ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources ISO WD Terminology Policies – Development and Implementation

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Project leader Anja Drame, M.A. ON/ Infoterm Mariahilfer Str.123/ Vienna Austria

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Scope Standardization of principles and methods for the development and implementation of policies regarding terminology work on national (i.e. language based) or corporate (i.e. subject based or commercial) levels, considering different requirements and goals as well as the underlying environment (e.g. multi/monolingual, development status) which have an impact on such a policy.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Central concepts Strategic planning Governance Policy Implementation Action plan Monitoring & evaluation Consultation Participation and diffusion Language and terminology planning Communication, advocacy, awareness raising Domains GPL, SPL Linguistic norm

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Rationale On their way towards what is called the knowledge society and in pace with fast-growing globalization, more and more companies, organizations and language communities face the need for an active, systematic and coherent strategy for terminology.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Rationale For many language communities or governments there is a need to counter "domain loss" (the hegemony of English in preference to the main language of the community in science and technology) in general or concerning specific subject fields, to support language preservation activities for minority languages or to overcome the digital divide and foster scientific- technological and economic development in developing communities.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Rationale Companies often need to timely address problems and legal implications regarding product declaration, description and technical documentation. They also, in view of increasing e-business activities, have to deal with terminological applications like product classification and their interoperability. The consistent treatment and use of terminologies has an impact on marketing and corporate identity. The formulation of a terminological strategy can help companies to avoid unnecessary costs caused by miscommunication due to the use of inconsistent terminologies.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Rationale A clear, unambiguous, authoritative strategy regarding terminology is particularly of importance in times of (global) merger or in temporary cooperation (e.g. in projects), as part of a company’s knowledge management and communication strategy.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Rationale Due to the interdisciplinary (cross departmental), cross functional or interregional nature of terminology, bottom-up initiatives need to be backed and regulated by top-down decisions and guidelines:  Terminology Policies

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Objectives It is the purpose of this ISO work item to standardize general and specific methods, principles, and a workflow for the development and implementation of terminology policies in a variety of contexts.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Background In 2005 UNESCO published the Guidelines for Terminology Policies (prepared by Infoterm in cooperation with a number of international experts) which outlines basic topics concerning the making and implementation of terminology policies. This document serves as basis for the development of this ISO standard.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Background By 2006 the Guidelines had been translated into Spanish and French and are in preparation for translation into a number of other languages, e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Hausa, Persian, Dutch. * if you are interested in translating the Guidelines into additional languages, please contact

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Background The Canadian government used the document for the reformulation of their national terminology policy – and pioneered in developing the first known comprehensive national terminology policy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed the need for a terminology policy to handle the existing number of different terminologies in their member states along with nomenclatures, classifications and thesauruses, and improve health communication with its members states.

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Business Model ISO Terminology Policies – Development and Implementation will serve as basis for Consulting & Certification for organizations, governmental institutions and commercial entreprises

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Target group(s)/ user group(s) Public administrations (local and central governments, language planning associations, minority language groups...) Companies (Diversity and Human Resources, Marketing and PR, Technical Communication, Terminology and Translation Departments, Knowledge Management) Civil Society Organizations (NGOs, IGOs, who operate within a mandate across geopolitical and linguistic and cultural borders) Project managers (in international or other projects that need to decide and plan for the temporarily limited use of terminology)

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources TC 37 internal cooperation SC 1 WG 2 WG 3 Vocabulary SC 1 WG 4 Socioterminology SC 2 WG 1 Language Codes SC 2 WG 2 Project Management SC 2 WG 5 Cultural Diversity Management SC 2 WG 6 Translation SC 4 Multilingual Information Framework (MLIF)

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources TC 37 external cooperation Envisaged: ISO WHO FAO ICAO OMG LISA

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Leading experts Christian Galinski (Infoterm) Gerhard Budin (University of Vienna) Sue Ellen Wright (Kent State University) Paul Hector (UNESCO) Pierre Lewalle (WHO) Matthias Heyn (SDL, TRADOS) Anja Drame (Infoterm)

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Table of contents Foreword 1Scope 2Normative references 3Terms and definitions 4Language planning and terminology planning 4.1Language planning 4.2Terminology planning 5Formulating and implementing a terminology policy 5.1Policies 5.2Success factors

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Content (contd.) 6Preparation, formulation and implementation of terminology policies 6.1PHASE I – Preparation for the terminology policy 6.1.1Survey of the status quo 6.1.2Preparatory documents 6.1.3Advocacy and awareness raising 6.1.4Organization of a consultation process 6.2PHASE II – Formulation of the terminology policy 6.2.1Finalizing the policy draft 6.2.2Coordination with other strategic planning activities 6.2.3Implementation plan 6.2.4Presentation for ratification 6.2.5Decision on final policy 6.3PHASE III – Implementation of the terminology policy 6.3.1Management of the implementation 6.3.2Operational and organizational plan 6.3.3Publicity and promotion 6.4PHASE IV – Sustaining the terminology infrastructure

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Content (contd.) Annex A (informative) Workflow chart policy process Bibliography

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Time schedule Registration CD DIS FDIS Publication

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Time schedule Next meetings: Provo, Utah (USA) Moscow (Russian Federation) Colombia

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources Thank you for your attention All about Terminology Policies in the Web ISO/TC 37 Secretariat (on behalf of the Austrian Standards Institute (ON)) Infoterm Mariahilferstr. 123/ Vienna Austria Web: Mail: