6 days ago
National Eisteddfod honours speech tech innovator in Wrexham
Dewi Bryn Jones has received the Science and Technology Medal at the 2025 National Eisteddfod, held this year in Wrexham.
The award recognises his pioneering work in Welsh language computing and speech technologies.
Mr Jones leads the Language Technologies Unit at Canolfan Bedwyr, Bangor University, where he and his team have developed a wide range of digital tools and resources that make it easier for people to use Welsh on computers and mobile devices.
Professor Delyth Prys, former head of the technology unit at Canolfan Bedwyr, said: "The award is thoroughly deserved by Dewi.
"I would go so far as to say that without his contribution, we wouldn't have any Welsh software today."
Mr Jones' work has had a significant impact on accessibility.
His technologies support disabled users and those with additional needs to communicate in Welsh, ensuring the language remains inclusive and accessible in the digital age.
Professor Deri Tomos, a previous recipient of the Science and Technology Medal, said: "This unit is absolutely vital to the future of the language.
"Dewi lives and breathes the world of computing – it's a core part of his life, and I'm sure he's delighted to receive this honour."
Born in Pwllheli, Mr Jones studied computer science at the University of York and has worked in Cambridge, Zurich, and Finland.
While in Helsinki, he started translating and localising Netscape Navigator, one of the earliest web browsers.
He later returned to Wales to join Draig Technology Ltd, where he helped develop To Bach, a tool for adding Welsh accents while typing.
In 2002, he joined the Language Technologies Unit at Canolfan Bedwyr.
He has since led the development of key Welsh language software, including the Cysgliad suite, which features the Cysill spelling and grammar checker and the Cysgeir electronic dictionary.
Mr Jones said: "It's a great pleasure and honour to do this work and to be part of a team of others who are just as enthusiastic and talented – more talented than me.
"It's a unit of software developers and language experts with a mix of skills to create all this work.
"We're creating apps that work in Welsh and showing that it's possible to build resources that expand the use of Welsh and normalise the language in the tech world."
He has also developed key databases and platforms for Welsh dictionaries, including the digital version of Geiriadur yr Academi and Y Porth Termau Cenedlaethol.
More than 20 years ago, Mr Jones began researching speech technology for Welsh.
He has developed synthetic voices for people unable to speak due to medical conditions, as well as for games and other digital products.
In 2017, he created Lleisiwr, a tool that allows NHS Wales patients to generate a synthetic Welsh version of their voice before losing the ability to speak.
A bilingual version followed in 2020.
He is currently working with the NHS and a Scottish company to develop synthetic voices with different accents for children and young people in Wales.
Many of his innovations are integrated into Macsen, the first Welsh-language voice assistant.
Macsen can be controlled entirely in Welsh and offers news, weather, music, translation, and more.
Mr Jones has also been instrumental in including Welsh in Mozilla's international Common Voice project, which crowdsources voice data to support speech technology in multiple languages.
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He helped establish the Master's degree in Language Technologies at Bangor University, where he now lectures.
He also supervised the first PhD in speech technology through the medium of Welsh and authored the first Welsh-language handbook on language and speech technologies.
The Science and Technology Medal was first awarded in 2004.
The inaugural winner was Professor Glyn O Phillips, a scientist from Wrexham and the founding head of the North East Wales Institute, now Wrexham University.
