TSB Director's New Year's message
In his last year as Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) Malcolm Johnson reflects on ITU-T's achievements in the last 7 years.
Visit his page here
Standards collaboration, security and privacy top the list of priorities at IoT Workshop
Meeting to discuss the development of standards to support the nascent Internet of Things (IoT), a diverse group of experts has emphasized the importance of collaboration among standards bodies, the private sector and government; both in finding their respective roles in an IoT ecosystem growing in complexity, and devising technical solutions and regulations that safeguard security and privacy.
The promise of open-source IoT solutions and IoT research underway in academic and research institutes were other topics to feature in an ITU workshop, "Internet of Things: Trends and challenges in standardization", held at ITU headquarters in Geneva, 18 February 2014.
Supported by SAP, the latest company to join the membership of ITU's standardization arm (ITU-T), the workshop gathered a multi-disciplinary array of experts to discuss the state of play in the IoT sphere with a view to highlighting priorities for its future development.
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The Future Networked Car drives to the Geneva Motor Show
An ITU international symposium, the 'Future Networked Car', will be held 5-6 March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show. The free-of-charge, open-to-all event will host experts from the automotive and ICT fields to discuss the accelerating convergence within the two industry sectors set to introduce safer, more energy-efficient vehicles and intelligent transport systems (ITS). Registration is now open.
The event will open on the second Press day of the Geneva Motor Show on 5 March with a High-level dialogue on 'Innovation for the Future Car'. Leading industry figures will critique developments in the ICT, automotive and intelligent transport fields with a view to channelling future innovation.
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Events in Uruguay to build Smart Sustainable Cities in Latin America
Upcoming events in Uruguay will advance discussions on the technologies and cross-sector partnerships required to realize Smart Sustainable Cities in Latin America.
Tailored to the specific needs of the region, the events will analyze developments in ICT-enabled smart cities and ancillary fields, such as smart water management; the environmentally sound management of e-waste; the responsible consideration of human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs); and the role to be played by academic and research institutions in creating smarter urban environments.
The free-of-charge, open-to-all events are co-organized by ITU and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, 11-14 March, hosted by the Government of Uruguay. The event will be held in English and Spanish.
The drive towards smart cities represents a convergence of specialized skills around the common goal of responding to the socio-economic and environmental sustainability demands of a rapidly urbanizing global population. The events in Uruguay will gather experts from a variety of fields – ICT, municipal government, city planning, regulation, research, standardization, and more – to discuss how Latin America will benefit from new capabilities enabled by the integration of ICTs in cities' infrastructure and operations.
The four-day series of events is composed as follows:
· 11 March 2014: Forum on Smart Sustainable Cities
· 12 March 2014: Forum on Environmentally Sound Management of E-waste in Latin America
· 13 March 2014 (AM): Forum on Human Exposure to EMFs in Latin America
· 13 March 2014 (PM): Forum on Smart Water Management
· 14 March 2014 (AM): Forum on Saving the Planet through ICT: the Role of Academia
More information on ITU's work on Smart Sustainable Cities can be found on the homepage of the ITU-T Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG-SSC) here…
More information on ITU's work on Smart Water Management can be found on the homepage of the ITU-T Focus Group on Smart Water Management (FG-SWM) here…
More information on ITU-T's work on EMF can be found here…
More information on ITU-T's work on Environment and Climate Change can be found here…
ITU Kaleidoscope papers featured in IEEE Comms Magazine
The January issue of IEEE Communications Magazine carries a 'feature topic' on ITU's fifth Kaleidoscope event: Building Sustainable Communities.
The magazine, also available online, carries two of the winning papers, as well as one paper nominated for an award from the premier ITU academic event.
The 2013 Kaleidoscope event brought together some of the best academic minds from around the world to present their research on innovative technologies that tackle the challenge of the co-evolution of technology and sustainable communities. Among over 99 papers submitted for review, 30 were presented at the conference. The best three were awarded prizes totaling $10,000.
The event was organized by ITU and technically co-sponsored by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan (IEICE) and additional support from NICT, NTT, OKI, KDDI, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Huawei Japan, Telkom South Africa, Blackberry, TTC, Waseda University (Japan), the Institute of Image Electronics Engineers of Japan (IIEEJ), the ITU Association of Japan, and the European Academy for Standardization (EURAS).
All Kaleidoscope presented papers are also available in IEEE Xplore digital library.
The sixth Kaleidoscope event Living in a converged world – impossible without standards? will be held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 3-5 June 2014.
