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Airline and Defense Industries to Harmonize Technical Data Standards

S1000D to be Further Developed for Military and Commercial Use

August 27, 2007

The AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA) and the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA) announced a collaboration agreement to align international technical publication data in the aerospace and defense, and commercial aviation industries. The Aug. 13 agreement positions the three associations to further advance the development and maintenance of the S1000D specification for technical publications. S1000D will ease the cost burden on supply chains, which currently support different standards for each industry, by harmonizing commercial and military aviation technical documentation standards. The main objective for this collaboration is to promote common, interoperable, international technical publication data in the aerospace manufacturing, commercial and defense aviation industries. This approach will harmonize how technical data are conveyed between the original equipment manufacturer and user community for both commercial aviation and military defense systems. "This collaboration agreement is one more step to facilitate improved business agility, reduce costs and increase the speed of doing business -- all while maintaining the highest level of safety," said ATA President and CEO James C. May. "We look forward to working closely with our ASD and AIA partners to further the adoption and usability of S1000D in our industry." ASD Secretary General Francois Gayet said, "The co-operation on S1000D is further proof that our industries can only profit from cross-Atlantic developments where both sides have equal value in the co-operation. From the manufactures' point of view, all solutions that simplify through standardization is welcome." "Streamlining these technical documents will serve members of the aerospace and aviation industries on both sides of the Atlantic," AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said. S1000D, based on international documentation standards such as SGML, XML and CGM, is dynamic and enables continual revision and the incorporation of new technologies. It also defines a methodology that allows for publication compilation and permits users to easily access specific information by standardizing data shared across different software platforms. ASD, AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe represents the aeronautics, space, and defence industries in Europe. ASD has 31 member associations in 20 European countries, and represents over 2000 companies with a further 80 000 suppliers, many of which are SMEs. The European Aeronautics, Space and Defence Industry at a glance: Employment: around 638 000; Industry Turnover: over