This year, NORDIC TechKomm took place on 24-25 September, 2025 in Copenhagen, and I’m quite glad I attended.
The programme was packed with topics that explored various aspects of the technical communication field. Here are a few highlights that caught my attention.
Promoting a circular economy by making goods reparable
The implications of the EU Right to Repair Directive 2024/1799 were outlined by Dr. Gabriela Fleischer. These regulations need to become law in member states by 31 July 2026. (A white paper on the topic will be available as a free download on the tekom EU site in October 2025.)
What the right to repair directive covers
The directive lays out some common rules for repairs in the internal EU market. The scope begins with specific categories of household appliances (such as washers, dryers, and vacuum cleaners), electronics (such as screens and battery-powered products), and tools (such as welding equipment). By 2030, these categories will be expanded to consumer electronics and small household appliances.
The directive is focused on making goods reparable by qualified repair providers, not consumers themselves. Manufacturers must provide “easily accessible, clear, and comprehensible” information on their repair services.
They must also clarify repair conditions, which must be free or reasonably priced. A common EU online platform will be developed where consumers can find repair services.
Mapping value chains to technical content
This sleeper session turned out to be a highlight for me. It’s not often that value chains are discussed in the context of our industry, and rarely connected to technical communication. Alex Masycheff did just that.
While content authors likely describe their value in a process-focused way, it’s more effective to map each phase to upstream activities, where the direct beneficiaries are internal users, and to downstream activities, where the direct beneficiaries are customers and internal users.
The impact of articulating value streams
The biggest impact of mapping a value chain to the content production process is that it clarifies to stakeholders what requirements are imposed on the content, and what new capabilities are unlocked for downstream teams.
Having worked with enterprise architects whose training has been to cut any activity that adds no value along the value chain, this approach makes so much sense. It positions content production activities as a value chain that connects to the overall value chain for the product. It’s a powerful way to raise the visibility of content activities as well as demonstrate overall value.
Other bite-sized takeaways
Every session I attended yielded an insight (or two or ten). Here are a few of them that could be neatly encapsulated.
Semantics as a must-have
Breaking down silos through semantics was highlighted as the new non-negotiable requirement as part of building a future-ready information journey. Creating a company-wide vocabulary, combined with one or more ontologies, is a big step toward achieving knowledge modelling across the enterprise. [Karsten Schrempp]
The change in technical writing roles
The results of a European survey discovered that within the field of technical communication, technical writer remains by far the most popular job title. Though the title remains the same, the expectations will change, such as driving efficiency using AI to focus on higher-value tasks. [Isabelle Fleury]
A Socratic dialogue with ChatGPT
What it takes to get better results from your LLM is engaging in a collaborative conversation. Basically, this means starting with general questions, then refining the specificity with each round of responses until the answer is suitable. [Dr. Yulia Rönsch]
Unpacking DITA authoring practices
Don’t expect to be good at DITA from the get-go. You’ll get to best use in increments, as there are a lot of concepts to learn. [Nolwenn Kerzreho]
A new AI assistant on the scene
An honourable mention goes to Matteo Bulleri from kapa.ai, who spent a significant amount of time explaining how their product, an AI assistant, answers technical documentation queries. I think of this as a content delivery platform, though they haven’t categorised themselves that way.
Content operations rides again
And how did my workshop on Content operations: How to find, quantify, and present operational efficiencies go? I had to go at a fast clip to get all the information into the 90 minute slot. The workshop was well-received, and the unsolicited feedback was that the information provided was just what they needed to go back to their organisations and make the business case.
The NORDIC TechKomm conference is just the right size for delegates who want to combine learning, networking, and vendor demos in a friendly, intimate environment.
