Data Conversion Laboratory, Revolutionizing Publishing for the Digital Age 
  DCLab.com | About DCL | Tech Info | Press Info | Contact Us | DCLNews | Partners | Wiki | Client Area     
menu
Data Conversion Lab

About DCL
  Why go to DCL?
  Clients
  Company Background
  Management
  DCL in the News
  Events
  Holiday Calendar
  Mission

DCL News
  Current Issue
  Back Issues
  Subscribe

Technology
  Technology Resources
  FAQ's
  Glossary
  Presentations
  DCL Work Tracking

Press Info

Clients' Area

Contact DCL
  Directions
  Request Estimate
  Positions

Books2Bytes
Popular Pages
* Current Issue of DCLnews
* DCL featured in The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing
* Slash Document Costs
* Ann Rockley on ROI in CM
* PDF Resources
* XML Conversion Resources
* Roundtrip Document Conversion
* DCL Resources Library
*

Converting Legacy Data...

*

Aviation & Aerospace

*

PDF Conversion to XML & MS-Word

*

PDF Conversion

*

Quark to XML

* Getting Content into XML
Fact Sheets
* Public Access for Research Materials
* S1000D Conversion
* Content Reuse Assessment
* Document Conversion
* SPL - Pharmaceutical Industry
* Harmonizer™
* Jeppesen Map Revision Service
Technical Papers
* Why STM Publishers Should Use XML...
* Department of Defense and the Power of XML
* Your Data in XML
* SGML to SGML 1
* SGML to SGML 2
* Quark to XML
* Plan Ahead
* Do it Yourself?
* Encyclopedia
Presentations
* Conversion to XML: Documents versus Data (11/2003)
* Data Migration Considerations  (6/2003)
* Technology for Cost-Containment and Efficiency  (4/2003)
* Converting Textbooks to Meet the National XML Standard for Accessibility  (3/2003)
* More Presentations
U.S. Army gives paperwork an honorable discharge

Paperwork is getting pensioned from the military with electronic form and content management systems. DCLnews reports.


The U.S. Army has enlisted IBM to create an automated record keeping system that will end the need for forms and other content to go through a long-winded paperchase. In conjunction with a handful of technology partners, IBM says it has created a system to pension off paperwork from Army bureaucracy

When fully implemented over the next decade, the new form and content management system will cut out a whole string of unnecessary paperwork and administrative procedures, according to an Army Audit Agency report. It will also save money.

New S1000D specification helps military scale digital heights

The military is embracing digital publishing on many levels. A new specification, known as S1000D, is one example. It has been developed to establish standards for technical documentation in the military and in those organizations supporting it. The specification powers content management, content reuse and Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs).

Click here for more technical details and benefits of S1000D

It is based on international standards such as SGML/XML and CGM for production and use of electronic documentation. The goal of S1000D is to establish a standard that can be used internationally by a wide variety of organizations and thereby:

  • Facilitates multi-channel publishing to paper as well as web and IETM based electronic products.
  • Reduces the cost of producing documentation since material is authored in one format, which streamlines the publishing process, regardless of the product being manufactured.
  • Greatly enhances global marketability of products since prospects will already be familiar with the "look and feel" of the product documentation.
  • Data becomes interoperable and communication and data mining is greatly improved - because the U.S. military and NATO countries will be authoring to the same specification.
  • Maximizes content reuse capabilities and slashes overall document load, along with the costs of maintaining data.

(Editor's note: the latest S1000D release Issue 2 allows both SGML and XML output using the same specification.)

"It's anticipated it will offer $1.3 billion in cost avoidance per year," said Jim Acklin, the civilian project manager working for the Army publishing directorate.

Currently, the Army has the ability to convert paper-based forms into digital files that can be accessed from an official web site. However, while it is possible to fill-in a form and store the data electronically, users are forced to print a paper copy, manually sign and then hand-carry or mail the form to complete the authorization process.

The Army now relies on up to an estimated 100,000 different forms for everything from supply-ordering and pay-disbursement to medical record keeping and the awarding of citations.

"You have no way of knowing in today's environment what the status of any previous action is," said Acklin, who works for Enterprise Information Management Inc (EIM), the project's contractor. "An electronic content management [system] will allow all these processes to be tracked."

Automation


"Army now relies on up to an estimated 100,000 different forms."


The new single, centralized, document warehouse is comprised of XML-based forms, digital signature approval technology and content management software that will help the Army automate the entire form-completion process.

It will be used by the 1.4 million direct and indirect employees of the Army, which includes both uniformed staff, reservists and civilian contractors. According to IBM, in an average year, they fill out some 15 million forms.

A performance appraisal system for officers and noncommissioned personnel is to be the first application and is now under development, said Acklin.


"Users are forced to print a paper copy, manually sign and then hand-carry or mail the form."


