2-99 (June 1999) by Johan Näsström Special Aspects Sweden

Education, Certification and Internationalization

Sweden is a small country. With a population of some 8 million, it is slightly larger than, for instance, the Paris region.

In spite of the limited population, Sweden is a highly industrialised nation with a number of globally well known industries. As the home market for these industries is far too small, they have to rely on the export markets to sell their products.

This situation creates a rather special situation for technical communicators in Sweden. We have to translate the manuals into a large number of languages. And, as our own culture really does not have a dominating position in the world, we have to adapt the information to the target cultures on the different markets. Internationalization is a part of our everyday life.

 

35th Anniversary

Sweden’s favourable position as an industrial nation during the sixties fostered a climate where the need for technical communicators grew fast, even if the profession as such was not identified. To promote the profession, in 1964 a small group of technical writers initiated the formation of Föreningen Teknisk Information (FTI), the Swedish Society on Technical Communication, in 1964. Now, in 1999, FTI will celebrate its 35th Anniversary, and is thus one of the oldest communication societies, preceded only by the societies in England, USA and The Netherlands.

The main purpose of the society was to identify the profession, assist the members to increase their skills through conferences and produce a regular member newsletter. There also has been ongoing lobbying to develop education within the profession.

 

Growing Education Possibilities

The first courses in technical communication started by the training and consultancy company COMED in 1969. During the nineties a number of courses have also been developed at different universities covering subjects such as Information Engineering, Multimedia Design, Cognition Science, Interaction Design, Information System Science and Information Design. Even if many of these courses are rather recent additions, they will add to the overall competence and recognition of our profession.

But, so far, the best professionals probably are found among those who gained their competence during many years of experience. They are lacking little but an official recognition as an experienced and qualified communicator.

 

Certified Communicators

More than twenty years ago, long before the ISO 9000 era, discussions were held among the FTI members how to establish an official status through a kind of certification for these experienced "pioneers" and experienced communicators. Eventually, the rules were set last year and some fifty members were officially certified during a small ceremony at a conference day last November.

The primary requirements for being an FTI-certified Technical Communicator are to have at least five years of experience in the profession and have been an FTI member for at least three years. The communicator also has to be aware of related laws and regulations.

The Communicator has to respect the INTECOM’s Code of Good Practice, to inform the client or the employer that they have the right to have jobs reviewed by an independent jury within FTI, and to be bound by the jury’s recommendations. The certification has created great interest from the members, particularly from the independent consultants, giving them a stronger position and a third party to sort out misunderstandings or complaints that may occur.

To sum up: the education possibilities, the well established society FTI, and the certifying possibilities, are promising factors that will ensure Swedish industries get qualified technical information from present as well as future technical communicators.  

"transline Deutschland - Übersetzungsdienst für technische Übersetzung"