This is a very basic question. Who should translate? A general assumption is that anybody who knows the two languages, ie the source language and the target language, can translate. It is entirely not true. Translation is an art. It needs a level of experience, a good level of knowledge of the subject matter being translated and art of translating.

Being native is one of the important criteria and it should be also. Just you are native, you know the several inherent complexity of the language easily. But it is noted that nativity is not a static thing. If you live away from your native language speaking area from long time, it is being eroded slowly and in this condition, there is a tendency of forgetting the small know-how of the language as well. So in this case, it is imperative that a translator should enrich him/herself by listening native language news, reading newspaper, magazine and attending conferences related to native language issues etc.

But being native should not be the only criteria. Expertise on subject matter and experience of doing translation are added advantage for a person interested in doing the translation. So if any person who is new to this field, s/he should be aware of what already has happened in the field or community if the project is under any community participation.

Translation is not just a profession. Translation creates a bridge between two distinct culture, two distinct locale. So it needs, apart from just professionalism, a feeling towards your language, a passion to see your language on computer, mobile, web or any hand held device. On one mailing list, one of my friend once wrote, “computer aur mobile par Hindiyane ka sukh shayad sabse alag aur anokha sukha hota hai.” The scene of ICT is changing very fast and it is our duty to create all computing related interface a great place for Hindi.