Overview
ISO 29383:2020, "Terminology policies - Development and implementation," provides policy makers and organizations with a practical methodology and guidelines for creating, approving and maintaining comprehensive terminology policies. Targeted at governments, administrations, non‑profits and commercial organizations, the standard defines key concepts (e.g., terminology planning, terminology resource, terminology management system) and places terminology policy in the broader context of institutional strategic and language planning frameworks.
Key topics and technical requirements
The standard addresses technical and procedural elements essential to effective terminology policy development and implementation:
- Core concepts and vocabulary: standardized definitions for terminology planning, terminology policy, terminological data collection (TDC), linguistic norm, locale, etc. (references ISO 1087 and related vocabulary standards).
- Language planning relationship: explains how terminology planning fits within status, corpus and acquisition planning.
- Policy development lifecycle: a structured process model with four phases:
- Phase I - Needs assessment: environment analysis, stakeholder consultation, and assessment documents.
- Phase II - Policy formulation and approval: drafting the policy, coordinating with organizational strategy, preparing an implementation plan and securing decision/approval.
- Phase III - Implementation: operational planning, management, publicity and roll‑out.
- Phase IV - Policy maintenance: ongoing review and updates.
- Stakeholder engagement tools: guidance for organizing consultations and analysing user groups (informative annexes).
- Terminology resources and systems: guidance on developing and maintaining terminological data collections, termbanks and using terminology management systems to ensure consistency and interoperability.
Practical applications and users
ISO 29383:2020 is practical for:
- National and regional governments creating language or terminology legislation and standards.
- Intergovernmental and large NGOs needing cross‑domain interoperability and multilingual consistency.
- Corporations and SMEs implementing terminology management as part of localization, documentation, QA and knowledge management programs.
- Terminologists, translators, localization managers and information architects who design termbanks, glossaries and terminology workflows.
Practical uses include glossary/termbase development, translation quality assurance, regulatory compliance, technical documentation consistency, and aligning terminology work with strategic plans.
Related standards
- ISO 1087:2019 - Terminology vocabulary (definitions used by ISO 29383).
- ISO 16642:2017 - Terminological data exchange and structure (TDC concepts).
- ISO 22274:2013 - Locale and cultural parameters.
- ISO/TC 37 publications - broader guidance on language and terminology standards.
Keywords: ISO 29383:2020, terminology policies, terminology planning, terminology management, terminology policy implementation, terminological data collection, terminology management system, language planning.
