SC Smart documents
Guidance and exchange towards machine-readable OIML documents
In November 2022, the sub-committee on “SMART OIML documents” was founded. The scope of this sub-committee was defined to be:
- information activity on "machine-readable standards" within the OIML;
- exchange with IEC Strategic Group (SG) 12 and invite industry;
- Provide basic guidance and information, and a common understanding of the meaning and role of “smart” OIML publications; and
- prepare recommendations to be submitted by the DTG to the CIML.
Delegates from NMIJ/AIST, Measurement Canada, BEV, INTI, NIST, CECIP and NIM China participate in this sub-committee. The sub-committee elected Katya Delak (NIST) as Convener.
Developments towards machine-readable standards have been initiated by ISO/IEC and others recently, and very good progress has already been made. The sub-committee is in close contact with ISO/IEC, in particular for collaboration and insights.
Digital and human readable standards are expected to remain in parallel. However, in the longer term, the digital version should become the master. Digitalisation of OIML publications first requires OIML B 6 to be revised, and to require future revisions of OIML Recommendations to be formatted in such a manner that can easily be digitalised. This includes better structured text that is human readable and unambiguous, and breaking down elements into parts for semantic expressions.
A reasonable starting point is the definition of clear requirements for the numbering and organisation of sections, as well as harmonised use of vocabulary (e.g. explanation compared to definition) in headers and titles. The sub-committee decided to begin with a single Recommendation as the basis for discussions. The Presidential Council recommended using R 60 for this purpose because of its maturity and importance for the OIML.
The sub-committee also recognised the need for the development of a tool to create, read and output the digital version of OIML publications. Also training for TC Chairs needs to be considered regarding formatting and structuring documents for machine-readability and for future wording/revisions.
