Skills, knowledge, and training for the 21st century technical communicator

Recent advances in technology have had a resonant effect on supporting industries and disciplines. New fields and subject areas emerge where applications of technological breakthroughs outpace theoretical plausibilities. Product development timetables become reduced to absolute minimums; time-to-market schedules are likewise compressed in the hopes of gaining some competitive advantage. Does business drive technology or does technology drive business, or is it both? The technology trend for the future can be summed up in four words: universal, instantaneous information access. Advances in communications (wireless and electronic) and computer technology (microprocessors, microcontrollers, and memory chips) will be responsible for much of the progress made in peripheral fields. The demand for immediate, global access to information (with minimal manipulation) will create a need for individuals with the requisite skills to produce and disseminate that information into as many formats as possible. The paper addresses three principal areas: (1) The skills the technical communicator will need for the future beyond those currently in use today. (2) Emerging technologies and how they will effect what the technical communicator will do. (3) What the academic community can do to better prepare tomorrow's technical communicator.