This paper aims to contribute to current findings on the position of technological skills within the broader landscape of professional conference interpreting competences.
While the impact of technological advancements on the theoretical and professional aspects of interpreting represents a robust and well-established field of inquiry (see Braun 2019, Fantinuoli 2018, 2021, 2026; Davitti et al. 2025; Petrocheilou 2026), theoretical contributions to the place of technological skills within a general theoretical framework of interpreting competences (Grbic & Pöchhacker 2015) remain few and only recent (Wang and Li 2022, Amato et al. 2025). Moreover, unlike translation (PACTE 2003, Hurtado Albir 2008, EMT 2022), pedagogical and professional reflection on competences for conference interpreting (AIIC 2026) is generally less advanced.
The aim of the paper is twofold: a) present a state-of-the-art theoretical framework for the interaction of technological conference interpreting competences with linguistic, cognitive and contextual aspects of conference interpreting (Seleskovitc et Lederer 1984; Gile 1995; Setton 1999; Hervais-Adelman & Babcock 2022; Mellinger 2024, Pöchhacker 2005, 2026; Seeber 2025); b) contribute to empirical issues regarding technological competences as defined, sought and developed by professional interpreters and professionals working in interpreting services within international organizations and governmental services, including the European Commission, the European Parliament, UNESCO, OECD and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Building on the theoretical, experimental and empirical aspects of contemporary research in simultaneous interpreting and based on qualitative data collected through a series of interviews with key figures, we set out to integrate our findings within a model for the interaction of technological and other skills of professional conference interpreters, and place them within a general framework of contemporary conference interpreting competences.
Thus, the paper aims to stimulate further thinking and action on the needs, challenges and the forms of training for the development of technological competences in conference interpreting.
Ludovica Maggi is Associate Professor at ESIT, Paris, where she coordinates a Master’s programme in Translation Studies Research. She teaches translation, interpreting methodology and translation sociology, with a specific focus on textualisation, discourse, knowledge and praxis in translation and interpreting. She is also an AIIC member and EU-accredited interpreter with 15 years of experience in the profession.
Georgios Vardakis holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Padua. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University.
