(AUREA 2019 AWARD NOMINATION): Daktilograf Engine - Speech to text platform

The Om3ga Solutions startup has developed the Daktilograf software, a unique speech recognition technology. This solution supports South Slavic languages and is not limited as to the number of words it recognizes.

Daktilograf is a platform which instantly turns speech into text and enables correct real-time transcription of South Slavic languages for use in business and public administration. The software has multiple uses. It helps media employees and enables automatic transcription of audio recordings. It can also be implemented in numerous other industries which require transcription, making them more efficient.

This solution is a unique technology which has no limitations when it comes to the number of words it recognizes. It instantly creates transcripts which can be used in many fields. The Om3ga Solutions team plans to expand its portfolio with other Central and Eastern European languages and additional options.

Om3ga Solutions also received a joint investment from South Central Ventures and ICT Hub Ventures for the development of this software.

INNOVATION

Daktilograf is a unique engine which turns speech into text and doesn't rely on a library system, which means that it is not limited as to the number of words in a predefined dictionary or the differences between South Slavic languages, making it applicable regardless of the language used in the given area.

The app will drastically change the way media, PR offices, industrial systems and other similar companies operate.

The current algorithms and solutions of competing companies are based on a dictionary system, limiting them to single-language areas and the number of words defined in the dictionary. The technology developed by Om3ga Solutions is fully innovative, but even more importantly, it requires less processing power.

The algorithm developed by the company truly recognizes the words spoken, whereas the rest of the regional competition uses library systems by narrowing down their applications' use to the number of words in predefined dictionaries.

The aim of creating the Daktilograf software is to contribute to the development of speech-to-text algorithms on a global level. The implementation of a prototype has shown that it is possible to create a commercially usable algorithm which is not based exclusively on audio libraries. The end goal of the Om3ga Solutions startup is to create a technology for the recognition of each utterance, which will enable 100% transcription of spoken language.

According to the development plan, Daktilograf will be upgraded through AI modules, but the core code will remain based on the already developed prototype. This technology will enable the development of apps for a large number of industries, public administration, the justice system, media houses, and the possibilities are endless. The development of the power of servers and commercial availability will enable the creation of market-available products in various fields in the next 12 months.

Once the development of English and Spanish modules is completed and the markets which make up the majority of the global consumption of digital products combined open, the technology may become competitive on a global level.

After getting the first seed investment from Slovenia's South Central Ventures and Serbia's ICT Hub, Om3ga Solutions can dedicate itself to entering the market as soon as possible and seeking as many partners as possible. Although still in an early phase, the project has a growing number of early clients, which enables the company to become a leader in the region.

When it comes to enhancing business processes, Daktilograf accelerates and facilitates typing, which is taken over by the machine, which speeds up the working process and frees employees from doing physical work, allowing them to focus on the creative aspect of their jobs. As it also works as a transcriber, turning speech from audio/video content into text can be done outside the working hours, making the second and the third shift superfluous, as the tool is available 24/7.

Creating a working atmosphere in which non-creative jobs are done by machines, while creative ones are done by people, is a new business culture of the third millennium, which is already taking root globally through automated factories and the robotization and automation of all forms of production. Daktilograf is only the first solution on the road to reaching world standards in this field for Serbia and the Western Balkans as part of the non-profit business mission of the Om3ga Solutions startup.

SOCIAL USEFULNESS

When it comes to the social usefulness of the Daktilograf software, the biggest influence is reflected in the acceleration of digitization in the public administrations of the countries of the Western Balkans. A well known weakness in all these countries are the inefficient operations of state institutions and judiciary bodies, which acts as a business barrier to companies, but also burdens the citizens. The solutions created by the Om3ga Solutions team can accelerate these processes considerably.

The company has also decided to develop the Citac (“Reader”) app, a non-commercial tool for people with hearing and speech impairments, an assistant in following radio and TV program and multimedia content of all types. Citac automatically generates subtitles based on the audio signal. The app will be available for free to all institutions which take care of persons with the said disabilities.

An experimental focus group will be created first (in the send half of March, according to the development plan), which will help the company understand their needs as well as possible in order to implement adequate functions and options within the app.

A similar concept is planned for 2020, when Om3ga Solutions plans to launch the Radiolog platform, which will be available for free to the best students, hospitals with financial problems, health institutions which take care of abandoned and sick children and similar clients.

The contribution of Daktilograf is also reflected in the creation of business culture 2.0, which revolves around taking care of human beings and facilitating working processes as much as possible.

Also, by merging the possibilities offered by two innovative engines, Daktilograf and VR Universal Engine, the company has initiated the Visual Helper project, which aims to facilitate moving through the city for people with impaired eyesight, through an app which uses the phone's camera as “eyes”. Visual Helper has been shortlisted at the global contest of the most innovative solutions Expo Dubai 2020 – Expo Live's 4th Cycle of the Innovation Impact Grant Programme, among over 4,500 projects from 167 countries of the world.

According to the development plan, Om3ga Solutions intends to employ a large number of young experts from Serbia and the region, which is certainly useful socially, considering the high unemployment rates in the states of the Western Balkans.

FINANCIAL POTENTIAL

When it comes to financial success, it's important to note that Om3ga is still at a very early stage of development and that it is the first startup team from Montenegro to attract capital from the two most important regional companies which invest in technological startups – ICT Hub Ventures and South Central Ventures.

This is more of a pre-seed than a seed investment, which usually serves to have a prototype developed into a beta version of the product. However, the prototype developed by Om3ga Solutions has had a stronger performance and offered more possibilities and options than the competition from the start, so their beta product, completed in the last week of February, is already a market-ready product, and the startup's team is in the process of preparing contracts with their early clients.

So, in addition to the initial investment, they have an open pipeline for another round of investments, considering that South Central Ventures is an investment company with a capital of EUR 40 million for investments in the startups of the region. In mid-2019, they are expected to exceed the earnings needed for the second round of investments, which would bring the company's value to 5 to 10 million euros.

When it comes to early clients, Om3ga Solutions counts truly important institutions and companies from the region among its clients. The total value of these contracts should reach 100,000 to 400,000 euros by the end of June, which would open another investment round of half a million to three million euros, bringing the company's value up to 5 to 20 million euros.

As for the clients that are a part of city and state administrations, the situation is even better, as most legal acts say that servers used by state organs must be physically located in that state, so the majority of institutions already own their own servers, which increases the company's profit compared to the classic B2B which they otherwise do.

Due to the great scalability, Om3ga Solutions is the first startup from the region in which SCV has invested in such an early phase, which is a kind of an indicator of the company's great potential for growth and income.

The main competitive advantage of this startup is that their solutions do not require a loss of money and time to create functional dictionaries in various fields and for different states, which gives them several additional advantages.

First of all, they can offer far lower prices than the competition, as the client adapts Daktilograf to their own vocabulary and terms characteristic for their profession through training. Furthermore, in B&H, for example, which has three official languages, institutions would have to buy special solutions for each language and specialized dictionaries for various fields if they bough solutions from the competition.

Also, the company develops apps for the needs of their clients very quickly. They have already received orders for apps Snimac, RTV2WEB Konvertor, Zapisnicar, Sudnica, Stenogram, Sastanak Odbora and others, which points to the need for this kind of software in numerous industries and the public administration.

In the second half of 2019, Om3ga Solutions is looking at the launch of apps in the most important world languages, with which it will enter the global text2speech market, whose annual value stands at USD 23 billion.

If Daktilograf Engine is your investment of the year favorite, you can vote for it on Aurea's official website.