GSC-3/96-64

THIRD GLOBAL STANDARDS

COLLABORATION (GSC-3) MEETING

FINAL REPORT

KYONGJU, KOREA

3 ∼ 5 SEPTEMBER 1996

                                       GSC-3/96-01

 Final Report of
The Third Meeting of 
The Global Standards Collaboration (GSC - 3)

Kyongju, Korea
3 - 5 September 1996  
              
CONTENTS 

1. Opening of the Meeting …………………………………………………… 1 

2. Address by the Chairman  ………………………………………………… 2

3. Meeting Information  ………………………………………………………… 3

4. Approval of the Agenda …………………………………………………… 3

5. Review of Progress made since GSC-2 Meeting  ……………………… 3

    5.1  Report on ITU Activities …………………………………………………… 3
     5.2  Report on T1 Activities ……………………………………………………  4
    5.3  Report on ETSI Activities …………………………………………………… 5
    5.4  Report on TTC Activities …………………………………………………… 5
    5.5  Report on ATSC Activities…………………………………………………… 6 
    5.6  Report on TTA Activities …………………………………………………… 6
    5.7  Report on TSACC Activities ………………………………………………  7
    5.8  Report on User Involvement and Activities……………………………… 7
    5.9  Report on GSC-EDH Group Activities …………………………………… 8 
    5.10 Report on ISO/IEC JTC 1 Activities ……………………………………… 9 

6. Other Reports  ………………………………………………………………… 9

   6.1  Presentation by the Informal Group on Global Radio   ……………… 9
        Standardization(RAST)
   6.2  Status of Intellectual Property Rights(IPRs) Aspects  ………………… 10 
   6.3  Conformity Assessment & Quality of Standards ………………………12 
   6.4  Fora and Consortia   ………………………………………………………14 

7. Presentation and Evaluation of Written Contribution………………… 15

   7.1 Review and Evaluation of Activities on High Interest Subjects……… 15
   7.2 Improvement of Working Methods………………………………………… 17
   7.3 New Issues  …………………………………………………………………… 18

8. Global Information Infrastructure Standards Issues  ………………… 19

9. Other Business………………………………………………………………… 22

   9.1 Points Pertinent to the WTSC ……………………………………………… 22

10. Conclusions and Communique…………………………………………… 22

11. Closing of the Meeting …………………………………………………… 22

ANNEXES

 1. Resolutions…………………………………………………………………… 25

 2. Communique ……………………………………………………………… 33

 3. Points Raised by GSC-3 PSOs Regarding WTSC …………………… 35

 4. Agenda………………………………………………………………………  37

 5. List of Participants  ……………………………………………………… 38

 6. List of documents at GSC-3 and RAST-4 …………………………… 42

Final Report of
The Third Meeting of
The Global Standards Collaboration (GSC-3)
Kyongju, Korea
3 - 5 September 1996

1.  OPENING OF THE MEETING

On behalf of the Telecommunications Technology Association of Korea (TTA), the Chairman, Dr. Min-Ho Kang warmly welcomed all participants, observers, especially JTC1, Internet Society, and ARIB to the third Global Standards Collaboration meeting. He introduced the heads of delegations - Mr. Young-Hwan Moon from the host committee TTA, Mr. Irmer from ITU, Mr. Peterson from Committee T1, Dr. Ishikawa from TTC, Mr. Israel from Canada, Mr. Hamelberg from ETSI, Dr. Horton from ATSC, and Mr. Bart from TIA and ANSI IISP. His introduction has been extended to the Vice Chairman, Dr. Young-Hee Lee, and to Dr. Horton, who would be helping the chairman during the meeting.
Followed by the chairman's introduction, Dr. Horton mentioned that the preparation of the meeting has been very good and therefore the PSOs can look forward to a very successful outcome of the meeting. He drew attention to the fact that there is a whole range of information which is growing each time of the GSC meeting and there are a lot of ground to be covered in this meeting. He mentioned that the meeting will heavily depend on rapporteurs and the assistance of everybody participating in order to get through a speedy and successful conclusion. 
Next, the chairman of the GSC-2 meeting, Mr. Israel summarized the GSC-2 meeting in order to invoke the results of the past meeting to the participants, and to connect them to this meeting. He then noted that the PSOs are indeed witnessing the reinforcement of what had been agreed in Ottawa last year of GSC-2 and indicated that the interests in the GSC has not diminished very much since then. He mentioned that a number of action items and resolutions developed and identified in the GSC-2, were very helpful in carrying the decisions and actions of GSC-2 onto GSC-3 and proved to be a practical way of conveying them to those interested.

He also invoked the participants' attention to a number of things happened since last year: 
(1) Internet has been rapidly developing since the last GSC meeting, raising a number of issues that should be dealt among the standardization organizations.
(2) The convergence of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Radio is no longer a matter of speculation; some services are being developed, to prove that the convergence is already happening.
    Next, he mentioned that the PSOs had been placing big emphasis on GII        last year, and it would be emphasized and will also continue to be a           pertinent subject this year. He also indicated that there were some reflections      last year on whether the GSC group should remain as it is or re-define its      composition orientation, which he hoped to be continued at the GSC-3.
    He concluded by making a remark on ITU itself. He brought up the            purpose of this GSC group-collaborating in order to ensure the pre-eminence      of the ITU as a global standards setting organization and emphasized that        the PSOs should pay attention to the evolution of the ITU and reflect on        the future of the ITU in terms of the standards.

