From Word to the web: How IEC authors are embracing Online Standards Development

Since early this year, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has been using its new Online Standards Development (OSD) platform, a fully web-based environment for drafting and reviewing international standards. Built around structured content authoring, OSD integrates Fonto as its core XML editor, enabling technical experts from around the world to collaborate on standards in a browser, no software installation required. Recently, DKE (Deutsche Kommission Elektrotechnik), the German counterpart of IEC, published an interview with Klaus-Wolfgang Klingner, chair of the IEC committee SC23K “Electrical Energy Efficiency Products”. Klaus-Wolfgang Klingner is one of the early adopters of OSD. His experiences shed light on how web-based, structured authoring transforms the way standards are created.