New Standards on Cybersecurity, Cloud Security, ASN.1 Encoding and Emergency Warning
ITU members have agreed new international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) on cybersecurity, cloud computing security and ASN.1 encoding rules for time-critical applications. These achievements come in parallel with the second edition of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP 1.2), a key standard in the dissemination of emergency warnings.
The new standards are the product of a meeting of ITU-T Study Group 17 (Security), the expert group leading ITU's standardization work on security, identity management (IdM) and technical languages and description techniques, a field of study which also encapsulates cybersecurity, spam countermeasures and telebiometrics.
New standards approved and now freely available on the ITU-T website include the first ITU standard on cloud computing security, Rec. ITU-T X.1601; a cybersecurity risk indicator, Rec. ITU-T X.1208; and two standards, Recs. ITU-T X.1546 and X.1582, added to ITU's Cybersecurity Information Exchange (CYBEX), a suite of standardized means to exchange the cybersecurity information demanded by Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTS).
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New e-learning course on the working methods of ITU-T Study Groups
The first in a series of new ITU-T e-learning courses is now available on the ITU Academy platform. The course is based on Recommendation ITU-T A.1 "Work methods for study groups of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector", providing an introduction to the management structures, coordination mechanisms and operating procedures of ITU-T Study Groups.
The development of the e-learning course responds to the revised Resolution 44 of 2012's World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai, UAE, which mandates that ITU-T implement measures to bridge the 'standardization gap' between developed and developing countries.
Revisions to Resolution 44 agreed in Dubai call on ITU-T to explore the use of e-learning channels for training on ITU's global standards (ITU-T Recommendations). ITU-T has launched the e-learning course on Recommendation ITU-T A.1 in conjunction with ITU's Development Sector (ITU-D), the hosts of ITU Academy. Work is underway on the next course in the series, targeting Quality of Service (QoS) in mobile networks, and developing countries in particular are invited to suggest topics for future e-learning courses.
Recommendation ITU-T A.1 describes general working methods of ITU-T Study Groups, providing guidelines on the management of meetings, the preparation of studies, the role of Rapporteurs, and the processing of Contributions and Temporary Documents.
The e-learning course is intended for participants in ITU-T standardization work and is especially geared towards new delegates not familiar with the working procedures of ITU-T Study Groups.
The course is two hours in duration, comprising six modules:
· Standardization in ITU-T
· Managing the study groups
· Coordination
· Inputs to the study groups
· Outputs of the study groups
· Further infrastructure supporting the study group process
Each module is a self-contained unit of course content and associated quizzes. On completion of the course, participants can take a final assessment online in which a score of at least 80% will qualify them for a certificate of achievement.
Interested participants are requested to register on the ITU Academy to receive their login credentials and enrolment key.
More information on ITU-T's Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) programme can be found here
A new standard to address QoS in mobile networks has been consented
Ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) in today's IP-based communications ecosystem is a complex challenge, and even more so for fast-growing emerging economies experiencing a surge in demand for services and consequent network performance concerns.
The latest ITU-T Recommendation summarizes the basics of Quality of Service, from the user's perspective. Differences to Quality of Experience (QoE) are also discussed.
ITU-T E.804 defines QoS parameters and their computation for popular services, for example, e-mail, video streaming, and voice in mobile networks. It also describes the measurement procedures needed to perform the measurements of QoS parameters.
It defines the minimum requirements of QoS measurement equipment for mobile networks in such a way that the values and trigger points needed to compute the QoS parameter can be measured following the procedures defined. Furthermore, it specifies typical measurement profiles which are required to enable benchmarking of different mobile networks both within and outside national boundaries.
In addition it describes procedures to be used for statistical calculations in the field of QoS measurement of mobile networks using probing systems.
Finally it describes how Quality of Service measurements should be done inside the network without direct access to the end point terminal.
An additional document (ITU-T E.800 series Suppl. 9 - Guidelines on Regulatory Aspects of QoS) agreed at the December meeting of Study Group 12 in Geneva provides guidelines on the regulatory aspects of Quality of Service (QoS). The intent is to assist regulators or administrations who need to achieve desired levels of QoS for one or more ICT services under their jurisdiction.
New coordination mechanism announced
Following the adoption of Resolution 18 – Principles and procedures for the allocation of work to, and coordination between, the ITU Radiocommunication and ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sectors – by the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), 2012 two new Intersectoral Rapporteur Groups (IRGs) have been set up to coordinate standards work in specific areas. A third proposal from ITU-T SG9 is under consideration by ITU-R SG6.
The first Intersector Rapporteur Group (IRG) focuses on Audiovisual Quality Assessment (IRG-AVQA) and will coordinate the work of ITU-T Study Groups SG9, SG12 and ITU-R SG6. Its first meeting will take place 21-22 January 2014 in Boulder (USA). The primary aim of the group is to assist development of ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations on video and audiovisual quality assessment.
