The full-scale implementation of digital transformation (DX) is bringing significant change to our society and daily lives. Technical Communication (TC) itself is now required to undergo DX. It is no longer sufficient to merely digitize existing information. Instead, we are compelled to redesign how product and support information is expressed, communicated, and utilized within an environment where IT systems are established and diverse media and devices are available. Only information that has achieved DX can contribute to the broader deployment of DX in society.

Our association undertakes multifaceted initiatives to enhance and advance technical communication, including cultivating TC professionals, developing and sharing TC technologies, establishing standards, and promoting international exchange. At our biannual symposiums, participants engage in collaborative activities across job roles and companies to design communication and expand TC capabilities.

Ultimately, our association's efforts bear fruit in realizing our “rich and happy lives.” Following former presidents Hiroyuki Kaibo and Manabu Kishi, I intend to dedicate myself fully to advancing “technical communication that brings happiness to people,” drawing from my background as a psychology specialist. I sincerely appreciate your continued support.

January,2024
JTCA Chairperson:   Masayasu Watai

Message from the Representative Director for Activities in 2024

Aiming for Technologies that Contribute to Communication, Utilization, Expression, and Production Management

The long-standing reference standard ISO Guide 37 was discontinued in 2022, eliminating the basis that limited the provision of product and support information to instruction manuals. Moving forward, IEC/IEEE 82079-1 will serve as the new foundation. Furthermore, an increasing number of product sectors now discourage including manuals with the product itself. Unlike the past, where it was taken for granted that creating information meant it would reach users, we now live in an era where we must focus our ingenuity on how to effectively deliver the product and support information we create to users.

In 2024, JTCA will continue its efforts, positioning as a key role of the association the pursuit of delivering the right information, at the optimal time, to the necessary audience. This complements activities related to the technology of creating information and addresses the growing demand for marketing and internal organizational communication.

To this end, the summer Symposium 2024 will be held online in August as the “Communication Design Symposium 2024,” a co-creation environment tackling the challenge of how to design communication with users, in collaboration with industry stakeholders. The fall Symposium 2024 will address the challenge of how to create information products (as defined by IEC/IEEE 82079-1) that fulfill the responsibility of serving as official information (evidence) issued by manufacturers and vendors. The Technical Communication Symposium 2024, a collaborative environment tackling this challenge with industry stakeholders, is scheduled for an in-person event in Kyoto this October. Both Symposiums 2024 will provide a space to think together with participants, serving as venues to systematically pass on communication techniques useful for TC-related work to the next generation of practitioners.

JTCA aims to focus not only on the technology of creating information, but also on the technology of conveying it (achieving effective communication), the technology of using it (contributing to experiential value), and the broader field of information dissemination to ensure it is “used” by a wider audience. Let us explore together with our members the ideal form of all information, including product and support information, for the years ahead.

January,2024
JTCA Representative Director: Toshimasa Yamazaki