  This is an interim report discussing possible guidelines for the assessment
and evaluation of projects developing speech and language systems. It was
prepared at the request of the European Commission DG XIII by an ad hoc study
group, and is now being made available in the form in which it was submitted to
the Commission. However, the report is not an official European Commission
document, and does not reflect European Commission policy, official or
otherwise.
  After a discussion of terminology, the report focusses on combining
user-centred and technology-centred assessment, and on how meaningful
comparisons can be made of a variety of systems performing different tasks for
different domains. The report outlines the kind of infra-structure that might
be required to support comparative assessment and evaluation of heterogenous
projects, and also the results of a questionnaire concerning different
approaches to evaluation.
