South Africa has a language problem. Its 46 million people speak 11 official tongues. Enter the Human Language Technology (HLT) unit at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria—one of the largest R&D, technology, and innovation institutions in Africa.

HLT researchers are developing innovative ways to give more people, from diverse backgrounds, access to knowledge. "In dealing with South African needs, we have to take into account the level of literacy of users, their technical sophistication, and cultural factors," says Marelie Davel, the computer scientist who coheads the HLT research group.