A two-day tutorial in Gyeonggi, Korea, 30-31 October, will arm ICT experts in the region with the skills necessary to perform the roles of Rapporteur or Editor in the standardization work of ITU-T.
 
The event is sponsored by the Korean government and ITU-T and will be hosted by the Korea ITU Committee. The tutorial will be delivered by Gary Fishman, former Chair of the ITU-T Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG). Watch a video interview with him here.

Rapporteurs are responsible for coordinating standardization work undertaken within a particular “Question” of an ITU-T Study Group. A “Question” refers to a specific area of study and a Rapporteur will oversee work on multiple standards within that subject area, while at the same time liaising with other Questions and Study Groups to ensure that suites of complementary standards are produced in a coordinated manner. An Editor coordinates the construction of particular standard (ITU-T Recommendation); incorporating and consolidating contributions to a standard, and liaising with other Editors, Questions and Study Groups as appropriate.
 
The upcoming tutorial is part of ITU-T’s ongoing efforts to increase the efficiency and harmonization of the work performed by ITU-T Study Groups. The tutorialwill address, inter alia:

• Leadership within working groups;
• Role, authority and responsibility of Rapporteurs and Editors;
• ITU basic texts as they relate to Rapporteurs and Editors;
• Approval procedures for Recommendations, annexes, handbooks, etc.

Visit the event’s webpage here

In a bid to find a globally agreed solution to concerns that patent hold-ups may reduce innovation and competition, ITU hosted a roundtable on 11 October.

Standards essential patents (SEPs) relate to technology essential for the implementation of a standard in which it is
incorporated, and require the patent holder to make a commitment to license the patent under RAND (Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory) terms.

The high-level roundtable was attended by representatives of Apple, Nokia, Ericsson, Microsoft, Samsung, Research in
Motion, Motorola Mobility and several other key industry players, as well as regulators, patent offices, government
representatives, and experts in intellectual property law. 

Many of the participants attended a meeting of the TSB Director’s Ad Hoc Group during the following two days. This meeting
agreed a roadmap to address the main concerns in particular: the conditions under which companies that have made RAND
commitments should be allowed to seek injunctions; and clarification of the meaning of the word "reasonable" in RAND.

The next meetings of the group will be 24-25 January 2013.

In order to help overcome a short-term backlog of editorial work, ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) is inviting applications to work remotely as a Technical Editing Assistant on a temporary consultancy basis.

Applicants should ideally have experience in editing ITU texts through previous involvement with ITU-T Study Groups. The work would involve editing the publications of ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) particularly ITU-T Recommendations; verifying technical consistency and validity, and taking measures to improve the quality in line with ITU-T guidelines and in consultation with relevant experts when appropriate. Remuneration is offered at 4000 CHF a month on the basis of a minimum 400 pages a month depending on the complexity of the text.
 
Applicants should have at least eight years of experience in technical or editorial work, including at least two years editing technical texts in English.
 
For more information or to apply, please contact tsbadmin@itu.int.

Briefing sessions for ITU members on proposals submitted to WCIT-12 and WTSA-12 will be held at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, on 8 and 9 October 2012. The sessions will be chaired by Mohamed Al-Ghanim, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, United Arab Emirates. The WCIT-12 session will take place the full day on Tuesday 8 October and the morning of 9 October and the WTSA-12 session will follow that afternoon.

These meetings will provide participants with the opportunity to explain their proposals, exchange views and have a better understanding of each other’s proposals and positions. The Secretariat will provide two documents, one for WCIT and one for WTSA, showing the consolidated proposals submitted by 1 October 2012.

For further information please refer to Circular 1025

ITU is inviting applications for the post of Study Group Advisor, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The successful candidate will provide secretariat support to an ITU-T Study Group; assisting the management team and working groups by, inter alia, studying all contributions and consulting with the submitting bodies,preparing draft texts (recommendations, reports, questions, etc.) and providing input on the technical accuracy and comprehensiveness of all such texts.

Applicants should have at least seven years of experience in the field of ICTs/telecommunications, including at least three at the international level. A Doctorate in a related field can be considered as a substitute for three years of working experience.

