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(U) 'Dr. Dave' Receives IC Medal for Machine Translation Center Work
FROM: SIGINT Communications
Unknown
Run Date: 12/12/2003
(U) The outstanding accomplishments of NSA's Center for Applied Machine Translation (CAMT)
were recognized recently when its founder, Dr. David Savignac of Analysis and Production
Technical Services (S212), received the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, the
Intelligence Community's second-highest award. The accompanying citation identified the CAMT
as a "center of excellence" and noted that "no other concentration of machine translation
expertise can match what is in the Center's office". It also pointed out that "the Center is
receiving more and more attention as agencies, unified commands, and laboratories search for
ways of dealing with large volumes of data".
(U//FOUO) Dr. Dave established the Center for Applied Machine Translation ("go camt") in the
late 90's to provide machine translation to the National Security Agency and to share NSA
translation technology with the Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, the FBI,
and with Second and Third Party allies. It now provides translation into English from more than
60 foreign languages, of a quality at least adequate for scanning and filtering (triage). Its
premier product, CYBERTRANS, has provided over a third of a million translations since it was
put on line.
(U//FOUO) Asked to identify the key factors in his successful careers (he's had more than one)
here at NSA, Dr. Savignac responded, "Three things. First of all, for what I did I had to have
depth, I had to have continuity. Flitting from job to job wouldn't have cut it. Secondly -- in both
instances I inverted the usual NSA management structure. I took the technical lead, did
technical work, and delegated management responsibilities to real smart people junior to me in
grade. It worked out very, very well. Third -- accessability. My door is always open -- literally. If
I create the right atmosphere, folks just might feel comfortable enough to walk in and tell me
that they think I am going to make a mistake. That's one of the best things that can happen." As
for his future plans, he says, "I could have retired a couple years ago, but I'm still having fun. I
like the people I work with and I like having so many challenges at the Center. I like the support
I get from up above. So I guess I'll be hanging around for while longer. Besides, there's some
work I want to do with Kyrgyz ...".
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108