The Black Hole in the Internet

Recently the Localisation Industry Standards Association (LISA) joined with AIIM International to determine where AIIM members are in relation to localizing documentation, Web sites, service products, etc. Globalization, internationalization, localization, and translation (GILT) are prominent areas in which knowledge management is gaining crucial exposure for international business excellence. Globalization (G11n) addresses all of the enterprise issues associated with making a company truly global. For the globalization of products and services, this involves integrating all of the internal and external business functions with marketing, sales, and customer support in the world market. Internationalization (I18n) is the process of generalizing a product so that it can handle multiple languages and cultural conventions without the need for redesign. Internationalization takes place at the level of program design and document development. Localization (L10n) involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target market where it will be used and sold. LISA Members represent the business professionals, customers, and global solutions providers who play a leading role in this rapidly expanding industry. By performing an online survey of AIIM members detailing GILT issues, LISA can better identify for e-doc readers the resources and information needed to expand their enterprise globally, and increase their revenue potential.