Expertise on service definition, numbering, naming, addressing requirements and resource assignment including criteria and procedures for reservation and assignment would be an advantage. In addition knowledge of tariff and accounting matters (including costing methodologies) for international telecommunication services and related telecommunication economic, accounting and policy issues would be an advantage.

Standards from the ITU are at the heart of modern information and communications technologies (ICTs). For more information see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/info.

The Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) provides essential logistical support to ITU-T’s 10 Study Groups including electronic working facilities and meeting management. It also manages promotion, workshops, membership, documents, finance, the website etc. It is the body responsible for providing cohesion to ITU-T’s standards making process.

An attractive package of salary (132,499 -171,699 USD without dependents;
142,285-185,624 USD with dependents [Net of Tax]) plus international allowances and benefits is offered (subject to eligibility).

The closing date for applications is 5 November 2012.

A detailed vacancy notice and application form, including remuneration, can be downloaded here. Applications using the form must be sent to recruitment@itu.int or by post to ITU Human Resources Administration Division, Place des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland. Applications must reach ITU by the closing date.

A new group has been established to investigate academia’s approach to ICT standardization, with a view to increasing the weight assigned to the subject in academic curricula. It will also aim to identify ITU-T action to aid its academic membership in this endeavour. Comments are welcome on the Draft Terms of Reference for the TSB Director's Ad Hoc Group on Standards Education, available here. Proposed revisions should be sent to tsbtsag@itu.int by Wednesday 15 August.

The Ad Hoc Group will include representatives of ITU-T, academia and other standards development organizations (SDOs) interested in collaborating to advance standards education worldwide. Participation is open to all interested parties, including non-members of ITU, free of charge.

In this context, “standards education” relates not to technology-focused topics, but rather to education on the importance of standards to the ICT sector, and by extension, to the operation of businesses and economies at large. ICT today underpins almost all commercial activity and it is essential that we familiarize students with ICT standards development processes, standard strategy planning, and business case studies demonstrating the importance of international standards to industry.

A tentative work plan for the group includes; performing a “gap analysis” regarding ICT standardization courses currently offered by universities; gathering information on standards education programs from relevant external groups; developing course or curricula “templates” to be used by academia in constructing standards-education offerings; and identifying strategies to facilitate the adoption of credit-eligible courses in undergraduate and graduate programmes.

The group’s first meeting will take place during the Joint ITU-GISFI-DS-CTIF Standards Education Workshop, 8-9 October 2012, Aalborg University, Denmark.

For more information, please see the Ad Hoc Group’s webpage here.

ITU is organizing a roundtable on the effectiveness of RAND-based (reasonable and non-discriminatory) patent policies, 10 October 2012.

The ITU Patent Roundtable is being held in light of the recent worldwide increase in patent litigation, and possible lack of adherence to standards bodies’ existing IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) policies.

The event, which will be run using a World Café methodology, will provide a neutral venue for industry, standards bodies and regulators to exchange ideas that will guide future discussions on whether current patent policies and existing industry practices adequately respond to the needs of the various stakeholders. It will bring together standards bodies, industry players and government representatives from around the world aiming to find solutions to the key issues today affecting the ICT industry’s engagement with patents and standards.
 
More here.

ITU-T has established a new Focus Group on Smart Cable Television (FG SmartCable). FG SmartCable
aims to map the Smart Cable Television landscape and thereby provide the foundations for ITU-T’s future standardization work in this regard.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is enabling the provision of innovative audiovisual experiences over cable networks; from ultra-high definition and 3D television to cable-based video
communication and telepresence, interactive home environment control/monitoring, and improvements to broadcasting technology itself.

The group will in particular analyse the system requirements and capabilities to support Smart Cable Television, and identify study areas to support the development of Smart Cable Television standards development in ITU-T.

The first meeting of FG SmartCable will be at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, 19-21 June 2012. The deadline for submission of input documents is 11 June 2012, and the meeting is open to all interested
parties from ITU Member States. Remote participation will be provided and registration for both on-site and remote participation is available at http://www.itu.int/reg/tsg/3000409.

ITU-T Study Group 9
– Television and sound transmission and integrated broadband cable networks – is the parent group to FG SmartCable.
The group will cooperate and collaborate with other ITU Study Groups, and other standardization communities active in the field including universities, research institutes.