2.  ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN

In the chairman's address, Dr. Kang mentioned that, since the second GSC meeting, the PSOs have been striving to reflect the agreed resolutions in their efforts for standardization and in their efforts to cooperate with other PSOs. He also mentioned that the major resolutions which were agreed upon were dealt with in depth at the ITU-T TSAG conference, so that they may now be reflected in various ITU activities. In addition, he noted that the changes in the telecommunications environment will, in turn, influence our pursuit of standardization, and therefore appropriate measures are required now to ensure efficiency in our movement toward standardization and in our members' efforts to cooperate and deal with new issues. He hoped that each member would openly introduce their own country's situation and activities so that sincere discussions could be made and ideal directions for future standardization efforts would be derived.

3.  MEETING INFORMATION

Dr. Young-Hee Lee, vice chairman, mentioned that, like GSC-2, people in charge of making the communique and resolutions on the action items would be assigned. He also briefly introduced the arrangements of the meeting.  

4.  APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Dr. Horton presented the summary of the agenda and went over the list of assigned rapporteurs for the draft reports on each agenda items - Mr. Lion of ATSC for the 'Report on User Involvement and Activities', Mr. Hendrickx of ETSI for the 'Report on GSC-EDH Group Activities', Mr. Hamelberg of ETSI for 'Presentation by the Informal Group on Global Radio Standardization', Dr. Park of TTA, Dr. Naemura of TTC for 'Status of IPRs Aspects', Mr. Chin of TTA for 'CA & QoS', Mr. Ihara of TTC for 'Fora and Consortia', Mr. Hapeman of T1 for 'Review and Evaluation of Activities on HIS', Mr. Monkewich of TSACC for 'Improvement of Working Methods', and Mr. Rosenbrock of ETSI for the 'GII Standards Issues'. He also assigned Mr. Brett for drawing up the communique. Each agenda was briefly reviewed, and approved.

5.  REVIEW OF PROGRESS MADE SINCE GSC-2 MEETING

    Each of the PSOs presented a report on developments and progress since        GSC2. In addition, other reports covered the RAST Meeting, the EDH          Meeting, and ......  .
    Other contributions on a variety of subjects led to very informative             discussions, and in some cases Resolutions or a summary of advice for         future reference. These developments and the results of the efforts of the        rapporteurs of the Meeting are presented in Annexes 1 & 3.
      
  5.1 REPORT ON ITU ACTIVITIES

On behalf of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Irmer, presented a report on the status of preparations for the ITU-T World  Telecommunication Standardization Conference (WTSC) to be held in Geneva, October 1996. He outlined the progress achieved in ITU-T since the WTSC-93 in Helsinki, and stressed the need to make decisions at WTSC-96 rather than open up issues which have already been discussed extensively in TSAG. Such decisions include approving the proposed work programme, deciding on improvements to working methods, confirming proposed changes in the study group structures and appointing new chairman (and vice chairman) for the study groups.
Mr. Irmer reported that there are now a total of 2200 Recommendations of which about 1000 have been produced in the 1993-1996 period. These Recommendations have become more complex as new services and systems have to be addressed.
Furthermore, the objectives for the ITU-T proposals to WTSC were presented. Among them were improvements of coordination (by designation of lead study groups), concentration of effort on market-oriented standardization (clear priorities, milestones, deadlines), improvements of cooperation with other standardization organizations (ISO, IEC, ETSI, etc.) and Forum/Consortia and delegation of limited authority to TSAG(between WTSCs).
The key topics which Mr. Irmer had pointed out for the better means of working together  are: the aspect of work sharing which would reduce the duplication of resources and the focus group, which would harness the materials ready for standardization by ITU. In addition, Mr. Irmer mentioned the main tasks for the draft structure of WTSC-96 and emphasized the necessity of the cooperation between the participating standardization organizations(PSOs). The expectation of the PSOs to WTSC-96 was also proposed. 
Question on whether WTSC will discuss the rights and obligations of small 'm' members was raised by Mr. Hamelberg of "ETSI" Mr. Irmer noted that WTSC can and will discuss the matter, and ITU is already paying much attention to the right of small 'm' members. But he mentioned that the decision can be made at the plenipotentiary conference. He also informed that the matter will be further treated in ITU 2000 working group.      

5.2 REPORT ON T1 ACTIVITIES

On behalf of Standards Committee T1 - Telecommunications of the United States, Mr. Peterson introduced T1's global standards collaboration accomplished since GSC-2 which focused on accomplishments with ETSI at the global level and with TIA at the national/ USA level (Doc. 53, TD). He noted that T1 worked in full partnerships with TIA to develop technical standards needed to support the FCC action to open up spectrum for PCS. He also pointed out the benefits of competition in the telecommunications market place and in non-competitive partnership arrangements among standards developers. He stressed that by developing good standards (by partnership with other standards bodies), we can help reduce technically based barriers to global free trade as well as reduce or eliminate the negative effects of trying to reach technical compromise after hardened regional positions are established.

  5.3 REPORT ON ETSI ACTIVITIES

On behalf of ETSI, Mr. Rosenbrock noted that in a world of rapid change, ETSI will strive for standards that really meet market requirements with the overall objective of reducing the lead times, increasing the quality, and lowering the costs. He also introduced ETSI's positioning, its current status and key issues since GSC-2. ETSI created Task Force Implementation Group (TFIG) and European Project for Information Infrastructure Starter Group (EPIISG) in June, 1995. It also approved new ETSI status, rules of procedure and TFIG report and decisions in April, 1996. Moreover, ETSI began new document service on CD-ROM via ETSI server, and new Info Centre was opened in February, 1996.
Mr. Rosenbrock also gave a short report on the main results of ETSI's      re-engineering, which included new status and rules of procedure, a        reorganized General Assembly, no Technical Assembly, more project    management, new deliverables, and new working structure and procedures.

