by Søren Weimann | Sep 16, 2019 | Blog
DITA XML makes advanced content development and management possible, but DITA XML itself is a complex thing. For some, this complexity makes DITA XML inaccessible, and for others, the complexity over time becomes a chaotic cobweb of references and dependencies. Just looking at all these tags and attributes scares some writers off. In a recent survey, we uncovered strong indications that the complexity of DITA XML is hindering the spread of structured writing across departments. For this reason, we created the Open DITA Manifest to make a framework that allows other ways of achieving some of the most important benefits of DITA XML, even for those who do not want to work with the complexity of XML. Open DITA is meant to allow everyone access to the power of structured writing. Open DITA is not a specific set of DTDs like DITA XML. It is a set of functional features in a content authoring and management solution. Any solution that can be said to make these features available, is an Open DITA solution. So here it is… The Open DITA Manifest To comply with the Open DITA Manifest, a solution: CAN use a topic persistence format different from DITA XMLMUST comply with the rules presented below. Rules DITA map supportContent references (conref)Content types: Minimum Topic, Task, Concept, ReferenceGeneralization to generic DITA topic supportedDITAVAL supportSupport for semantic taggingImport DITA XMLExport DITA XMLSupport automated processingSupport styling, layout and formatting through a standard styling language Examples of Potential Open DITA solutions DITA with DOCXDITA with HTML5DITA with JSON Open DITA is not competing with DITA XML. We consider Open DITA to be an extension...
by Steffen Frederiksen | Aug 8, 2017 | Blog
Pharma is undergoing tectonic shifts regarding regulations, affecting both costs and processes across the board. Millions are spent every year by organizations seeking to achieve and retain compliance, one of the biggest challenges facing the life sciences industry. As the sheer number of regulatory requirements grows worldwide, the challenge of not only meeting the requirements, but also maintaining consistency and integrity across all submissions becomes ever greater. As a consequence, as stated in Deloitte’s regulatory outlook for 2017, life sciences organizations are under pressure to add more business value by embedding compliance into business processes. Quality, consistency and compliance issues should no longer be addressed after the fact, but instead in real time before they trickle downstream. How can life sciences organizations keep up and comply with the numerous regulations that are constantly updated or reevaluated, all while keeping consumer health and safety at the forefront? The answer lies in how information is created and used. Traditional methods of creating and storing entire documents for submission won’t help when a regulation is changed or when the same information has to be part of multiple submissions using different formats. Organizations can only stay nimble if their information has been created in an agile and highly organized environment. Structured content helps organize information in an efficient, streamlined manner, making it simpler and more efficient to maintain compliance with changing standards. Let’s take a look at how it can be used to help companies meet regulatory requirements in a specific space – labeling. The value of structure in organizing labeling content Information required to label a certain product will come from many different sources, which can...
