Because of significant advancements made in a wide variety of IT standards over recent years. It is now possible for us to bring forth a new generation of language technology. This new technology being entirely independent of platform and vendor origin serves to provide the very basis for an entirely new approach towards the making and maintenance of multilingual web sites. My presentation will attempt to analyse this issue by examining the following: 1) What is a "Multi-lingual" site? Being multi-lingual means more than simply presenting contents in multiple languages. 2) What are the essential qualities of new generation language and localisation tools? And 3) What critical difference does it make for competitiveness and profitability?

For most businesses throughout the world, multi-lingual web site is nothing more than just a "nice-to-have" addition to their marketing infrastructure. In fact, it is undoubtedly a vital part of their business competitiveness. Many will agree that, first and foremost, the entire process for constructing and maintaining effective multi-lingual sites needs to be further streamlined and simplified. This is now achievable with the introduction of new localisation technology and methodologies that makes full use of cross-platform open standards.