 5.4 REPORT ON TTC ACTIVITIES

On behalf of TTC, Dr. Ishikawa introduced current status and domestic standardization activities of TTC (Doc. 10). In domestic standardization activities, TTC introduced new procedures in May 1996, which includes JF standards, TTC Technical Documents and Standard (E). JF standards are based on the specifications of the forum and are directly standardized in accordance with the ordinary standardization procedure. On the while, as a measure to speed up the standards developing process, TTC introduced a new procedure, standard (E), that enables standard developing process to avoid full translation and to remain original English language in some parts. This procedure can only be applied to standards whose technical domain is limited in use and is not basic ones. In addition, TTC prepared 5-year mid-term standardization project for the alignment with WTO rules and updated it for 1996. Dr. Ishikawa also had a brief report on activities by technical committees, noting the institution of new Technical Committee (GII, VOD) and progress in standardization. He also explained the TTC homepage and the informations available via the homepage.
	
  5.5 REPORT ON ATSC ACTIVITIES

On behalf of ATSC, Mr. Lions introduced ATSC's participation in standards making and regional activities (Doc. 27). He remarked that AUSTEL continued its sponsorship of the study being conducted by the Consumer's Telecommunications Network, of investigating and developing suitable mechanisms for ensuring effective and representative consumer participation in the standards-setting process. AUSTEL also has given priority to addressing number portability issues to secure a total industry solution to the implementation of number portability. He also noted on the Network Interworking Industry Forum (NIIF) established in 1995 as a result of AUSTEL's Interconnection Model Report, and explained Legal Interception issues reviewed by the Australian Government. In regional activities, ATSC's participation in APT, APEC Forum, AIC, GSM MoU Asia Pacific Interest Group, PHS Forum/MoU and ICCC '96 Asia-Pacific Symposium was introduced. Finally, he explained the Telecommunications Policy Review by the Australian Government.

  5.6 REPORT ON TTA ACTIVITIES

On behalf of TTA, Mr. Hong-Lim Lee briefly introduced TTA activities since GSC-2 (Doc. 39). He focused on standardization policy and strategy related issues and on regional activities. The setting of standards for information and communication technology was unified; it will take effect in the first half of 1996, and TTA will take charge. Also, rules and procedures for the introduction of a standards conformity certification system were studied and are expected to be implemented in the first half of 1997. In regional activities, Mr. Jong-Soon Lee, director of the Ministry of Information and Communication was inaugurated as APT executive director. Also, APT Study Group Meeting was held in August 1996, and Dr. Min-Ho Kang, chairman of GSC-3 meeting, was selected as the next chairman. Also, Korea hosted APII Testbed Forum and contributed to promote the construction of information infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.
 5.7 REPORT ON TSACC ACTIVITIES

On behalf of TSACC, Mr. Mike Israel had a short report on TSACC Working Groups and their activities, and TSACC Highlights (Doc. 20). TSACC has 4 Working Groups: WG on the Information Highway (WGIH), WG on Standards Information Services (WGSIS), WG on Conformity Assessment (WGCA), Radio Standardization(RAST). He explained that TSACC reviews and endorses Canadian Government's Policy Position on Standards for the Information Highway and TSACC is mandated by Federal Government to develop Standards Road Map. Information Highway Advisory Council of Canadian Government pointed to TSACC WGIH as an appropriate group to establish standards strategy, and now a working group is managing the development of the Standards Road Map for the Canadian Information Highway.

5.8 REPORT ON USER INVOLVEMENT AND ACTIVITIES

On behalf of TTC, Mr. Abe highlighted the TTC approach to users which took the form of a presentation to all interested parties after the normal TTC forum meeting (Doc. 13). It is called the TTC User's Forum and is open to anyone who wishes to attend, whether member or non-member of TTC. There is no attendance fee and the range of speakers is diverse. The subject was to be presented in easy-to-understand language, followed by a question period and a questionnaire.
Mr. Abe presented the results of the first such Forum which had been held very successfully on 24 April 1996 with a theme on multimedia and standardization. He informed that TTC is thinking of holding the second User's Forum with a theme on mobile communications, probably between October/November, 1996.
Mr. Karl-Heinz Rosenbrock of ETSI presented document 57, highlighting the ETSI activities for their users. He introduced objectives of the group, their organization and their program of activities. He also indicated that ETSI had already delivered a technical report (ETR 301) on  VPN and reports on a number of other topics are planned.
Document 28 was introduced by Mr. Bob Lions of ATSC; he highlighted the two aspects of the involvement of users and consumers in the standards process. He introduced report which has been developed by an Australian consumer organization - the Consumer's Telecommunications Network. This report recommends the increased funding for this activity and changing of the culture of the standards writers (Standards should be described in plain English so that non-technical participants can understand).
He also addressed the User/Consumer Manifesto which was arisen from the GII Seminar held in Geneva in January 1996. This document is an attempt to keep the message which was expressed at the seminar that users and consumers want timely, relevant standards which satisfy user and consumer concerns. The document has been adopted by JTC1 as part of its re-engineering strategy.
Mr. Darling from ATSC, commented that while the User/Consumer Manifesto distinguishes between users and consumers, the distinction does not appear to be drawn by TTC and ETSI. In response, TTC mentioned that they are classifying users into type A users (carriers, manufacturers) and type B users (consumers, end users), but the mechanism to induce end users' participation is not enough. However, TTC expects its Web service would serve that purpose.
On the while, Mr. Rosenbrock noted that although most of their users are  professionals and potential carriers, anyone can attend the user meetings. He pointed out that many of their users feed information to ETSI by means of market research data, thus a consumer point of view is reflected. It was also noted that ETSI has a periodical called User Link which helps to keep in touch with their users.
Dr. Horton summarized that work is needed at the national/regional level to find ways to support consumer's participation in standardization by providing resources and supporting information, and requested GSC participants to examine the ways of promoting this and report the results to GSC-4.

