Today, a great deal of work is being done twice due to the lack of integration between tools for developing training and documentation respectively, says Mr. Ivar Viktil, Managing Director of Mintra AS.

Over the last couple of years, Mintra together with several companies from both Europe and the United States have looked into how SCORM, the leading standard for e-learning, can be integrated with S1000D, a similar standard for technical documentation.

SCORM - Sharable Content Object Reference Model, is a collection of standards and specifications for e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and Learning Management Systems. SCORM is a specification of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative. Mintra and most other e-learning companies have adopted the standard.

The next natural step will be to look into how Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS) can take this harmonization even further. We need to ensure that learning data and technical documentation are developed and maintained based on consistent data for Integrated Logistic Support data (ILS), continues Viktil.

PLCS is an international standard used in ILS to validate links between engineering changes, maintenance activities, and technical documentation. By applying PLCS principles, we create an opportunity to subject technical learning content to rigorous ILS configuration processes. PLCS might also be extended to support Training Needs Analysis (TNA). PLCS has demonstrated its ability to hold and manage product support data through the life of a product.

Today there is not a vendor-neutral communication protocol between content development tools and a common source database which would facilitate the life cycle support of technical content for learning.

We believe it’s necessary to work in internationally, with well accepted standards within each field, to achieve a break-through in our work to integrated computer-based training and technical documentation. We also need to work together with the best expertise available in this important matter and have already learned a lot from Jotne EPM Technology on PLCS, concludes Mr. Viktil.