currently being used for disaster settings are explored, with examples such as Translation Memory, Translation Management Tools, Machine Translation, Terminology and Text-to-Speech apps. Methodological considerations for conducting research on this topic are discussed and emerging issues are also addressed. Particular consideration is given to the ethical dimension to research on and in disasters and to how Research Ethics Committees handle the time-sensitive aspect associated with the response stage in a disaster.
