Scientific and technical communication, and terminology in particular, is one of the signs of the vitality of a language and a guarantee of its future. This idea was already around in 1977, when UZEI was set up with the goal of working in the field of specialist Basque and technical dictionaries. UZEI was a pioneer in euskera (Basque) terminology when the word itself was hardly ever used. 25 years of hard work, at times marked by controversy, have produced more than 80 terminological dictionaries which in turn have come together in the EUSKALTERM Terminology Bank.

UZEI has been and is the de facto Basque Terminology Centre and even without official status has been recognised as such both within and outside the Basque Country. Today UZEI is a member of a range of terminology associations and is part of the Basque Advisory Council's Terminology Commission.