labellisation

[lindoro2000]

Hello and thanks for reading...

I think this is somewhat of an anglicisme, which I need to translate back into English! Here are three sentences to provide some context:

-Elle est aussi chargé e de superviser les demandes de labellisation.
-Comment procéder pour demander une labellisation X?
-12 demandes de labellisation ont été envoyées en 2006.

Is it branding, perhaps? Or simply labelling? Any clues would be most appreciated. This is from a French text (from France, not Quebec, etc) so perhaps it is a catchphrase we don't use in North America.

Cheers,

lindoro2000

 

[JeanDeSponde]

Without further context, "labellisation" might be "obtaining a quality-label" (such as "label rouge" for farm chicken).

-Elle est aussi chargé de superviser les demandes de labellisation. She's also in charge of quality-label applications
-Comment procéder pour demander une labellisation X? How to apply for the X quality-label?
-12 demandes de labellisation ont été envoyées en 2006. 12 applications for quality-labels were requested...

 

[lindoro2000]

It involved 'labellisation' of industrial/chemical/technological projects, if that is helpful.

 

[JeanDeSponde]

Then labellisation = obtaining a label must refer to some sort of approval, standard-compliance, or whatever. Hard to be more precise without context.
But "label" is definitely not meaning "étiquette", as in English:
Label : Marque collective créée par un syndicat professionnel ou un autre organisme qualifié, apposée sur une marchandise pour en garantir la qualité, l’origine et les conditions de fabrication.
It can also apply to a process (eco-friendly process, e.g.)

 

[lindoro2000]

Thanks! It definitely has to do with a 'seal of approval'. The body granting this "labellisation" is a french competitive cluster (pôle compétitive), which approves 'labellisation' to research projects. Perhaps there is no 'one word' translation.

 

[lindoro2000]

Hmmm...perhaps endorsement is one way of translating it?

 

[Jacques L. Dupin]

I know a context concerning "labellisation de projets".
It's quite specific.
The French government initiated a few years ago a new way of funding innovation projects : the creation of "competitiveness clusters" ("pôles de compétitivité"). Three kinds of organizations were invited to gather around technological or innovative thematics, in order to boost innovation : companies (big and small), public research centers, high education organizations. More than sixty clusters were created, and labelled by the government (see the dedicated web site : competitivite.gouv.fr). Within each cluster, R&D project are elaborated and then proposed for a labellisation = funding brought by government and regional authorities.
I can give you more details if you need it.
Jacques

 

[Jacques L. Dupin]

As far as we're talking about a new jargon widely initiated by the European Community organizations, you can find good equivalences to many words on the multilingual cordis.europa.eu web site.
But those competitivity clusters "à la française" may not be yet integrated in the European innovation policies.Nevertheless, parts of the french government site competitivite.gouv.fr are translated in English. Maybe is there a translation of "labellisation".
But I guess you already tried that.

 

[seadew]

Perhaps you could just substitute label for labellisation, it would seem to me that it suggests the same thing in the three sentences you provide.... It's a good idea to step away from jargon for the more common term when possible.
Cheerz

 

[bh7]

I think "labellisation" can often be translated into English as "certification", and "demandes de labellisation" as "certification requests" or "applications for certification". "Labellisation ISO-8000" would be "ISO-8000 certified".

 

[DeSica]

Je lis le fil de discussion et je ne peux pas m'empêcher de penser à homologation.

 

[bh7]

homologation in the sense of
official recognition of conformity with some defined norms, or
official registration after verification
comes close to labellisation. The latter may be an official act of a public body charged with administering the vetting and registration process. In modern commercial life, it has become advantageous for firms to obtain for their products or processes, or for the whole organisation, various publicly available labels of approval or labels of achievement. For instance, labels like "Heart Smart", "Environmentally friendly", "ISO-XXX certified" are believed to give a firm an advantage in the market place. This ubiquitous process of branding is described in French by the word " labellisation ". Despite its English roots, the word appears to be hard to render consistently in English.
Sometimes "branding" is appropriate, sometimes "giving a seal of approval", sometimes "certification", sometimes "approval", etc.

 

[DeSica]

Le GDT donne une seule occurrence dans le domaine de l'informatique pour labellisation et traduit pas certification de site Web. Le GDT donne comme synonyme :
labellisation de site Web n. f.
labélisation de site Web n. f.
certification électronique n. f.

