Akasaka Campus at International University of Health and Welfare is proud to host the 9th International Critical Link Conference, which will bring together representatives from every sphere of the community interpreting community. Academics, interpreting practitioners, employers, trainers, policy makers, service providers and service recipients will have the opportunity to participate in a lively and stimulating international exchange of information, knowledge and skills.  

The main theme of Critical Link 9 will be ‘Interpreting in the age of AI’,  exploring political, legal, human rights, trans-national, economic, socio-cultural and sociolinguistic aspects of public service/community interpreting. This event will take place at Akasaka Campus at International University of Health and Welfare, in the centre of the exciting and vibrant city of Tokyo, in the heart of Japan.        

The Critical Link International Conference is held every three years, and is a highly respected, global platform for practitioners, researchers, decision makers, academics and customers. First held in Canada in 1995, the conferences draw people together and provide unparalleled networking opportunities for participants from all over the world.

Although the main theme of CLI9 is "Interpreting in the age of AI", we welcome papers on other issues relating to Interpreting to broaden the theme to attract a wider audience.

Currently, half of the submitted abstracts are unrelated to AI, so we can guarantee that there will be a variety of topics discussed to appeal to all.  We welcome your attendance!

A Welcome from the Local Organizing Committee Chair

Takayuki Oshimi MD

International University of Health and Welfare (IUHW) School of Medicine, Office of Medical Education

After his residency training in gastroenterology, Dr Oshimi received training as a healthcare interpreter and as a trainer of healthcare interpreting. He currently devotes the majority of his time to medical education at IUHW School of Medicine as well as training health care interpreters as a director of Master Course for Healthcare Interpreting at IUHW Graduate School.

International University of Health and Welfare (IUHW) is delighted to welcome you to Critical Link International 9 Tokyo (CLI9 Tokyo). We are proud to be hosting this prestigious event exclusively devoted to improve community interpreting services in the world.

The CLI9 Tokyo theme is “Community Interpreting in the Age of AI.” As many human interpreters are now fearful that they will be supplanted by artificial intelligence (AI) platform that could do the job of the humans with a higher degree of linguistic accuracy, it is time for us to discuss this critical issue honestly and publicly.

From June 14^th to 16^th in 2018, the CLI9 Tokyo will provide a global platform for academics, practitioners, policy makers, and users of community interpreting services. We will have keynote speeches, international roundtables, symposia and oral presentations to learn your innovative research and experiences regarding the theme.

IUHW was founded in 1995 as the first comprehensive university of health and welfare in Japan, with the objective of developing health and welfare specialists and raising their status. We foster professionals who are able to become leaders in their respective specialties, as well as adapt to the advancement and specialization of the medical, health care and welfare fields. We are now a university with around 8,300 students in 10 schools and 24 departments, as well as a graduate school, across 6 campuses in Japan. At the graduate school, we started a master course for healthcare interpreting in 2017, which is the first master course in Japan to cover the model core curriculum for healthcare interpreters which were developed by the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labor.

I hope CLI9 Tokyo will enhance the status of community interpreting and look forward to welcoming you at IUHW. 

Important dates

Call for Papers                                           : September 30, 2018
Registration Opens                                    : November 30, 2018
Deadline for Presenters to Register           : December 31, 2018
Proposal(Abstract) Submission Deadline   : January 31, 2019

Notification of Acceptance: March 31, 2019
Proceedings Submission Deadline: Information for the post-conference CLI9 Proceedings (to be published or posted) will be sent to all presenters prior to the conference start date.

Conference: 14th to 16th June, 2019