The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the global federation representing pharmacists, pharmacy educators and pharmaceutical scientists. Founded in 1912 and headquartered in The Hague, FIP brings together 157 member organisations and represents more than 5.5 million professionals worldwide. The organisation is also in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Each year, FIP brings its international community together through its World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, alongside smaller meetings and summits throughout the year. With participants and member organisations spanning the globe, ensuring people can follow important discussions regardless of the language they are most comfortable using has long been an important consideration for the organisation.
For several years, FIP has worked with Interprefy to make multilingual participation simpler, gradually moving from flying interpreters to congress destinations towards a flexible approach that now includes AI speech translation and live captions.
As Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer at FIP, explains, the evolution has delivered more than a change in technology. It has reduced the cost and organisational workload associated with multilingual meetings while giving FIP confidence in the quality of the experience.
FIP’s membership spans countries and regions with very different linguistic needs. Although its World Congress is principally conducted in English, not every participant is equally comfortable following complex professional discussions in English.
Carola highlights Spanish-speaking member organisations in South America and French-speaking organisations across parts of Africa as examples where additional language support can make a meaningful difference.
Multilingual communication is particularly important during FIP’s council meetings. These meetings require translation into Spanish, French and German, ensuring representatives from across its membership can participate in key discussions.
Traditionally, meeting these requirements meant bringing interpreters to the congress location. While effective, this added another significant layer of planning for the FIP team.
Flights had to be considered. Hotels needed to be organised. Interpreters needed to be coordinated and looked after onsite. For a relatively lean organisation delivering a major global congress, every additional logistical task mattered.
You need to make sure that they have hotels, you need to take care of the interpreters. It would be another task for me as organiser. And now, I don’t spend any time on it. It’s really easy. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
FIP’s journey with Interprefy began in 2017 with remote interpretation, providing an alternative to flying interpreters around the world.
In 2024, FIP began using Interprefy’s AI speech translation technology to simplify multilingual delivery even further.
For Carola, the decision came down to two things: quality and cost.
It’s basically a combination of the quality and the price. AI might not be 100% perfect, but nowadays it’s really high standard. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
A former FIP president from Switzerland, whose first language is French and who is less comfortable following discussions in English, used Interprefy’s AI speech translation to listen in French. His reaction left a lasting impression.
He was impressed by the quality of AI. He said, ‘That’s amazing.’ For me, that was a no-brainer. He said the quality was superb. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
For a global pharmaceutical organisation, accuracy is not simply about everyday vocabulary. Congress discussions can include highly specialised terminology from pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, healthcare and education.
To support this, FIP supplied materials including congress abstracts that could be used to prepare custom vocabulary for its Interprefy’s AI speech translation sessions. This helps the AI speech translation system recognise terminology likely to arise during FIP discussions.
The result has given FIP confidence even when working with specialist subject matter.
When asked whether terminology or accuracy had caused concerns during their years using the solution, Carola’s answer was straightforward:
No, not at all. Not a problem.
Technology was only part of what FIP valued about working with Interprefy.
Ahead of its meetings, Interprefy’s team worked with FIP to prepare access information and QR codes, coordinate with the onsite AV team and test the connection before sessions began.
For the FIP team, that support translated into a straightforward process from planning through to delivery.
Everything was very easy. Onsite, we had a meeting beforehand just to check everything. When it was connected, it went smoothly. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
During FIP’s 2026 congress in Montreal, the setup worked so smoothly that additional support during the sessions was not necessary. Once the AV connection was established and tested, the team could focus on running the meeting rather than managing the language technology.
For FIP, the value of multilingual access ultimately comes back to participation.
Attendees can choose to listen to AI speech translation or follow live captions, giving them different ways to engage with discussions in a language they are more comfortable using.
Carola sees particular value for French and Spanish-speaking members, including senior representatives who have important contributions to make but may not feel equally confident communicating in English.
They can continue the conversation or they can be part of the conversation, if needed, in their own language. It’s quite important. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
That ability to participate matters in an international federation where every member organisation brings expertise, perspectives and priorities from its own part of the world.
The operational difference for FIP has also been significant.
Moving away from a model that depended on bringing interpreters to each destination has reduced both the cost and the time required from the internal team.
For Carola, there is a “huge price difference”, but the reduction in organisational work is just as valuable. Instead of arranging travel, accommodation and onsite requirements for interpreters, multilingual delivery has become something that requires very little of her time.
And after seeing the quality AI speech translation can now provide, she does not currently see a need to return to the previous model for these use cases.
I don’t think so. I think the quality has shown that it’s not necessary.
FIP’s next World Congress will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in September 2027. With the federation expecting strong international participation, including a significant number of delegates from China, Carola says multilingual requirements will continue to be something the organisation considers as it plans future events.
For FIP, AI speech translation represents a natural part of how international communication is evolving.
I think that it’s the future. And it’s already existing, so it can only get better and better. - Carola van der Hoeff, Chief Operating Officer, FIP
Just as importantly, the relationship extends beyond the technology itself. Carola points to the ease of communication with Interprefy’s sales and project teams, the professional support and the human relationships behind the service as reasons FIP has continued working with Interprefy.
And when asked to sum up her experience with Interprefy, her answer was simple:
It’s working perfectly, really.
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