The development of artificial intelligence threatens the balance of European languages, making English a hegemonic language. In the Basque Country, efforts in favour of Basque have created a strong language industry, demonstrating the influence of multilingualism in the economy. At the conference Hizkuntza Irabazia - benefits of languages industry in the economy, the technological advances and contributions to the economy of Basque and other European minority languages were analysed.

The Congress dealt with a number of topics, including:

• Relationship between minority languages and the local economy.
• Challenges and opportunities to ensure the presence of these languages in new technologies and in the digital environment.
• The pressure that the development of artificial intelligence puts on linguistic diversity due to the digital superiority of English.

More than 30 European speakers took part in the conference, which provided an opportunity to analyse the situation of the 15 minority languages. The progress of Basque in technological matters was also presented, sharing experiences and strategies with other minority languages.

Egunean Behin and its Welsh version

On the second day of the conference, entitled ‘The digitalisation of the entertainment industry (video games, etc.) in minority languages’, our colleague Luistxo Fernández took part, together with Harro Hallman, Adam Edwards and Jörg Hübner. Luistxo explained the success and influence of the game Egunean Behin.

Egunean Behin has become an important tool for promoting the use of the Basque language and boosting the digital community of Basque speakers. The game, which has had 220,000 users and more than 50 million games, has around 45,000 participants every week. Luistxo Fernández stressed that the keys to the game's success are its simplicity and its character ‘because it catches you in a short space of time’. In addition, we have extended the application to other minority languages such as Wales. Specifically, the game Cwis Bob Dydd, produced together with Welsh television.

This deployment and collaboration with Wales, commissioned by the local public television S4C in 2022, has been intensified in 2024 thanks to the call for aid for technical cooperation projects in the regions of Flanders/Wales/Corsica, thanks to the promotion initiative of the Basque Government. Precisely, the commercial director of Tinint, the company that has adapted and managed the Cwis Bob Dydd version for the Welsh television S4C, Adam Edwards, attended the congress. We have made an assessment of the collaboration between CodeSyntax and Tinint, discussing the possibilities of continuity for 2025.

An atractive congress

The Hizkuntza Irabazia conference was free of charge, but registration was necessary. In addition, there was the possibility to follow it on eitb.eus, via streaming, all the details of the speakers and debates. And all the talks that took place during the two days of the congress are available on EITB's youtube channel.

The Congress also presented the European Union's vision on the development of minority languages and explained how linguistic diversity and cultural richness contribute to the development of rich regions such as the Basque Country or South Tyrol.

At CodeSyntax, through the game Egunean Behin, it became clear that the development of minority languages can also be achieved by combining technology and entertainment. Participating in the conference The Language Gain was an excellent opportunity to share our experience and encourage collaboration with other minority language communities. In order to further strengthen the links between technology and languages, we will continue to work hard. In this era of digitalisation, the future of minority languages is everyone's responsibility.