  5.9 REPORT ON GSC-EDH GROUP ACTIVITIES

On behalf of ETSI, Mr. Hendrickx presented some slides on GSC server provided by ETSI which links PSO homepages and provides information on previous and upcoming GSC Meetings. The EDH Group will utilize the system to share experiences of using EDH for ballots, document distribution, and other purposes for their standards activities. The GSC server would also be used in keeping the basic GSC-related information such as : (1) List and coordinates of Participating Standardization Organizations(PSOs) (2) List of GSC High Interest Areas and Rapporteurs (3) GSC Minutes (4) (if desired) RAST-related information.  
Future plans of GSC-EDH group were reported as follows: (1) Implement the GSC Server in operational phase (2) Allow better exchanges of the work programme of the PSOs (3) Work on a unified contribution submission mechanism for subsequent GSC Meetings (4) Identify areas where GSC-EDH collaboration could facilitate harmonized developments leading to more efficient and cost effective use of Information Technology and Telecommunications Facilities (e.g., Electronic Balloting).

  5.10 REPORT ON ISO/IEC JTC 1 ACTIVITIES

On behalf of JTC1, Mr. Ryan outlined JTC1 Technical Committees and SGs, major activities since GSC-2, GII role and accomplishments, and future challenges and opportunities (Doc. 52). With regard to JTC1 role in GII standardization, he particularly noted the planning and realization of the ISO/IEC/ITU GII seminar held in January 24-26, 1996, and JTC/SWG-GII activities. First report of SWG-GII will be presented to JTC1 plenary in Dec., 1996, and final report from the ISO/IEC/ITU GII seminar is available via Web (http://www.iso.ch/tmp/test.html). He also introduced 17 recommendations of the GII seminar and the shared vision from the final report. Finally, he gave some words about future challenges and opportunities, emphasizing the cross organizational collaboration in meeting and the needs for IT and telecommunications standards.

6.  OTHER REPORTS

  6.1 PRESENTATION BY THE INFORMAL GROUP ON GLOBAL  RADIO           STANDARDIZATION (RAST)

The RAdio STandards group had met on 2 and 3 Sept. and a brief report on document 56 was presented by Mr. Hamelberg of ETSI. The meeting also noted document 55, which contains the final report of the RAST-3 meeting (Geneva, 23 Jan. 1996), as approved by RAST-4. In the RAST-4 meeting, a large number of documents had been presented and discussed and this presented a wealth of technical information which was considered extremely useful. Furthermore, the participants in RAST-4 had concluded that they wanted to continue working in the same way as before - at least for the short term, but they would be open to discuss proposals for closer links with GSC in the future.  
The GSC meeting discussed the outcome of the RAST-4 meeting and the point was made that it would be undesirable to separate radio matters from work on other telecommunication standards. This opinion was supported by the discussion on High Interest Areas in the GSC later on agenda item 7.1. In particular, the discussion on FPLMTS and UPT indicated that - although network/signalling aspects could be studied separately - these matters would always have to co-ordinated and synchronized.
It was also noted, that on the practical level the RAST group had adopted more or less the same working methods as the GSC itself. Each PSO in RAST will nominate a contact person for each High Interest Area and that information could be made available on the GSC Web site. Also, in order to improve transparency, that information plus the list of documents handled in the RAST-4 meeting could be annexed to the GSC-3 report. 
Decisions were made that the RAST group study the practicability of a closer relationship with GSC and their findings to be presented in the next meeting of GSC.

 6.2 STATUS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPRs) ASPECTS

    Dr. Kenji Naemura of TTC presented document 14 together with an introduction to the background of the issues concerning the relationship between standards and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). He welcomed the recent decision by TSAG to maintain the TSB Patent Policy and to make it a more formal document, and to establish an informal correspondence group on this matter. Although TTC did not experience new problems during the period after GSC-2, it proposed to continue the exchange of information and proposals on the IPR policies and procedures among the participating organizations and also to collaborate with ITU-T and ISO/IEC/JTC 1 on this matter. 
TSACC's contribution, document 21, was presented by Mr. Robert Brett.  TSACC, which established its Patent Policy was reported at GSC-2, also considers the issue of copyright principles relevant to standard organizations. After giving some introductory information regarding copyright protection, Mr. Brett emphasized that standard organizations should consider more seriously the copyright status of input documents as described in section 4.3 of the document, and offered several elements (listed in section 5) that should go into a Copyright Policy. He also suggested that some other rights, such as trademarks, may be treated in a similar way.