For more information on FG SmartCable, please see the group’s webpage
here , or contact the group’s secretariat at tsbfgsmartcable@itu.int

Standardization Committee for Vocabulary, 11 January 2012 face-to-face meeting

Registration

Collective Letter 7

Registration form

Study Group 9

A new Standards Q&A Forum will promote more interactive discussion between the experts creating ICT standards and those applying them. The pilot project has been launched to enable the submission of queries on all aspects of ITU-T Recommendations, in particular from developing countries.
 
Alongside the transfer of knowledge to developing nations, industry members in the developed world gain an opportunity to tap into new markets; making their products and services known to rapidly growing markets in developing nations.
 
The open, moderated forum will focus on the standardization work of ITU and offers participants a unique opportunity to engage with the experts that develop the standards underpinning ICT. An FAQ section introduces strangers to standardization and the ITU-T, covering all manner of questions from, “Why do we need international standards?,” to, “How does the ITU-T decide what needs standardization?” The forum is then organized into the major themes or questions being dealt with by ITU-T study groups.
 

Launched in July 2011, ITU’s IPTV Application Challenge is a ground-breaking stimulus to innovation in this exciting new field of ICT.

Highlighting the rapidly expanding range of the IPTV ecosystem, this unique competition - the first of its kind and worldwide in its scope - presents an opportunity to develop IPTV applications running over either ITU-T H.761 Ginga-NCL or ITU-T H.762 LIME. Both platforms are open, flexible, easily deployed, and ensure high quality IPTV products.

In today’s global economy, innovative applications compliant with ITU’s IPTV standards represent an unparalleled commercial opportunity. However, no great idea would see the light of day without startup capital, and the best app submitted by an individual or small and medium enterprise (SME)* will thus be awarded USD10,000, courtesy of platinum sponsors; Sumitomo Electric Networks Inc., and Dentsu Inc. Winners will receive their awards in October, at the ITU Telecom World 2011 in Geneva, where a range of innovative applications will be showcased.

Before submitting an application, participants are required to register before 30 September 2011. An entry ID and application number will be assigned to participants on registration, and must be included in competition submission(s). Applications must be submitted by 5 October 2011 (Deadline extended).

* As defined in the rules

Meeting of ITU-T SG 9 - Television and sound transmission and integrated broadband cable networks

Geneva, 26-30 October 2009

Registration form

See ITU-T SG 9 Collective Letter 2 for more information.

ITU-T Study Group 9 Home

Meeting of IPTV-GSI - IPTV Global Standards Initiative

Geneva, 26-30 October 2009

Registration form

See TSB Circular 56 for more information.

IPTV-GSI Home

Charles Peter Sandbank, who was very well known to many in ITU, and was recently elected as Chairman to ITU-T’s Study Group 9 has died aged 77.

Charlie, as he was affectionately known to friends and colleagues, started his long and distinguished career with STC making radio valves and later transistors. During his time here he developed some of the first semiconductor integrated circuits to be produced in Europe. Among his early papers were proposals for the techniques now commonly used in ASICS and the principle of surface mount.

In 1964 he was appointed head of the Electron Devices Laboratory at Standard Telecommunications Laboratories and in 1968 became Manager of the STL Communications Systems Division. While at STL he was responsible for the team which pioneered the use of optical fibres for communications and in 1976 built the world’s first wide band digital optical fibre communications system (140 Mbit/s between Hitchin and Stevenage) installed in BT ducts. He edited one of the first books on the technology of optical fibre communications in which he proposed the optical amplifier as now commonly used in long haul systems.

In 1978 he joined the BBC as head of its Research Department and became BBC Deputy Director of Engineering in 1984. He made personal contributions to the BBC’s work in electronic graphics; the ‘BBC MICRO’ project; HDTV and particularly digital broadcasting. NICAM stereo sound for TV was among the activities which he initiated while he was Head of Research. He played a leading role in the establishment of the technology and world-wide standards for Digital Television (a subject on which he also edited a book). The work he initiated at the BBC contributed to the establishment of the world’s first terrestrial digital radio service in 1997 and TV service in 1998. After leaving the BBC in 1993 he became a Director of Snell and Wilcox Ltd and DTI Broadcasting Technology Adviser.

