On 29 January 2020, the UIC Standardisation Unit held a half-day workshop at UIC headquarters to explain how International Railway Solutions (IRS) are developed, with a specific focus on the drafting process. The event was attended by IRS working group leaders, experts and project managers as well as UIC staff.
UIC develops and distributes IRSs in order to help railway stakeholders achieve further harmonisation and collaboration in daily railway operation. As IRSs are gradually replacing UIC leaflets, the aim of the meeting was to provide recommendations and clarification with regard to the development of IRSs, as well as share good practice so that documents can be produced in a complete and compliant manner.
The workshop was opened by Célia Levy, UIC Head of Standards Programming, who gave the initial presentation on IRS-related processes and how to create a more transverse approach towards standardisation. To conclude the workshop on a promising note, Simon Fletcher, UIC Chief Standardisation Officer, elaborated on UIC’s future tools, including a shared workspace, to support the development of IRSs.
Presentations focusing on editing and translating IRSs were given by Hélène Cambreleng, Manager of ETF (UIC’s publications department) and Birgit Hoppe, Manager of L&T (UIC’s technical language service). The process of how IRSs are managed, edited, formatted, translated and revised was explained in detail and suggestions were made and discussed to try and make the process more efficient.
Nicolas Raynal, UIC’s Terminologist, delivered a presentation which included recommendations and practical tips on the drafting process. He introduced the IRS Word Template, which should be used by all IRS working groups. The new Guide for drafting IRSs provides a reference structure, explanations and examples of how to write the text. Though primarily aimed at writers of IRSs and working groups, this document will also be useful to proof-readers, translators and editors with the aim of facilitating the drafting process to improve and accelerate production.
The Guide for drafting IRSs will soon be available on the UIC website.