Mr. Karl-Heinz Rosenbrock of ETSI presented document 33. After ETSI having been spent more than five years of difficult and delicate discussions, its IPR Policy became a part of its Rules of Procedure. ETSI also sent out a Collective Letter asking its members to notify the IPRs which they own or are aware of. On this basis, it issued the publication ETR 314 (ETSI Technical Report) containing a list of IPRs related to the various ETSI standards. Mr. Rosenbrock added that anyone interested in the publication can ask him to get a copy.
Finally, TTA's contribution, document 42, was presented by Dr. Ki-Shik Park. He briefly summarized its contents, emphasizing the following two points. The most important progress after GSC-2 was the publication of the Guidelines of Intellectual Property Rights for Telecommunications Standardization as the Ministery of Information and Communications Proclamation No.1995-129 (a copy of which was attached to the contribution) and, as the consequence, the starting of administration of the guidelines by the Secretary General of TTA. The second point was the necessity of more detailed procedures and the exchange of information among GSC members; specifically, Dr. Park proposed that the GSC organize an e-mail group of experts for further discussions on the issue of IPR matters in standardization.
Dr. Bob Horton of ATSC, suggested that the matters of IPRs might be handled in two categories: industrial property rights and copyright. He then suggested that: (1) TTC's proposal was essentially an expansion of a previous resolution at GSC-2, (2) TTA's proposal might be regarded as a method to implement the same resolution, and (3) TSACC's proposal on a copyright policy would receive general acceptance.
Mr. Gerald Peterson of T1 reminded the participants that one of the main objectives of the GSC is to achieve a higher efficiency in standardization and therefore, suggested that the PSOs be cautious of not getting involved in legal matters.
Mr. Rosenbrock expressed ETSI's agreement to the continued exchange of information and experiences on the IPR matters, and added that the handling of copyright information might also be covered. 
Mr. Dan Bart of TIA and ANSI IISP noted that ANSI IISP Patent Policy does not cover copyright and that TIA's policy is to grant a copyright license to other Standard Developing Organizations to use all or a portion of TIA documents.
Mr. Theo Irmer of ITU, remarked that the IPR area is similar to the main field full of hidden dangers and gave a brief report on the recent experience in the TSAG. A small Ad Hoc Group was set up to cope with some draft recommendations involving patents, of which the right holder did not agree on licensing statement; it was expected to give a more flexibility to the Patent Policy for this purpose, but it failed to do so. It was then decided that the Ad Hoc Group would continue discussions, but that the discussions would be exclusively by correspondence and would start after the next WTSC. He suggested that, noting the difficulty of the IPR problems, the e-mail group proposed by TTA should be combined with the TSAG Ad Hoc Group.
Mr. Henry Ryan of ISO/IEC JTC 1, offered that experiences both in ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 and in DAVIC. He noted that when there is a large number of patents and rights holders  related to a set of standards, these groups approached the problem by encouraging the establishment of a pool of the patent holders outside of the standardization organizations.
Mr. Brett was asked to clarify the copyright situation of electronic distribution of information and said that it is a matter of licensing terms. Mr. Rosenbrock offered the ETSI's experience on this matter; ETSI tried to introduce a pricing system dependent on the amount of copies to be made by each user of the document, but could not obtain the necessary agreement to that proposal and settled down with a more simple and low pricing system.
Summarizing the discussions, Dr. Horton suggested, that sharing information on the IPR matters was in a general agreement and that Mr. Irmer's offer to integrate the TSAG Ad Hoc Group with the e-mail group proposed by TTA would be in the resolution of this meeting. Mr. Rosenbrock suggested, in addition, that each Participating Organization name the key person for the purpose of exchanging informations.

  6.3 CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT AND QUALITY OF STANDARDS

Mr. Monkewich of TSACC presented document 22 which proposes the standards community to make full use of the available computer aided techniques in the development and application of protocol and conformance testing standards. He described a process which includes the necessary components and proposed the responsibility parties in ITU-T and ISO to  identify, as part of their work activities, those areas where there is a market needs and follow this process. Additionally, he proposed a standard which satisfies the criteria of testability and finally presented the full cycle of Standards from Specification, Implementation and Testing process.
On behalf of ATSC, Mr. Les Davey presented document 30. He went over section 3.2 of the document stating that standards should be testable and implementable; corresponding conformance testing is a key aspect to ensure the adequate quality of standards.
Mr. Rosenbrock of ETSI presented document 34 noting that Quality of Standards has become a major stake for competitiveness of telecommunications products and services. In order to achieve its aim ETSI TC MTS(Technical Committee Method for Testing and Specification) have decided to design a guide entitled  "Making better standards, practical ways to greater efficiency and success". He emphasized the guide as an opportunity to explain mission of TC MTS and its work.
Mr. Young-Han Choe of TTA presented document 43 noting that Conformity Assessment is a series of evaluation procedures to the implemented products and services to conform the exact functionalities which are given by the protocol/profile specifications. Level Testing was another testing methodology which could be combined with Conformance testing and Interoperability testing.  
Dr. Byoung Moon Chin of TTA presented document 44 which proposed two aspects of quality of Standards; concurrent standardization and extension of phase of standards.
In the discussion, Mr. Monkewich of TSACC, noted that  Formal Description Technique can cover those difficulties in Traditional Test methods, and also FDT can make automation possible. And  Mr. Ihara of TTC, noted that, concerning the CT(Conformance Testing) and IOPT(Interoperability Testing), there are no changes in Japan compared with the last GSC meeting where HATS activity was presented. Japan has more interest in Interconnectivity areas. Mr. Young-Han Choe of TTA, stated that FDT, Verification and Validation(V&V) are essential in getting error free standards. He also proposed Standardization Organizations (ITU-T and ISO, IEC) to make Working Group for FDT specification and V&V activities in Standards making process. Mr. Rosenbrock of ETSI, stated that if standards making process adopts FDT and V&V, this may contribute to providing standards in due time to the market with the desired quality. Last 3 years ago, those actions were taken to the standards making process but the results were not satisfactory. On behalf of TTA, Mr. Young-Han Choe stated that nowadays testing and V&V environments are very well mature than last 3 years. Now is the time to reconsider the involvement of FDT and V&V in standards making process. (Refer to Resolution: Conformity Assessment & Quality of  Standards)