He was a founder member of the DVB project, the founding Chairman of the ETSI/EBU JTC and founding co-chair of the European Digital Cinema Forum. He was also the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Visiting Professor in the Principles of Information Systems Design at the University of Bradford.

He was elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1983, was also FIET and FInstP. He received Fellowships from the RTS, BKSTS and SMPTE for contributions to broadcast engineering and Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Surrey and Bradford.

In the ITU he participated actively since the late 1970s in ITU-R SG6 (previously SG10 and 11) and in ITU-T SG9 since its formation, acting as a Vice Chairman in the last two study periods before being appointed Chairman at WTSA-08 in Johannesburg. He played a major role in the drafting of the basic Digital TV Recommendation ITU-R Rec. 601, and more recently in the ITU-T network independent middleware Recommendations. He chaired the JRG1 the joint T/R Rapporteur group on middleware and was a co-chair of the joint activity of ITU-T SG9 and ITU-T SG9 on IPTV.

Study Group 9 - Television and sound transmission and integrated broadband cable networks

Geneva, 2 - 6 February 2009

Registration Form

See TSB Collective 1/9 for more information.

Study Group 09 Home

Next meeting of the Internet Protocol Television Global Standards Initiative (IPTV-GSI)

Geneva, 23-27 June 2008

Registration Form

See TSB Circular 221 for more information.

IPTV GSI Home

Internet Protocol Television Global Standards Initiative (IPTV-GSI) Meeting

Geneva, 30 April - 7 May 2008

Registration Form

See TSB Circular 199 for more information.

IPTV-GSI Home

ITU-T IPTV experts Ghassem Koleyni and Simon Jones will lead a live web seminar (webinar) on IPTV standardization, May 7 at 1600 CET.

Click here to register, for the webinar hosted by industry analyst Heavy Reading. By registering you will be able to listen to and take part in discussion as well as view presentation slides.

Koleyni and Jones will present standardization from an ITU perspective with experts from other standards bodies, including the DSL Forum and ATIS, explaining how they have worked with ITU to produce the first set of global IPTV specifications, available here. Malcolm Johnson, Director ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau said: “I encourage anyone involved in the deployment of IPTV services at any level to take this opportunity to learn about this important set of standards as well as quiz our experts on the topic.

We have already seen first generation IPTV services and as these mature we may see a change in regulation or market demand that will require interoperation between service and/or network providers. A potential outcome of this will be that a customer can go into shop, buy an IPTV box, call their network operator and sign-up and then access services from a range of third party service providers. It is to meet that need that the value of ITU’s work on standardisation will be realised. ”

If you can’t join the live event registration will give access to an archive file of the event.

The first set of global standards for IPTV have been published in an online compendium.

The proceedings of the IPTV Focus Group (IPTV FG) are collected in an online document including a preface from the ITU Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) and the Chairman of the IPTV FG. They are the result of 20 months hard work by the Focus Group which has now been passed on to the IPTV-GSI (global standards initiative).

Malcolm Johnson, Director of the TSB says in the preface: “The results of the work of the IPTV Focus Group will lay the foundation for an area of ICTs that is predicted to attract up to 100 million subscribers in the next three years. It's easy to see why so many of the world's leading ICT companies have been keen to progress this work.”

As well as the 21 deliverables, the publication gives an overview of the Focus Group, its management team and the group's activities and achievements focusing on: architecture and requirements; QoS and performance aspects; service security and content protection; IPTV network control; end systems and interoperability aspects and middleware, application and content platforms.

Press release

Click here for a document detailing some ITU-T highlights for 2007.

An Information Note from the ITU IS Department is available to help you configure your laptop for the ITU's Wireless LAN.

• ITU's Wireless LAN facilities for Delegates NEW! [Ver.10 Updated 28.11.2007]

See the EWM FAQs page

Study Group 9 consented Recommendations on IPTV and advanced HDTV proposals during meetings held Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, Louisville, Colorado.

The meeting saw participation from all around the world with several delegates from developing countries including Kenya, India and Trinidad and Tobago.

