JAPANESE S&T PRESS EXPLOITATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2007
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: June 25, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

_D/F0i5 ----
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a 49
2 5 JUN 1982
MEfv1ORANDUMM1 FOR: Associate Deputy Director for Science and Technolo
Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
SUBJECT: Japanese S&T Press Exploitation
1. Present FBIS Resources: The emergence of Japanese strength in
science and has been reflected in a shift in coverage priorities
within the unit of ~FBIS staff linguists who are targetted on the 25X1
Japanese press. Un-t several years ago, political concerns were uppermost
in the assignment of DCID priorities on Japan, but since the shift of
interest to S&T developments FBIS has been devoting two of the present
complement to that area. additional linguist positions to be devoted 25X1
exclusively to SET coverage are included in the FY-1983 budget. This
will lead to establishment of a new Japanese S&T translation program capable
of further expansion in coming years as warranted. 25X1
2. Present FBIS Coverage: A recent edition of the DIRECTORY OF
JAPANESE SCIENTIFIC PERIODICALS lists some 8,900 titles. Before 1980
only 35 of these were being processed in FBIS; now some 250 titles are
being processed. Some 350 pages of material from these publications
appear in JPRS reports each month (compared to 75-100 pages per month
before 1980). The areas being covered included: (1) Science Policy and
Technology Strategy; (2) Civil Aviation; (3) Automotive Technology;
(4) Marine Technology; (5) Nuclear Power Technology; (6) Alternative Energy
Conversion Technology; (7) Coal Combustion and Coal Conversion Technology;
(8) Telecommunications; (9) Computers; (10) Microelectronics; (11) Bio-
technical Research and Connercial Developments; (12) Advanced-technology
Transfer to the USSR; (13) Cybernetics and Automation Technology; and
(14) Space Technology.
3. Projected FBIS Coverage: The addition of[::]Tapanese desk officer 25X1
slots in FY-83 will offer the opportunity to expand open-source coverage
to 350-400 Japanese-language publications. This will be supplemented by
an increasing flow of English-language publications from Japan. Expanded
coverage is expected in the following areas: (1) a?desk officer to handle
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Approved For Release 2007/06/18: CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9
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Approved For Release 2007/06/18: CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9
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SUBJECT: Japanese S&T Press Exploitation
computers, cybernetics, automation technology, and military technology;.
(2) a second S&T officer to oversee developments in microelectronics,
telecommunications, and marine technology; (3) a third officer to be in
charge of biotechnology, nuclear power, alternative energy conversion
systems, coal combustion and coal conversion, chemistry, and biohazard
technology; (4) a fourth officer to cover space and civil aviation,
automotive technology, and metallurgy. Beyond specific areas of technology,
FBIS expects to respond to general requirements pertaining to Japanese
government and corporate plans, programs, policies, and intentions. It
will also focus on major R&D projections with implications for further
technological and industrial applications. ^
4. Recruiting Problem: The key to expanding coverage is finding
competent Japanese linguists with S&T background to fill staff positions
and to do contract translation. Constant recruiting efforts have had
only limited success, very probably because the requisite package of
talents can command higher salaries elsewhere. If FBIS added half a
dozen S&T IO's to its staff tomorrow, production would still be limited
by the dearth of good Japanese-to-En fish translators available in this
country for contract translation.
6. Other USG S&T Translation Efforts: Other government organizations
involved in translation include the Foreign Science and Technology Center
(FSTC), which produces about 750,000 words of translation from documents
devoted primarily to artillery, ordnance, explosives, and electronics.
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) of the Department of
Commerce has been unsuccessful in mounting a Japanese-to-English technical
25X1
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Approved For Release 2007/06/18: CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9
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SUBJECT: Japanese SFT Press Exploitation
abstracting program in Tokyo. NTIS has found a source in Beijing to
translate some Japanese technical materials. In FY-82 the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration (NASA) contracted out'some 500 Japanese
abstracts. on aerospace to a firm in New York. Finally, the National
Institutes of Healt IH) does some abstracting work from Japanese
medical journals.
7. Private Sector: Information on what is being done in the private
sector is sketchy. No doubt many U.S. firms are following Japanese S&T
developments; however, since the same constraints on language and SUIT
background apply, presumably much of their information is derived from
English-language sources from Japan. n
8. Machine Translation Potential: FBIS has kept abreast of develop-
ments in Machine Translation ?Mr). There are currently no known systems
capable of handling Japanese-English translation. Two firms, Weidner
Communications and Peter Toma's LATSEC, are developing a capability to
handle Japanese. Weidner expects to have its system available next year.
The system would not be readily amenable to the FBIS procedures of staff
scanning and selection and contractor translation leading to a product of
100% accuracy. The Weidner system is geared to customer acceptance of
80% accuracy if it is to be cost-effective. Hence it is acceptable for
the translation of technical manuals--as is currently done by the DDO
with Russian and Spanish manuals--when an in-house staff of inputters
and translator/post-editors can work together on a common computer, and
where the consumer does not require a finished, published translation.
The system would not, however, meet FBIS publication criteria without
extensive post-editing that would negate the time-saving aspect of 14F.
Development of true MT capability, which would not require inputting and
post-editing, is still inhibited by lack of a major breakthrough in the
development of the artificial intelligence required to follow syntactical
intricacies.
9. FBIS is taking the following actions:
b. Recruitment of contract translators in the United
States is being intensified.
S E C R E T
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 Approved For Release 2007/06/18: CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9
SUBJECT: Japanese SeT Press Exploitation
c. FBIS will continue to explore the possibility of
using machine translations to handle SEIT materials. F-
DDS&T/FBIS/PROD
Distribution:
Original - Addressee
3 - Retained in FBIS
1 - D/FBIS chrono
1 - FBIS Registry
1 - C/Prod chrono
(25 Jun 82)
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Approved For Release 2007/06/18: CIA-RDP85-00024R000500070028-9