  6.4 FORA AND CONSORTIA
Mr.Ihara, from TTC, presented documents 15, 'Survey Report on Telecommunication-Related Forums' Activities'. This report is the seconds version of that presented in GSC-2 meeting in Ottawa in June 1995. This second survey has been updated from the previous survey and now contains studies of typical forums and also shows the actions taken by the standardization organizations.
Mr. Ihara stressed that he would be very pleased to get any comments from the members at the GSC-3 meeting in order to improve the contents of the survey. And he thanked those people who had been providing information earlier in developing the second version. He remarked that, as he still has some copies, if PSOs request additional copies, they should not hesitate to contact him.
After the presentation of the survey, there were applause and compliments for the useful data and efforts of the Working Group 1 in SRPC from the floor;  GSC-3 PSOs expressed that they would be much appreciated if TTC continue this important activity for the next meeting. The PSOs also agreed to send further information which would be useful for next version of the survey to TTC.
Mr. Brett, from TSACC, complimented TTC and commented on the recent steps taken by ITU-TSAG on improving the procedures for cooperating with forums and consortia. In particular, he mentioned a draft Recommendation A.4 submitted to the WTSC.
Mr. Bart, from TIA and ANSI IISP, also expressed his compliments and noted that he would like to offer some information on several forums that are not yet contained in the survey. 
The response to a question made by Mr. Bart concerning the availability of the survey report in electronic form, Mr. Ihara replied that at this moment he would prefer to deliver them on a hard copy basis only, since TTC is a non-profit organization and is carrying out this mission for the sake of facilitation of standardization activities and education and not for any profits.
Mr. Darling, from ATSC, presented document 26, explaining the need for better relations between Study Groups in ITU and forums, and pointed out that despite the useful work of TSAG, they are still in the early stages of cooperation.
ATSC strongly supported a strengthened formal relation between ITU and the IETF, and also with the Frame Relay Forum and the ATM Forum.
Mr. Rosenbrock, from ETSI, presented the current status of ETSI relations with other standardization bodies and forums/consortia in Europe and overseas.

7.  PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION OF WRITTEN CONTRIBUTION

  7.1 REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF ACTIVITIES ON HIGH INTEREST            SUBJECTS

The GSC received and addressed several contributions on the High Interest Subjects. Committee T1 and ATSC, presented document 6 and 30 each,  confirming the value of the High Interest Subjects as focus points and provided updated lists of liaison rapporteurs. In addition to the liaison rapporteurs previously identified to the GSC, TTC reported document 10, noting that they are actively seeking liaison rapporteurs between themselves and ETSI and Committee T1 on these same subjects.
Regarding Broadband ISDN, document 30 was introduced by ATSC noting that the increased collaboration between the ITU-T and the ATM Forum and the savings in duplicated work activity which otherwise would have occurred. At present, they see few impediments to B-ISDN standardization. TTA presented document 46, expressing satisfaction with the progress of B-ISDN standardization for switching, signalling, and transmission, but urged greater effort on services, terminal support, billing, performance, OAM, numbering, and interworking so that B-ISDN can be more effective as a backbone network for GII.
Regarding Intelligent Network, TTC described the extensive use of e-mail and FTP by PSO IN experts to collaborate between meetings referring to document 16. ATSC presented document 30 expressing pleasure at the large number of IN Recommendations being developed and published by ITU-T SG 11. However, they suggested that while IN work to meet the needs of mobile services has accelerated, the work on broadband networks is not keeping pace. Finally, they noted the incorporation of TINA-C concepts into the IN standardization work. Speaking to document 36, ETSI identified Capability Set 3 as the next major phase of this work. TTA presented document 48 which is an overview of their activity in IN.
Regarding SDH/SONET, Committee T1 left this rapporteur's position unfilled on Doc. 6. TTC commented on every High Interest Subject except this one on Doc. 16. ATSC reported document 30, noting that the situation regarding SDH/SONET is largely unchanged over the past years. Similar feelings were expressed by the other PSOs. ETSI described document 35; the efforts made to align their methodology on management issues with that used in ITU-T SG 15. 
Regarding Telecommunications Management Network (TMN), TTC, ATSC, and ETSI, each presented document 16, 30 and 36, describing the essential role played by the ITU-T as a catalyst in the development of TMN. ITU-T deliberations are serving to draw the PSO experts together in a structured manner that facilitates progress. ATSC noted, however, that TMN standardization is progressing too slowly and expressed hope that a re-focused ITU-T SG 4 will facilitate the work. TTA reviewed document 47, noting the TMN activity in ITU-T and in Korea and proposed an international joint project for TMN interworking, International TMN Interworking Field Trial (ITIFT).
Regarding Universal Personal Telecommunication (UPT), TTC reported document 16, noting that they have sent their PHS standards to Committee T1 for information and consideration. ATSC described their interest in the subject and their participation in ITU-T deliberations. ETSI, T1, TSACC, TTC, and TTA all noted the close relationships between UPT, FPLMTS, and IN and agreed that UPT should continue as a High Interest Subject. ETSI, however, suggested that UPT and FPLMTS should be merged into a single High Interest Subject.
Regarding Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunication System (FPLMTS), TTC reported that they have sent their PHS standards to Committee T1 for information and consideration by referring to document 16. They also reported active exchanges of FPLMTS information with FAMOUS, Committee T1, ITU-T SG 11, and TTA. Document 30 was presented by ATSC noting that the need for worldwide standards is well recognized and PSOs are working at the ITU-T level to develop them. They suggested that particular focus should be given to the migration of earlier generation systems such as GSM and PCS toward FPLMTS.
Regarding Multimedia, TTC reported document 16, noting that they have exchanged multimedia information with PSOs in Europe, Australia, and the US who are participants in ITU-T SG 15. ATSC presented document 30 noting that the urgent need for Multimedia standards and the failure of the Fora to deliver specifications in the time frames they had at first aimed for. ATSC also suggested that there are benefits to be achieved through standards for cable data services using cable modems. Document 45 was introduced by TTA noting that Korean industry has a very strong interest in multimedia because of the size of its potential markets and presented an overview of Korean activities. The interests are being shared by Korean research institutes and academic societies.
After the presentation on each High Interest Subjects, there was consensus on Broadband ISDN, IN, TMN, and Multimedia should be as the continuing High Interest Subjects. Mr. Hapeman of T1, suggested the term 'Mobility (UPT/FPLMTS)' for merging UPT and LMTS as a single High Interest Subject and was approved by the GSC PSOs. And also the IN Subject was enhanced to 'IN/WIN' to include Wireless Intelligent Networks which was brought up by Mr. Peterson of T1. SDH/SONET was removed from the list.