Recommendation J.700 - IPTV Service Requirements and Framework for Secondary Distribution - defines service level requirements and an architectural framework for telecommunication networks to provide new services based on IPTV. It refers to "secondary distribution" which means use of a transmission channel for distribution of video/audio programs to users at large, for example by an over-the-air broadcast channel or by means of a fiber or cable network.

The Recommendation is extensive and includes requirements for network elements as well as customer premises equipment (CPE), including middleware application interfaces which consist of software libraries that provide uniform access to system services. It leverages existing deployed technologies, such as MPEG, DOCSIS, GEM (Globally Executable MHP), and IPCablecom to provide a smooth path for operators to integrate IPTV technology into their networks. While in the process of developing this Recommendation considerable liaison with other Study Groups and the IPTV Focus Group was carried out.

In addition to the IPTV work, Recommendations relating to second - and third - generation IPCablecom were consented. Equipment based on IPCablecom Recommendations, such as modems, set-top boxes, signalling equipment, interactive television application platform interfaces, digital program insertion, and others have had widespread implementation in networks in Asia, Europe, and North America.

The new Recommendations add to a suite of more than 25 which have been developed for cable and hybrid networks primarily designed for television and sound program delivery to the home.

Large screen digital imagery (LSDI) is a family of digital imagery systems that includes very large screen presentation of programmes similar to the non-digital IMAX and OMNIMAX systems. LSDI is described as an optimal approach to the presentation of high-definition television (HDTV) programmes, to a collective audience on cinema-like screens in a cinema-like environment. An earlier approved Recommendation J.600 addresses use of a broadband service or channel for transferring audio or video information to a production center where post-production processing may take place before subsequent distribution. At this meeting work towards a new Recommendation - Network Service Operator's Requirements for Real-time Transmission of exLSDI Signals under Parallel Processing Functionality - was significantly progressed. This Recommendation is related to the transport of program signals conforming to the higher levels of the LSDI expanded hierarchy as used for contribution and primary distribution. The term contribution means use of a broadband service or channel for transferring audio or video information to a production center where post-production processing may take place before subsequent distribution. Primary distribution is the use of a transmission channel for transferring audio and/or video information from a production center to one or several destination points; for example, to a broadcast transmitting center or the headend of a cable distribution network. Work on LSDI takes place with interactions between ITU-T Study Group 9, ITU-R Study Group 6, and other bodies external to the ITU.

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Next meeting of TSAG - Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group

Geneva, 3-7 December 2007

Registration Form

See TSB Collective-letter 5/TSAG for more information.

TSAG Home

Standards produced by ITU — ITU-T Recommendations — are now available without charge. The announcement follows a highly successful trial conducted from January−October 2007, during which some two million ITU-T Recommendations were downloaded throughout the world.

The experiment’s aim was to “increase the visibility and easy availability of the output of ITU-T”. Offering standards for free is a significant step for the standards community as well as the wider information and communication technologies (ICT) industry. Now, anyone with Internet access will be able to download one of over 3000 ITU-T Recommendations that underpin most of the world’s ICT. The move further demonstrates ITU’s commitment to bridging the digital divide by extending the results of its work to the global community.

Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) Malcolm Johnson, presenting the results of the trial to the 2007 meeting of ITU’s Council, said that not only had the experiment been a success in raising awareness of ITU-T, it would also attract new members. Most importantly, he noted, it had helped efforts to bridge the “standardization gap” between countries with resources to pursue standardization issues and those without. “There has been very positive feedback from developing countries,” said Johnson. “Last year exactly 500 ITU-T Recommendations had been sold to developing countries; this year, after allowing free access, they have downloaded some 300 000.”

ITU-T Recommendations are developed in a unique contribution-driven and consensus-based environment by industry and government members, with industry providing the most significant input. A strong focus of current standards work is providing the foundations for the so-called next-generation network (NGN). Other key areas include IPTV, ICT in vehicles, cybersecurity, quality of service, multimedia, emergency communications and standards for access, such as VDSL 2 — very high speed digital subscriber line 2, the newest and most advanced standard of DSL broadband wireline communications.

Next meeting of TSAG - Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (including meeting of the Seminar Coordination Committee (SCC))
 
Geneva, 26 February - 1 March 2007

Registration Form

See TSB Collective-letter 4/TSAG for more information.

TSAG Home