The project aims to develop a smart speaker capable of understanding and speaking in the Basque language. To do this, Elhuyar, Skura and Talaios will adapt the free software Mycroft AI by improving and integrating two Elhuyar systems: knowledge and speech synthesis, both developed based on artificial intelligence and technology called Deep Learning.

For the Basque country to be present in the digital sphere, it is necessary to have knowledge, knowledge and collaboration of different agents. This is the objective of this project, to join efforts of entities working in the same direction for the development of the latest technology, with the support and support of the administration.

This project, which will last for a year, has been supported by the Etorkizuna Eraikiz initiative of the Gipuzkoa Foral Deputation, as well as by the support of the Hazitek programme of the Basque Government to boost business R & D. The City of Errenteria will relinquish the Torrekua building to develop the project. The Torrekua building is currently integrating social economy relations and the development of free technologies necessary to develop strategies for technological sovereignty around several projects.

To measure the importance of the project, the support and support received in Europe is significant. Of the 110 European projects submitted to the European Language Grid call, one of the ten projects selected was the only one in the Spanish and French administrative field. They want to build a large European technological infrastructure to boost language technologies, also supporting minority languages.

Although this project has an experimental character, at the end of the research and development process it is expected that, within a year, it will be a fully functional intelligent speaker in the Basque country. The new speaker is an ambitious project that guarantees the privacy of users and incorporates an appropriate gender perspective. In addition, the knowledge and synthesis of the voice of Elhuyar will be adapted to the domain of the speakers and local capacities will be developed so that the speaker in Euskera will take over the news, music and purchases of Euskal Herria.

MetaForum Congress

European Language Grid, OECD, will host the Inter-Forum Congress from 1 to 3 December. The 2020 edition will be virtual and will consist of a poster session to present to the language technology community the projects selected and supported by the OECD. One of them will be the Mycroft.eus project. Therefore, participants at this year's Inter-Forum Congress will have the opportunity to know the details of the smart speaker in Euskera.