The second IRG focuses on audiovisual accessibility (IRG-AVA) and will also coordinate the work in this field between ITU-T SG9, ITU-T SG16 and ITU-R SG6. The first meeting is planned for Geneva, on 25 February 2014. The main aim of the IRG-AVA will be to develop draft Recommendations for 'Access Systems' which can be used for all media delivery systems, including broadcast, cable, Internet, and IPTV.
A third IRG on integrated broadcast-broadband systems (IRG-IBB) is proposed and if accepted will coordinate the work on this topic between ITU-T SG9 and ITU-R- SG6. The proposed terms of reference can be found in TD 359 (GEN/9)(ITU Membership restricted). An Integrated Broadcast-Broadband (IBB) system is based on the combination of the technologies of both broadband and various broadcasting including over-the-air and cable. The IRG will consider system definition and system behaviour of existing and potential IBB systems currently in the purview of the ITU-R Study Group 6 and the ITU-T Study Group 9.
New green ICT standards tackle e-waste and energy efficiency
A meeting of ITU's expert group on green ICT has resulted in new standards including an environmentally friendly universal charger for laptops as well as other portable devices (ITU-T L.1002), and a standard for green batteries for smart phones and other handheld ICT devices (ITU-T L.1010). Additionally experts have agreed on a standardised methodology for manufacturers to report the quantity of rare metals contained in their ICT devices (Recommendation ITU-T 1101) – something that will increase the efficiency of recycling schemes.
Specifically designed to reduce e-waste and increase usability, ITU-T L.1002 is an international standard for a universal power adapter (UPA) for portable devices, including notebooks, which complements the recently announced IEC/Technical Specification 62700/Ed1 by adding a number of environmentally friendly requirements. For example the ITU standard addresses energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction, specifies eco-design, resistibility, a no-load power requirement and optimizes the use of scarce and raw materials. It builds on the successful ITU-T L.1000 and L.1001 Recommendations dedicated respectively to mobile phones and stationary devices (e.g. xDSL modems) that were first adopted by ITU in 2009 and 2012. The resulting savings in e-waste could equate to 300,000 tonnes annually according to an ITU/GeSI study carried out by the University of Genoa.
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Continua Design Guidelines adopted for e-health interoperability
An important milestone for global e-health standardization has been achieved with final approval of a new standard that will better enable interoperability between e-health devices. The standard – Recommendation ITU-T H.810 – contains Continua Health Alliance's Design Guidelines providing "Interoperability design guidelines for personal health systems". The Continua Design Guidelines provide for end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity in personal connected health devices, which are based on global industry standards for interoperability.
Devices such as wireless blood pressure cuffs, weight scales and a wide range of activity trackers can play a critical role in the prevention and improved management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Establishing global interoperability standards will stimulate innovation and nourish the personal connected health ecosystem. For manufacturers, standards will decrease time-to-market, reduce development costs and increase efficiencies. In particular they will enable quicker, less expensive integration to electronic medical records (EMR) or health information exchange (HIE) platforms.
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New ITU Broadband Standard fast-tracks route to 1Gbit/s
ITU membership has reached first-stage approval of G.fast, the new ITU broadband standard capable of achieving access speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s over existing telephone wires. Within 250-metre range of a distribution point, G.fast's fibre-like speeds give service providers a tool to supplement and further monetize fibre to the home (FTTH) strategies with the customer self-installation benefits of ADSL2.
G.fast, within the fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp) architecture, combines the best aspects of fibre and ADSL2. Consumers will have an over-the-counter solution, self-installed without a technician's assistance, but equipped to support bandwidth-intensive services such as Ultra-HD '4K' or '8K' streaming and IPTV, advanced cloud-based storage, and communication via HD video.
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New Standard on Inter-cloud computing
Cloud computing experts have reached first-stage approval ('consent') on a standardized framework for inter-cloud computing, an architecture whereby cloud service providers (CSPs) benefit from the services or resources of partnering CSPs to satisfy customer needs as dynamically as possible.
The consent (initiation of the approval process) was achieved at a recent meeting of ITU-T Study Group 13 (Future Networks) in Kampala, Uganda, 4-15 November, at the kind invitation of Uganda Communications Commission. The new standard joins ITU's growing suite of cloud computing standards as the fifth to be agreed in 2013, following a framework and high-level requirements (ITU-T Y.3501), infrastructure requirements (ITU-T Y.3510), a framework for end-to-end resource management (ITU-T Y.3520), and a security framework (ITU-T X.1600 – yet to be published).
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