ABOUT BOTI
BranschOrganisationen för TeknikInformation, BOTI, is the Swedish Industry Organization for Technical Information. BOTI is a meeting place for companies and organizations where we collaborate with our members to develop and advocate the possibilities and preconditions for Technical Information.
Aiming to create a positive perception of the Technical Information industry, we disseminate expertise and awareness both nationally and internationally about Technical Information as a field.
Our goal is to demonstrate how Technical Information creates and adds value, and how it increases the competitive edge of a product by improving usability.
Together with our member companies, we strive to:
- Elevate the status of Technical Information by shaping opinion on its merits
- Create engaging meeting places to share skills, experiences and visions of the future
- Market the industry towards companies, organizations and future Technical Writers
- Engage in competence maintenance issues by attracting more professionals to the industry
- Influence the educational offerings for Technical Information
- Initiate and pursue research efforts related to Technical Information
- Develop standards, concepts and terminology
- Contribute to clarifying legislation and directives for Technical Information
CONFERENCE
In October each year, a conference is arranged. The conference is open to all and a BOTI membership is not required. The main parts of the conference are held in Swedish. For more information, see https://boti.se/konferens/.
OUR WORKING GROUPS
Together with our members, we work in several Working Groups and Councils to pursue our core goals:
Business Intelligence – Trends, Research & Development
- Monitor, validate and share relevant information to members from e.g. social media, popular research, implementations of cutting-edge technology
- Establish collaborations with research and education at colleges and universities
- Inform members of available relevant training and lectures’
BOTI Conference
- Coordinate the annual BOTI conference
- Arrange the event
Webinar
- Create webinar series with regularly occurring webinars on Technical Information
- Run webinars on a regular basis with e.g. case studies
- Disseminate information about the webinars through BOTI and other channels
Competency Sustenance
- Increase knowledge about the role of Technical Writer
- Inform about the competence needs and requirements of the industry and our members
- Create a foundation for mapping the competency needs of the role against the competence of an applicant
- Formulate the merits of excellent Technical Information through e.g. case studies with real-life examples
- Map out training and education within Technical Information
Laws and Standards
- Influence the making of new laws, standards and specifications.
- Identify relevant regulatory agencies and authorities
- Identify which regulatory agencies and authorities BOTI should try to influence
- Suggest relevant agencies and authorities to BOTI’s Board of Trustees
ABOUT OUR INDUSTRY
BOTI defines technical information as “objective and fact-based information about technical products”.
Technical products are defined as products that require information for installing, use or maintenance of the product. These products can range from software to workshop machines, electronics and medical devices.
Technical information comprises user manuals, assembly and installation instructions, service and maintenance manuals, and aftermarket information such as spare parts directories for technical products.
Industry outlook today?
Technical Information as a field has evolved greatly over the past decades. Today, it is considered a competitive edge for manufacturers. Excellent technical information leads to increased customer satisfaction and optimal use of the product. In some cases companies also face legal requirements for user manuals (e.g. the Machinery Directive) that must be met before an end user is permitted to use the product.
Product/Service development companies often have Technical Information services as its own separate department. These services can also form a part of other departments, such as development, technology, aftermarket or market communication.
Consultancy companies offering Technical Information services are often highly specialized in the field, or have Technical Information as one of their service areas.
Translation companies can also to a certain extent be considered a part of the Technical Information industry.
An industry in transformation
Technical Information has existed ever since the development of complex technical products. Early on, the user manual was often seen as a ”necessary evil” that should be produced at the lowest possible cost. However, in the beginning of the 1990s a larger transformation happened that put the field into the spotlight.
As part of the Swedish EU-collaboration, a series of directives were released, stipulating minimum requirements for user manuals of technical products and the contents of the operating instructions.
Until the beginning of the 21st century, Technical Information consisted mainly of printed manuals or books. Today, Technical Information can consist of a multimedia product that can e.g. be integrated into a machine or technical equipment. For example, we now speak of repair instructions rather than repair manuals, with Technical Information nowadays being distributed digitally more often than in print.
An increasingly global market has also seen a hike in availability of products that are similar in terms of technical solutions, function and performance. Now the soft values of a product, including Technical Information, are of crucial importance for the customer. The minimum requirements for Technical Information are no longer enough for products to succeed in today’s competitive market. Customers today have increasing demands on e.g. product models in 3D CAD, where these models now are used as the base material for producing technical information.
Technical Information is changing at an increasing pace, and the industry is more dynamic than ever before. The development of smartphones and tablets has also opened up enormous opportunities to publish and make Technical Information available quickly and easily. At BOTI, we work continuously towards finding new and enhanced technology to disseminate Technical Information efficiently.
Excellent Technical Information has become a competitive advantage.