IEC/IEEE 82079-1 Ed. 2 will be revised

Gabriela Fleischer

ICE/IEEE 82079-1 Ed.2 'Preparation of information for use (instructions for use) of products - Part 1: Principles and general requirements', the most important standard for technical communication, will be revised. The parent committees of this standard, IEC’s Technical Committee 3 “Documentation, graphical symbols and representations of technical information” and ISO’s Technical Committee 10/Sub Committee 1 “Basic conventions”, have decided that a revision of Part 1 is necessary. Experts of IEEE, as the third international standards organization, will also participate. Among the topics discussed for Edition 3 are improvements and new insights from practice to be considered and addressed, for example:

- Current technologies, media, and output formats e.g. digital media, motion pictures, video tutorials, audio, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR);

- Target audience orientation with respect to usability;

- Inclusion of sustainability aspects of products;

- Information security, data privacy, and operational technology (OT) security with references to standards in these fields; and

- A clearer differentiation of terms used for safety-related information.

The revision will be done in the international joint working group (IEC TC 3/JWG 16 or ISO/TC 10/SC 1/JWG 16). Experts have started with the development of the 3rd edition of ICE/IEEE 82079-1 in a meeting on May 10–11, 2023 in Offenbach, Germany. According to the current status, the revision is to be completed with the publication of Ed. 3 in September 2025.