7.2  IMPROVEMENT OF WORKING METHODS

Mr. Peterson of T1, Dr. Urano of TTC and Mr. Rosenbrock of ETSI, presented the results of their recent efforts in their respective organizations to improve the working methods in order to streamline their standards approval procedures.
Mr. Peterson reported document 7, noting that T1 has now reduced its approval process to a single Letter Ballot Process by issuing letter ballot only at the T1 level. This has eliminated a six week review cycle, and in conjunction with electronic handling, has decreased the costs associated with reproduction, postage and handling by 25% over the past year. In developing American standards, T1 gives ITU standards the highest priority for adoption, followed by regional and then domestic standards.
Responding to the question raised by Mr. Rosenbrock of ETSI, Mr. Peterson noted that there are two aspects of approval process. One, is the ballot submitted by Committee T1 while the observers and others having the access to the information, and parallel with this, the other is the ballot submitted to ANSI which goes through public reviewing process which anyone in the world can comment on. He, also noted that in order for the ballot to be American National Standard it must undergo ANSI review while the technical report does not; it is approved only by the membership.
Dr. Urano presented document 17, noting that TTC is acting in three main areas in its effort to improve its working methods. These are: 1) continuing to survey the forums' activities; 2) timely production of standards to satisfy market requirements; and 3) alignment with the WTO rules.
Subsequent to the production and distribution of the report on the forums at GSC-2, TTC has revised the forums' survey and presented it to the GSC-3 members meeting in Kyongju. Further revisions were planned.
To speed up the standards development process where there is a market requirement, a new procedure which avoids full translation of a standard is used. Parts of the standard are left untranslated in the original English. The standards in this category are designated as Standards (E).
TTC has introduced a category of standards, designated 'JF Standards', which are based on the specifications of the forum and which are standardized in accordance with the ordinary TTC standardization procedures. With regard to WTO rules, TTC has focused on alignment with Article 'J', dealing with the publication of a work program every 6 months, and Article 'L', dealing with a 60-day period for submission of comments on the draft standard. TTC has developed a mid-term standardization plan announced every spring and a modification process every autumn both announced on the TTC Home Page. TTC has extended the adoption period to at least 60 days from the previous 8-week period.
Mr. Rosenbrock reported that ETSI is also seeking to simplify its standards approval process. A process which is currently being proposed envisages three levels of approval: (1)Technical Committee/Project-approved which would result in Technical Specifications (TSs) and Technical Reports (TRs) corresponding to the 100xxx series of documents;(2)Membership-approved which would result in ETSI Standards (ESs) and ETSI Guides (EGs) corresponding to the 200xxx series of documents. (3)NSO-approved standards (ENs of the telecommunications series) corresponding to the 300xxx series of documents.

7.3  NEW ISSUES

There were two new issues raised by ETSI. One is the CD-ROM in ETSI.  ETSI presented document 31, describing the accessibility of ETSI deliverables by CD-ROM and the availability of updates via ETSI's online server. This new ETSI documentation service combines the advantages of CD-ROM technology and online updates in order to provide subscribers with a very powerful working tool at an affordable price. Subscription inquires should be made to the ETSI Publications Office (tel +33 9294 4258 or +33 9294 4241, fax +33 93 95 88 31). 
The other is the New joint promotional project. Document 50 was introduced by ETSI proposing a collaborative standardization pavilion at Telecom '99 by participants of the GSC to show the benefits of standardization to the consumer. This collaboration could take the form of a standardization pavilion where regional standardizer exhibit at booths that are gathered around the stand of the ITU in the form of a pavilion. TTC, ATSC, TTA, TIA, T1 and TSACC expressed their support for the idea and Dr. Horton suggested the details could be discussed at GSC-4 in 1998. 
Mr. Bart advised that TIA will be organizing a technology exhibition during the ITU Plenipotentiary meeting in October 1998 being hosted by the U.S.A, and the President of TIA offered floor space for a similar GSC booth, subject of course to approval by the ITU and the U.S. State Department. Mr. Bart offered to be a facilitator of a correspondence group to coordinate with each PSO to determine a design for such a booth. This was accepted by the meeting.