Transformation

The project is part of the Army's Forms Content Management Program (FCMP), which will let soldiers access all form-based processes through the Army Knowledge Online portal.

"The Forms Content Management Program revolutionizes the Army’s form-based activities and will enhance the readiness of our warfighters and personnel around the world,” said an Army spokesman. "It will transform the manner in which the Army has managed information for more than 200 years, automating business processes currently managed by forms.”

An IBM spokesperson added: "Units in the field will be able to view the same forms as their counterparts at other bases worldwide and capture all the required data in a single Extensible Markup Language (XML) format that can then be quickly and securely transmitted via email. With the benefit of auto-population of data, the soldier will no longer be required to enter the same data on multiple forms. XML is an industry standard computer language that allows database programs to rapidly identify information and place it in context within a form or document."

Embracing new technology

This project is another sign that the Department of Defense is seeing the importance of embracing the new content management and content reuse systems that are revolutionizing business, public sector, and government publishing. Organizations all over the world who store and publish large amounts of documentation are recognizing that managing and deploying their content more effectively using the very latest technologies can bring sizable cost savings. The Army is no exception.

DCLnews editorial
Jan 4th, 2005

Further reading:

Department of Defense and the power of XML
http://www.dclab.com/dodxml.asp

Content reuse - the killer app
http://www.dclab.com/content_reuse.asp

DCL Library: Content reuse section
http://www.dclab.com/techlibrary1.asp?GRP=40

DCL Library: DOD section
http://www.dclab.com/techlibrary1.asp?GRP=37

  Structured Product Labeling

Content Reuse

Subscribe

Books2Bytes

DCL Library

Columbia Guide
GSA Schedule
AIA Member
Recent News

DITA/TECHCOMM 2008, Raleigh, NC, November 3-6 2008. More…

ATA e-Business Europe, Budapest, Hungary, October 21-23 2008. More...

9th Annual Vasont Users' Group Meeting, Hershey, PA, October 6-8, 2008. More…

XyUser Phoenix, AZ, September 22-24, 2008. More…
Best Practices Santa Fe, NM, September 15-17, 2008. More…
Doc Train Life Sciences Indianapolis, IN, June 23-25, 2008. More…

X-Pubs London, England, June 22-24, 2008. More…

Mark Logic User San Francisco, CA, June 10-12, 2008. More…

PTC User Long Beach, CA, June 2-4, 2008. More…

Ultramain User Conference 2008, Albuquerque, NM, May 11-15, 2008. More…

Documentation and Training West 2008 Vancouver, BC, May 6-9, 2008. More…

CMS/DITA Santa Clara, CA, April 7-9, 2008. More…

DIA Med Comm Orlando, FL, March 10-11, 2008. More…

DIA EDM Philadelphia, PA, February 5-7, 2008. More…

Gilbane Boston Conference Boston, MA, November 29, 2007. More…

The LavaCon Conference on Advanced Technical Communication and Project Management New Orleans, LA, October 27-30, 2007. More…

2007 ATA e-Business Forum Miami, Florida, Oct 17-19, 2007. More…

DITA 2007™-East, Raleigh, North Carolina, October 4-6, 2007. More…

2007 XyUser Group Fall Conference, Boston, MA, Sept 23-26, 2007. More…

Mark Logic 2007 User Conference, San Francisco, CA, May 15-17, 2007. More…

Content Management Strategies/DITA North America Conference 2007, Boston, MA, March 26-28, 2007. More…

DIA 18th Annual Workshop, San Diego, CA. March 4-7, 2007. More…

DIA 2007 EDM & CDM Conference, Philadelphia, PA, Feb 6 - 8, 2007. More…

DITA 2007 – West, San Jose, CA, February 5-7, 2007. More…

Framemaker 2006 Chautauqua, Austin, TX, Nov 8-10, 2006. More…

PTC/User World Event 2006, Grapevine, TX, June 4-6. More…

19th Annual DIA Conference Philadelphia, PA, February 7-9. More…

XyUser's Conference, San Diego, California, September 11-14. DCL's Don Bridges delivered a presentation on "Content Reuse" More…

Structured Product Labeling, Washington, DC, August 23-24. More…

Tri-XML 2005, Raleigh, NC , July 28. DCL's Don Bridges delivered a presentation on "Content Reuse" More…

Pharmaceutical Labeling and Product Identification, Whippany, NJ, June 16-17. DCL's Don Bridges delivered a presentation on "Structured Product Labeling (SPL) and the Implications of Implementing an XML Solution." More…

More…

Data Conversion Laboratory, Inc.   61-18 190th St., 2nd Floor, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365   718-357-8700   convert@dclab.com

Copyright © 1997-2008  Data Conversion Laboratory, Inc. All rights reserved.