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Chapter 1.1 - Purpose
Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe
2016-12-31
GENERAL
This chapter gives a basic overview of the S1000D purpose including the
history of the development.
PURPOSE
S1000D is an international specification for the procurement and
production of technical publications. While the title restricts its use
to technical publications, it has been found through application that
the principles of the specification can be applied to non-technical
publications.
This specification was initially developed by the AeroSpace and Defence
Industries Association of Europe (ASD). This issue has been jointly
produced by ASD, the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA),
and the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) together with their
customers. These form the S1000D Council and the S1000D Steering
Committee to establish standards for documentation agreed by the
participating parties.
From Issue 2, the scope has been extended to include land and sea
specific applications. The specification can also be used for the
support of any type of equipment including both civil and military
products. All items in this specification are referred to as "the
Product".
Background
The concept of this specification was originated in the aerospace field
within ASD in early 1980s. At that time, most civil aviation projects
were being documented in accordance with the ATA 100 specification.
Military projects in Europe were supported by documentation produced to
various national military specifications, although some attempts of
rationalization had been made in certain collaborative projects. Thus,
by comparison, the situation for the support of civil aircraft was more
stable and manageable. The multiplicity of existing military procedures
and the continual introduction of new procedures were producing ever
greater problems and increased costs for industry and its military
customers, as both became more reliant upon the use of complex
computer-based systems in the field of technical publication support
activities.
This situation, added to the increasing number of collaborative projects
and the necessity to recognize the developments in Integrated Logistics
Support (ILS) and in information technology, prompted the Customer and
Product Support Committee (CPSC) of ASD to establish a Documentation
Working Group (DWG). This DWG consisted of European industry
representatives tasked to report on current documentation practices and
to recommend a unified method of documentation for air vehicle projects.
The DWG recognized that the only internationally accepted specification
in the aerospace field, although not formally recognized as an
international standard, was ATA 100. It was therefore decided to attempt
to harmonize civil and military documentation standards using ATA 100 as
a source document. Many national military specifications used by the
participating nations have their roots in the United States (US) Mil
Specs and these were therefore to be considered. The DWG invited the
nations to provide military representatives who would participate in its
activities and established a subsidiary, which was designated the
Augmented Documentation Working Group (ADWG).
This group realized that their attempts to harmonize specifications and
to establish commonality wherever possible had the following major
advantages:
- cost saving in information generation - avoidance of duplications
- more economic support planning
- cheaper deliverable publications
- uniformity of standard for participants in the project
- standard format for data exchange to exploit future developments
- enhanced interoperability
- improved opportunity for clarity - use of ASD Simplified Technical
English (ASD-STE100®)
- easier and cheaper translation also possible because of ASD-STE100®
The ADWG established task groups which undertook studies of specific
areas to enable the development of the CSDB proposals which are
contained in this specification. The final task was the incorporation of
these international CSDB proposals into this publications specification
which has been agreed by the participating nations.
The ADWG was later renamed Technical Publication Specification
Maintenance Group (TPSMG). Their duties have now been taken over by the
S1000D Council and the S1000D Steering Committee, which have the full
responsibility of maintaining the specification. The S1000D Council and
the S1000D Steering Committee includes members from ministries and
industry.
To take care of the rapid development of information technology, a group
of specialists, the Electronic Publications Working Group (EPWG)
supports the S1000D Steering Committee.
In 2003, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between ASD and
AIA establishing the parameters for an agreement between the two
organizations harmonizing US and European guidance related to technical
publications data.
In 2004, the ASD signed an MOU with ADL. The two organizations are
working together to harmonize the requirements of the Shareable Content
Object Reference Model (SCORM).
In 2005, a MOU was signed between ASD, AIA and ATA in order to promote
common, interoperable, international technical publication data in the
Aerospace and Defense industries and to work in concert on the joint
development and maintenance of S1000D.
In 2007, the MOU between ASD, AIA and ATA has been renewed to enable the
three organizations to jointly further develop, maintain and promote the
S1000D in the international arena.
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