8.  GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
    STANDARDS ISSUES

T1 presented document 8, which outlined Committee T1's view of an Information Infrastructure. It identified eight different Information Infrastructure functionalities (People, Information appliances, Communications Network, Information Service/Resource, Applications, Service-Related Control, Network Related Control, Management), and the viable interconnection points between them. It was explained that T1 has identified ten that are within the scope of telecommunications standards development organizations, and current status of them were briefly introduced. Finally, it was remarked that the challenge T1 face is to broaden the definition of "telecommunications" beyond the traditional view that held it to be virtually synchronous with "telephony", recognizing that the telecommunications infrastructure already includes the Internet, cable television, direct satellite television, cellular telephone, etc.
TTC presented Doc. 18, which gave a brief introduction of TTC's GII Working Group activities and the roles and subjects for standardization of GII. TTC identified the steps to promote GII standardization activities as: specification of standards, development of standards, diffusion of standards, and the detailed contents for each step which were explained. It was emphasized the interconnectivity and interoperability should be promoted, and the consensus of all standardization authorities achieved regarding global and timely standardization and work sharing for the early establishment of the GII. To realize this, TTC proposed that the PSOs of GSC conduct exchanges of information required for the GII, for example, on standardization items.
ETSI presented Doc. 38, which outlined Europe's contribution to the Global Information Infrastructure. Reference was made for European initiative on information infrastructure. It was followed by a definition of European Information Infrastructure including the concept of an enterprise model. Also, the development phases of the EII were described, leading to the presentation of a standardization project on the EII together with its services and applications. It was mentioned that the common definition phase of the European Project on the Information Infrastructure identified a number of projects, and these have been grouped into four standardization "highways": Networks, Middleware, Applications, Architectural considerations. Some considerations about a European Backbone Telecommunications Network were given, and it was concluded that the EII should be considered as an integral part of the Global Information Infrastructure.
ETSI also introduced Global Multimedia Mobility (GMM) report, which was approved in the April, 1996 ETSI General Assembly. It was noted that global mobility will be a key attribute for every telecommunications service in the year 2000 time frame, and that mobile and personal communications will be one of the most important foundations to EII/GII. The necessity for GMM was mentioned, and Conceptual Model of Network Architectures was introduced. Four main domains of GMM were explained; Terminal equipment domain, Access network domain, Core transport networks domain, Applications and evolution of GMM domains were also mentioned. It was finally emphasized that international cooperation to make the standardization as required by the market time-frame are needed. It was also proposed and accepted to submit it (or parts of it) to the ITU Policy forum at the end of October 1996.
TSACC presented Doc. 25, which summarized the status and activities of TSACC's Working Group on Information Highway (WGIH). Paradigm shift in telecommunications networks and services were explained, followed by TSACC's concept of horizontal architectures. It was mentioned that such architectures imply the need for interconnection at service levels and horizontal integration of component elements. Enterprise models and value chains were explained, and convergence scenarios were introduced. Finally, emerging issues in canada were identified and its conclusions were given. Things like identification of standards for key interfaces within the reference scenario and the insurance of the use of standards and free access to defined interfaces were emphasized, and the government role was cited as crucial in establishing and facilitating industry consensus on information infrastructure standards.
TTA presented Doc. 54, briefly introducing the status of Korea Information Infrastructure. Backgrounds and conceptual models of Korean Information Infrastructure were explained, and the time table for the construction was mentioned. Also, technology development plan, plans for application services and the status of international cooperations were introduced. It was concluded that application services are important in realizing the early implementation of Korean Information Infrastructure, and the harmonization of efforts in the national as well as in the international level are needed for the successful construction of Korean Information Infrastructure.
TTA presented Doc. 49, raising the issues for Collaborations among ITU, ISO, and IEC on GII issues. Backgrounds for model of Coollaborations were focused in the matter of interoperability for multiple industries. For common understanding of role on GII, the technology relationship and example area were introduced. It was concluded that the Collaborations among ITU, ISO, and IEC is important not to duplicate the recommendations, and activities. It was noted that JRG on GII activities are useful in harmony with ISO/IEC.
After the presentation from PSOs, Mr. Irmer from ITU-T introduced GII and ITU's core activities and conceptual principles for GII. After giving the definition of GII, he explained ITU's three core activities in the evolution of GII as standardization, regulation and development - standardization as a facilitator of global interconnectivity and interoperability, regulation as a mediator providing a global platform for regulatory framework, development as an integrator linking globally developed and developing countries. He emphasized that GII should not be developed from scratch, mentioning that many elements exist already (telephone/data networks, Internet, ISDN ...) and evolution not revolution will by driving GII. He ended his words by remarking that GII standardization will be a crucial test for all standardization organizations on whether they will by able to deliver what is needed, and on time, or others will take their place.
GSC-3 agreed to treat the GII as an area of general interest for continuing priority consideration by the PSOs. It was also stressed that operational tools, such as TMN, IN (other high interest areas), etc. are as well critical to the success of the GII.
Mr. Irmer brought forward an important issue on how to avoid duplication of work.  Mr. H. Ryan of JTC1 stated that the JTC1 SWG-GII shared this desire and he added that active participation by all GSC PSOs in the ITU-T Study Group 13 work on GII helps to serve this purpose. Furthermore, he welcomed the focus on GII at GSC-3 and the opportunity for presentations by each of the organizations present on their workplans related to the GII. Regarding the questions of how to share the GII workload in an efficient manner and the development of a common road map, it was agreed to review developments at GSC-4.

9.  OTHER BUSINESS

9.1 POINTS PERTINENT TO WTSC

Mr. Brett reviewed important points from Mr. Irmer's presentation on the first day of the meeting- "Preview of the WTSC-'96"   

10.  CONCLUSIONS AND COMMUNIQUE

The draft reports on each agenda item and resolutions were briefly reviewed and approved. Also a communique was reviewed and approved by all delegations.

11.  CLOSING OF THE MEETING

Appreciation was expressed to TTA and its Secretariat for the hosting of the meeting, and to Dr. Kang and Dr. Horton for their able chairmanship. All members were thanked for the spirit of co-operation which prevailed throughout the meeting and the excellent progress that was made. The GSC members also approved the proposal of ETSI hosting the GSC-4 meeting, and it was decided that GSC-4 meeting will be held in Nice from March 30 to April 3, 1998. It was agreed that TTA would act as the GSC interim secretariat until GSC-4.The Chairman declared the GSC-3 meeting closed 5 September 1996 at 5 P.M. He also summarized some major points resulting from the GSC-3 meeting, and, after reviewed by the participants, it was handed over to Mr. Irmer, the Director of ITU-TSB, for information.

 ANNEXES

                                                     Page

1. Resolutions …………………………………………………… 25 

2. Communique  ………………………………………………… 33

3. Points Raised by GSC-3 PSOs Regarding WTSC ………  35

4. Agenda …………………………………………………………  37

5. List of Participants ……………………………………………  38

6. List of documents at GSC-3 and RAST-4  ………………  42