Interpretation Equipment Solutions Implemented during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Short timeline

October 2011• Creation of the Presidency Department, Logistics

division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

October 2011 – April 2013

• Public tenders, general coordination with Ministries, incl. meeting calendar

January – June 2013

• Detailed meeting planning with Ministries• Cooperation with suppliers on finalizing services

July – December 2013

• Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Classification of meetings in Lithuania Presidency Agenda

• High level meetings: meetings of the heads of states/ governments, informal ministerial meetings, etc. (22 meetings)

• Expert meetings: conferences, working parties/groups, meetings of high level officials (195 meetings)

• Parliament meetings: high level meetings and conferences organized by Seimas (12 meetings)

• NGO meetings: meetings organized by NGOs, business, scientific, cultural entities, etc. (80 meetings)

Venues for High level meetings

Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre ,,LITEXPO”

Palace of the Grand Dukes of LithuaniaNational Gallery of Art

• Cooperation with Directorate General for Interpretation (DG SCIC)

• Requirements for compliance to ISO 4043-1998 standard for mobile interpretation booths and ISO 2603-1998 for simultaneous interpretation equipment

• All drawings of the positioning of the booths was approved by DG SCIC

Preparation stage

International Tender

• Procurement included all Information Technology and Communications services and equipment for Lithuanian Presidency High level meetings.

• Tender took more than eight months, in which three companies participated. The winner – TEO LT is the largest ICT company in Lithuania. Nine subcontractors were invited to work together.

• Interpretation equipment was rented from company Konferenta with more than ten years experience in service providing for international and national events. Payment was only for active days.

Mobile interpretation equipment installation on site

Technical issues and solutions

• Interpretation languages quantity was based on traditions of Ministerials

• Presentations, videos, CCTV files were prepared by Ministries one week before meetings

• A Coordinator from the Presidency team was dedicated for the Interpreters group (Accreditation, Security, Meeting documents folder, Logistic issues)

• Signed agreement with SCIC for meeting records• Working lunches and dinners with interpretation• Media Booths equipment and SplitBoxes in Press conferences• Last minute changes

Interpretation used for other activities

• Live Video broadcasting on Lithuanian Presidency web page

• Information on Lithuanian Presidency Web site LT/EN/DE/FR

• Accreditation system• Meeting agenda• Meeting information booklet

Facts and numbers

• More than 40.000 participants• More than 18.000 press representatives• 257 interpreters from SCIC• Simultaneously interpreting from 23 languages• Listening room with interpretation for more

than 300 participants

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