# Gorka Labaka

> researcher

**Wikidata**: [Q57083875](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q57083875)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/gorka-labaka

## Summary
Gorka Labaka is a Basque computer scientist, researcher, and university teacher at the University of the Basque Country. He is a prominent figure in natural language processing, known for his work with the Ixa Group and his contributions to machine translation systems such as Matxin and elia.eus.

## Biography
- **Born:** Errenteria
- **Nationality:** Spain
- **Education:** University of the Basque Country
- **Known for:** Development of machine translation tools and lexical databases for the Basque language.
- **Employer(s):** University of the Basque Country
- **Field(s):** Computer Science, Natural Language Processing

## Contributions
Gorka Labaka has focused his career on the intersection of computer science and linguistics, specifically targeting the development of computational tools for the Basque language. In 2006, he contributed to the creation of **Matxin**, a notable open-source machine translation system. He also played a key role in the development of **EDBL**, a significant lexical database for Basque. 

In 2019, Labaka was involved in the launch of **elia.eus**, an advanced machine translation portal. His research is primarily conducted through the **Ixa Group** and the **HiTZ zentroa** (Basque Center for Language Technology), the latter of which was established in 2019. Beyond software development, Labaka has contributed to the academic community as a doctoral advisor, mentoring researchers such as Mikel Artetxe, Uxoa Inurrieta, and Xabier Soto. His academic presence is well-documented across global research databases, including Scopus, DBLP, and Dialnet.

## FAQs
### Q: What is Gorka Labaka's primary area of expertise?
A: Gorka Labaka is a computer scientist specializing in natural language processing (NLP) and machine translation, with a specific focus on the Basque language.

### Q: Which institutions is Gorka Labaka affiliated with?
A: He is a faculty member and researcher at the University of the Basque Country and is a member of the HiTZ zentroa and the Ixa Group.

### Q: What are Gorka Labaka's most notable projects?
A: His most significant projects include the Matxin machine translation system (2006), the EDBL lexical database, and the elia.eus translation platform (2019).

## Why They Matter
Gorka Labaka’s work is essential to the digital preservation and functional utility of the Basque language. By developing open-source tools like Matxin and modern platforms like elia.eus, he has provided the infrastructure necessary for Basque to thrive in a digital-first world. His influence extends through his mentorship of the next generation of NLP researchers, including Mikel Artetxe. As a member of the HiTZ zentroa, Labaka remains at the forefront of language technology in Spain, ensuring that minority languages benefit from the same computational advancements as major global languages.

## Notable For
*   **Matxin (2006):** Development of an early landmark open-source machine translation system for the Basque language.
*   **elia.eus (2019):** Contribution to the creation of a modern, high-access machine translation service.
*   **Academic Mentorship:** Serving as the doctoral advisor for prominent researchers in the field, such as Mikel Artetxe.
*   **Institutional Leadership:** Key membership in the Ixa Group and the HiTZ zentroa (Basque Center for Language Technology).

## Body
### Academic and Professional Affiliations
Gorka Labaka serves as a university teacher and researcher at the **University of the Basque Country** (UPV/EHU). He is a long-standing member of the **Ixa Group**, a research collective dedicated to natural language processing. Since its inception in 2019, he has also been affiliated with **HiTZ zentroa**, the Basque Center for Language Technology. Professionally, he is a member of the **Spanish Society for Natural Language Processing**.

### Research and Systems Development
Labaka's research has resulted in several concrete technological outcomes:
*   **Matxin:** An open-source machine translation system released in 2006.
*   **EDBL:** A specialized lexical database for the Basque language.
*   **elia.eus:** A machine translation portal launched in 2019 to provide advanced linguistic services.

### Mentorship and Academic Lineage
Labaka was himself mentored by prominent Basque computer scientists **Arantza Diaz de Ilarraza Sanchez** and **Kepa Sarasola Gabiola**. He has since continued this lineage by serving as a doctoral advisor for:
*   **Mikel Artetxe**
*   **Uxoa Inurrieta**
*   **Xabier Soto**

### Academic Identifiers
His research output is tracked via several international identifiers:
*   **ResearcherID:** G-8236-2011
*   **Scopus Author ID:** 23088755900
*   **DBLP Author ID:** 63/5247
*   **Dialnet Author ID:** 2185805
*   **Dimensions Author ID:** 011613540114.15

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## References

1. [SciGraph](https://scigraph.springernature.com/person.011613540114.15)