Program Manager Mr. A. Sundaram
OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS IN 2014
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During the year under review, the Secretariat continued to effectively implement the WIPO Language Policy by extending the six-language coverage to Working Groups in a phased and cost effective manner. According to the timeline set by Member States, coverage was extended in 2014 to the PCT Working Group and the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
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By rigorously applying the rationalization and control measures on the number and size of documents for all meetings, the translation volume was kept at a similar level to the previous year, despite the extended language coverage to these two major Working Groups.
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Language services continued placing a higher reliance on outsourcing of translation services, with 59 per cent of the workload outsourced to individual and institutional translators in 2014, compared to 56 per cent in 2013. In order to ensure the quality of translation, quality control measures were further enhanced with the help of the internal core team of translators and revisers. New measures and work processes were developed and streamlined across all languages. The overall quality control rate rose from less than 10 per cent before the implementation of the Language Policy (end of 2011) to around 39 per cent in 2014.
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Building on the new Computer-Assisted Translation and Terminological (CATT) tools, which were fully integrated in 2014, the Program embarked on a terminology project, aiming at publishing terminology assets, for the first time, in all six UN languages, through the newly launched WIPO Pearl terminology platform, which currently includes only PCT terminological entries.
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In addition, the concept of “quality at source” was further strengthened by a general revision of the contractual relationship with external translators. While retaining only those translators who conform to set standards, new individual translators were engaged only after an intensive examination process. Furthermore, systems were introduced to link payments with the quality and timely delivery of outsourced translations.
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Additional agencies were selected through international tenders to cover Arabic, Chinese and Russian translations, taking into consideration the experiences gained in outsourcing translation work into French and Spanish.
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These measures and initiatives contributed to the achievement of cost efficiencies, with the per-word translation cost reduced from 0.63 Swiss francs in 2013 to 0.59 Swiss francs in 2014.
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Efficient and quality interpretation service continued to be provided to all WIPO meetings and events, as required.
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After several years of marked growth, 2014 saw a stabilization in the number of meetings organized in Geneva, which had reached a peak in 2013, largely as a result of the Diplomatic Conference and the extraordinary session of the Assemblies. There was a slight dip in intergovernmental conferences held in Geneva which numbered 101 in 2014, versus 108 in 2013, as well as in ad hoc meetings (study visits, consultations, groups, bilateral meetings, presentations, side events, official visits and internal meetings), the number standing at 5,400 in 2014 compared to 5,600 the previous year. In addition, a total of 81 meetings, as compared to 80 in 2013, were serviced outside the standard meeting hours, i.e. beyond 6:30 p.m. or during weekends.
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To improve services to conference stakeholders, an electronic questionnaire to participants of principal sessions was distributed systematically. Mechanisms were also established for monitoring feedback, analyzing results, and implementing corrective measures.
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With regard to the timely availability of meeting documents, a tracking system was developed in 2014 and relevant data collected over the course of the year. The results of the exercise, conducted for the first time, have led to discussions on corrective measures, in collaboration with meeting secretariats.
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Of particular note was the smooth transition to the new conference facilities and registration infrastructure, both inaugurated in the last quarter of the year. A conference participant badging system, with enhanced security features, was introduced in conjunction with the inauguration of the Access Center and relocation of conference registration activities to this new facility.
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During the year, WIPO continued to provide printing services in an efficient and timely manner. The renegotiation of leasing services led to a decrease in the printing cost per page by 26 per cent from 0.19 Swiss francs in 2013 to 0.14 Swiss francs in 2014. In an effort to improve the carbon footprint of WIPO meetings, the practice of mailing paper copies of meeting agendas was discontinued, and print runs for document-counter distribution were further reduced.
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Following the adoption of the Records Management and Archiving Policy in the biennium 2012/13, work was initiated on establishing retention schedules of records.
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In line with WIPO’s continued commitment to reducing costs, tariffs with external mail service providers continued to be negotiated, resulting in an additional four per cent reduction in 2014.
PERFORMANCE DATA
Expected Result: IX.1 Effective, efficient, quality and customer-oriented support services both to internal clients and to external stakeholders
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Performance Indicators
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Baselines
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Targets
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Performance Data
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TLS
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% of internal and external participants satisfied with WIPO Conference Services
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Updated Baseline end 2013: Results of a satisfaction survey, conducted in 2013 indicated that 98% of users considered the overall quality of WIPO’s conference services either excellent (64%) or good (34%).
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15:
Rate at end 2013
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10% increase in rate by 2015
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Results of a satisfaction survey, conducted in 2014 indicated that 97% of users considered the overall quality of WIPO’s conference services either excellent (48%) or good (49%).
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On track
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Effective implementation of WIPO Language Policy
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Updated Baseline end 2013: The language policy was extended to all WIPO Standing Committees and Main Bodies.
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15:
Language coverage limited to certain Committees/Main bodies;
Variable length of documents
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Quality translation to be made available for all Committees/ Main Bodies;
Length of documents for Committees/ Main Bodies reduced to 3,300 words
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The six-language coverage was extended to two Working Groups (PCT Working Group and the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs) as determined by Member States
Despite strengthened efforts, it was not possible to restrict the length of all documents to 3,300 words. Additional efforts will continue in 2015 to more rigorously apply the rationalization and control measures.
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On track
Not
on track
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Performance Indicators
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Baselines
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Targets
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Performance Data
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TLS
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Cost per word of translation
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Updated Baseline end 2013: 0.63 Swiss francs per word on average
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15:
tbd
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Defined target:
Maintain the average rate of translation
Original target P&B 2014/15: tbd
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0.59 Swiss francs per word
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On track
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Quality of translation
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Updated Baseline end 2013: 96% of documents which respect quality criteria
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15: % of documents which respect quality criteria
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% of documents which respect quality criteria
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Quality of translations was improved to 97% following strengthened efforts by the internal core team on quality control work of outsourced translations, as confirmed by the survey on the satisfaction of Member States and other stakeholders
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Not
assessable
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Reduction in printing costs (per page)
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Updated Baseline end 2013: 0.19 Swiss francs average cost per page in 2013
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15: tbd
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Defined target:
5% reduction in the average cost per page
Original target P&B 2014/15: tbd
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Cost efficiencies resulted in a 26% reduction in the cost per page to 0.14 Swiss francs in 2014.
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On track
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Timely publication of documents for committees and working groups
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Updated Baseline end 2013: 26% of documents in all languages published two months before the relevant meetings
Original Baseline P&B 2014/15: % of documents published two months before the relevant meetings (tbd)
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65% of documents published two months before the relevant meetings
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41% of documents in all languages published two months before the relevant meetings
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Not
on track
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RESOURCE UTILIZATION
Budget and Actual Expenditure (by result)
(in thousands of Swiss francs)
Budget and Actual Expenditure (personnel and non-personnel)
(in thousands of Swiss francs)
NOTE: The 2014/15 Budget after Transfers reflects transfers as of March 31, 2015 to address needs during the 2014/15 biennium in line with Financial Regulation 5.5.
A. Budget after Transfers 2014/15
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The reduction in the 2014/15 Budget after Transfers reflects (i) the redeployment of a post to reinforce administrative services in the WIPO Academy and (ii) adjustments made to the budget due to savings in primarily the translations and printing services.
B. Budget utilization 2014
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Budget utilization is within the expected range of 40-60 per cent for the first year of the biennium and is on track.
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