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ETEN Tools Sustainability Assessment

—ETEN Innovation Lab

1. Integrated Bible Translation Toolchains

Solutions that work together to support the entire Bible translation workflow—from planning and drafting to checking and publishing—while allowing for multiple, flexible implementations in order to handle multiple modalities (text, oral, sign), multiple processes, and workflow automation.

Manages Oral Bible Translation projects
Moderate (2.3)
Oral Bible translation with video feedback
Moderate (1.7)
AI-powered modern translation editor
Strong (2.6)
Text-only Bible translation standard (30+ years)
Moderate (1.7)
Oral-first Bible translation workflow tool
Moderate (1.9)
Multimodal editor for Bible translation
Moderate (1.7)
AI-powered web translation editor (text-only)
Moderate (1.9)
Quality checking for translation accuracy
Strong (2.6)
Offline-first simple translation tool
Moderate (1.7)

2. Digital Archiving & Iterative Publishing

Solutions focused on the secure storage, revisioning (e.g. tracking changes), and long-term accessibility (e.g. publishing) of data for translation projects and reference resources in multimedia formats (text, audio, video, images) for both traditionally and iteratively published translations as well as work-in-progress.

Global API for Scripture in all formats
Moderate (2.3)
Central library for validated Scripture texts
Moderate (2.1)
Version control & distribution for Bible content
Strong (2.7)
India-focused Scripture engagement platform
Moderate (2.4)

3. Project Status & Progress Monitoring

Solutions that provide clear, intuitive, real-time, queryable status updates and reporting across project stages including project initiation, progress, pace, expected completion, and final delivery in order to track progress of major milestones (AAGs and EVC).

No tools currently available in this category.

4. Capacity Building Resources & Training

Solutions that provide a set of practical, culturally-relevant resources, training modules, support systems, and effective discoverability mechanisms designed to empower local churches and communities to lead Bible translation efforts through capacity building and community ownership.

Training resources for Bible translators
Needs Attention (1.3)
Simple tool for accessing translation resources
Moderate (1.6)

5. Linguistic Data Processing & Analysis

Solutions that provide advanced functionality—from orthography development to terminology management and data collection for AI—that ensure accurate processing and analysis of multimodal (text, oral, sign) linguistic data in Bible translation in low-resource languages.

AI-powered language readiness assessment
Moderate (1.9)

6. AI Enablement & Language Data Support

Solutions that make AI practical and impactful for Bible translation by enabling the creation, adaptation, and application of community-generated, language datasets and models—bridging the gap between general-purpose AI and the unique multimodal, contextual needs of Bible translation.

AI assistants for oral Bible translation
Moderate (2.4)

Key Sustainability Variables

1. Financial Viability, Cost-Effectiveness & Funding Sustainability

How financially viable (including all funding sources) is this solution over its lifecycle, and what regularly measurable Return-on-Investment towards major milestones (AAGs and EVC) does it offer in terms of demonstrated strategic value, efficiency and impact when compared to other relevant options?

2. Technical Adaptability, Interoperability & Extensibility

How well does the solution (regardless of size) adapt to emerging technologies (e.g. AI), integrate with existing systems, and iteratively update or extend functionality in order to reduce the frequency of complete overhauls?

3. User-Centric Adaptability & Responsiveness

How effectively does the solution continuously incorporate user feedback and remain responsive to changing needs and workflows, ensuring intuitive design and long-term cultural relevance across diverse global contexts?

4. Global Accessibility & Local Adoption

Can the solution be effectively used across all regions, and what barriers—technical (e.g. complex scripts, oral, sign), cultural (e.g. localization, customization, training), or infrastructural (e.g. scalable, offline, mobile)—might limit its accessibility (open-access) or local adoption (e.g. security risks), and does it demonstrate alignment with unmet user needs (market fit)?

5. Open Collaboration & Organizational Continuity

What is the likelihood and impact if the current development team or organization loses interest or shifts focus, and who (e.g. cross-organizational trust, capability, and knowledge-sharing) as well as what mechanisms (e.g. open-source, documentation, technical maturity, operational capacity) are in place to pick up the baton and maintain continuity?

6. Technology Standards, Reusability & Developer Support

To what extent are the parts of the solution reusable across similar solutions, and how actively does the organization pursue transparency and collaboration to enable reuse, reduce duplication across organizations, promote best practices, and advance common open standards (e.g. tech stack, frameworks, platforms) to collectively maximize the amount of work-not-done across solutions and devices?

7. Identifying with the Collective Impact Alliance

How closely does the team or organization align their identity, priorities, and efforts with the shared values and collective strategic milestones (e.g. AAGs and EVC) of the broader Bible translation movement, rather than becoming overly identified with specific solutions which may not directly advance these collective objectives?