Définition :
Évaluation par un tiers du contenu et de la fiabilité d'un site Web, qui se concrétise par l'affichage sur celui-ci d'un sceau de certification.

Le GDT note:
Cette démarche d'autorégulation permet, en théorie, de rassurer les internautes, entre autres, sur la protection de leur vie privée, la fiabilité et le caractère anonyme de leurs transactions en ligne.
La certification d'un site Web couplée à d'autres techniques renforce l'effectivité du droit. En effet, il est plus rapide de contrer l'existence d'un site non conforme aux lois en en bloquant l'accès par un mécanisme de blocage ou de filtrage que de le faire condamner par un tribunal traditionnel.

 

[James Brandon]

Suggestions made in this Thread are interesting and useful. Certification seems to be appropriate as a general term to cover what labellisation means in French in a broad sense. However, certification can also be too specific for some meanings I have encountered, which relate, for instance, to certain procedures, more particularly in relation to trade shows. (E.g.: A French stand or pavilion is said to be labellisé or to benefit from a procédure de labellisation.)

In such cases, the French phrase refers to the fact the stand or pavilion is being supported (financially and otherwise) by a given organisation (which is, usually, a government agency). I have seen subvention used in English for this, but supported by XYZ would cover labellisé just as well in such a case, in my view. To go beyond, there would be the idea that the venture is funded by XYZ (labellisation = funding, here), but that is perhaps a bit too explicit.

It is one of those French words that appear to be referring to a very specific concept (e.g.: filière), but, in practice, they tend to be used to cover a very wide range of meanings and situations, so that they can end up meaning absolutely nothing, yet get quoted and used all the time, because they simply sound good...

On the other hand, much of the meaning will depend on context. In the case of trade shows, labellisation is a specific procedure - so, it can have a specific meaning. Endorsement might be another possible translation here. But context will always be key to understand and translate such a word, given the wide range of possible meanings.

 

[bh7]

In the sense of " labellisation " = funding, couldn't one say that the exhibition stand or booth is being "sponsored" by such and such a firm or organisation? Sponsorship normally implies financial commitments on the part of the sponsoring organisation.

 

[James Brandon]

Yes, I agree, that is another (translation) option, which I should have mentioned too. The problem is that sponsor/sponsorship often has a very specific meaning and it can also give the idea that the entity/A sponsoring the other entity/B is totally different and external, whereas there could actually be an organic link between A and B. But, in effect, I believe labellisation operates as a form of sponsorship.

Also because sponsor, as a term, is used in French, if a French company uses labellisation, when they could talk about a sponsor (in French), they may be reluctant to see sponsorship offered as a potential translation, even though it may be correct ("we would have said 'sponsor' in French if this was what we meant")...

Some (sponsoring) entities may feel that talking about a sponsor or sponsorship scheme is "too commercial", hence the invention of a term such as labellisation, which is an institutional way of referring to commercial practices such as sponsorship (with funding attached...), as it were.

I am not sure the above makes 100% sense but I hope it does help.

 

[bh7]

Yep, I get your point. In Canadian French the use of the anglicism « sponsor » is frowned upon, so there wouldn't be the same kind of problem here with using "to sponsor" for « labelliser ». And the perceptions concerning "being commercial" differ between Europe and America. Here it is frequently seen as a positive quality associated with efficiency and good common sense practices.

 

[James Brandon]

On language issues, I take your point. On the issue of 'being commercial' Vs some notion of public service etc - the former is put forward and presented as what one ought to aim for, even in the public sector at present (cutting costs, helping companies do business, efficiency, etc.). But, in my experience, in the public sector, they like to create specific terms to describe what goes on elsewhere, to make it sound more interesting and 'different', hence, to a large extent, a term such as 'labellisation'.

So, it may not be the practice of it that can make the people concerned uneasy, but rather talking about it too openly, since one likes to believe that, in the institutional field, things remain somewhat different, less mercenary, and slightly rarefied, so to speak. It is also, simply put, the impact of jargon: public-sector entities like to create their own vocabulary, and in the UK it is especially bad in this respect (local government, social services, education... the list goes on).

I am talking about Western Europe here, obviously, if I am going to over-generalize in a simplistic way.