OASIS Announces DITA 1.0 as an OASIS Standard

Strategic Insights -

Boston-based international e-business standards consortium OASIS has announced that its members have approved the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) version 1.0 as an OASIS Standard. The DITA standard defines an XML architecture for designing, writing, managing, and publishing various types of information in print and on the Web. The architecture enables organizations to deliver content closely to the point of use, making it ideal for applications such as integrated help systems, web sites, and how-to instruction pages. DITA's topic-oriented content can be used to exploit new features or delivery channels as they become available.

Key Takeaways:

  • DITA 1.0 has been approved as an OASIS Standard, marking the highest level of ratification by OASIS members.
  • DITA defines an XML architecture for designing, writing, managing, and publishing various types of information in print and on the Web.
  • The architecture enables organizations to deliver content closely to the point of use, making it ideal for applications such as integrated help systems, web sites, and how-to instruction pages.
  • DITA's topic-oriented content can be used to exploit new features or delivery channels as they become available.
  • Industry sectors, such as pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and telecommunications, have the power to standardize on DITA subject-matter vocabularies within their communities.
  • OASIS' DITA Technical Committee remains open to participation, and all interested parties, including users, XML tools vendors, and consultants, are encouraged to join the Committee.
  • Support for DITA OASIS Standard has been expressed by members such as Arbortext, IBM, Idiom Technologies, Innodata Isogen, and Nokia.

Statistics:

  • The OASIS DITA Technical Committee has more than 100 members participating in its efforts.
  • More than six hundred organizations and individual members are part of OASIS in over a hundred countries.
  • OASIS has approved over twenty standards, including DITA, DocBook, SAML, and UBL.
  • Over 4,000 participants are part of OASIS.

Sources:

  • OASIS [http://www.oasis-open.org](http://www.oasis-open.org)
  • DITA Technical Committee [http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita](http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita)
  • OpenDocument FAQ [http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/faq.php](http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/faq.php)
  • Cover Pages Technology Report: DITA [http://xml.coverpages.org/dita.html](http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita)