Third Global Standards
Collaboration Meeting
Kyongju, Korea, 3-5 September 1996
The ancient city of Kyongju was the site this
week for discussions on the Global Information
Infrastructure, the convergence of radiocommunications,
telecommunications, and information technology,
and a shared vision of the future emerged.
A meeting of the Global Standards Collaboration
brought together senior representatives of
the world telecommunications standards organizations
for a three-day meeting. Key issues were addressed
in the pursuit of worldwide standardization.
In his opening remarks the chairman Dr. Kang
(TTA) said The world is now in the process
of a revolution, and the central force behind
this revolution is the rapid advancement of
information technology and telecommunications.
It is my firm belief that standardization
of equipment, systems, networks will be a
key factor to make the ongoing revolution
truly global, meaningful and beneficial to
mankind."
The meeting was the third of the Global Standards
Collaboration, and the sixth in a series of
such events held since 1990. The goal is to
further the informal linkage among senior
officials from the national, regional and
international standards bodies in support
of the work of the International Telecommunication
Union. The meeting was hosted by the Telecommunications
Technology Association of Korea.
The Global Standards Collaboration provides
a framework for the exchange of information
and setting of future directions aimed at
accelerating the process of global telecommunications
standards development and to promote interconnectivity
and interoperability. Fifty Seven representatives
from the Participating Standardization Organizations
(PSO), the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI), from the United States was
the Committee T1 and the Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA), the Telecommunication
Technology Committee (TTC) from Japan, the
Telecommunications Technology Association
(TTA) of Korea, the Telecommunications Standards
Advisory Council of Canada (TSACC), and the
Australian Telecommunication Standardization
Committee (ATSC) and the representative of
the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU). Invited guests from the ISO/IEC Joint
Technical Committee 1 (Information Technology)
and the Association of Radio Industries and
Businesses (ARIB) of Japan and observers from
the participating countries and regions were
also in attendance.
The group endorsed the continued role of the
Global Standards Collaboration in promoting
co-operation and coordination in support of
the ITU and among the Participating Standards
Organizations. It heard reports from two meetings
held prior to the Global Standards Collaboration,
one on Electronic Document Handling and the
other from the informal group on global RAdio
STandardization (RAST).
Some of the major areas of discussion concerned
the individual approaches by the worldwide
organizations to the convergence between radiocommunications,
telecommunications, and information technology,
and the continuing need to share information
among Participating Standards Organizations
in order to reduce delays in the production
and distribution of standards.
A report from the Telecommunication Standardization
Sector of ITU, was received announcing the
main objectives for the forthcoming World
Telecommunication Standardization Conference
(WTSC) in October 1996, in Geneva. As an outcome
of the GSC-3 deliberations, some comments
on specific issues as well as indications
of strong support were conveyed to the Director.
The meeting discussed the status and promotion
of collaborative work within each of the Participating
Standards Organizations on the High Interest
Subjects (Broadband ISDN, Intelligent Networks/Wireless
Intelligent Networks, Telecommunications Management
Network, Mobility (Universal Personal Telecommunications/Future
Public Land Mobile Telecommunications Service),
and Multimedia), and approaches to Intellectual
Property Rights (IPRs), and conformity assessment/quality
of standards. The importance of consumer and
user involvement in standardization was again
stressed.
A principal topic at GSC-3 was the Global
Information Infrastructure, and more particularly
the role of standards and standards organizations
in promoting its use as a backbone for commercial
trade on a global scale unhampered by differing
national implementations. Emphasis was given
to encouraging dialogue and convergence of
ideas at the international level between the
International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC), and the ITU and to promoting
dialogue with other standards organizations,
as sources of expertise and support for developing
standards for the Global Information Infrastructure.
Another important area concerned the role
of forums and consortia. Attendees were provided
with the 1996 version of a comprehensive survey
on telecommunications-related forums prepared
by TTC of Japan. This report presents the
results of extensive research by TTC and provides
an invaluable source of information for the
participating standards organizations in their
efforts on cooperation with forums. Further
sharing of information will take place. It
was agreed that information exchange between
the forums and consortia and the standards
organizations is essential to support identification
of user needs and, in some cases, to contribute
to the development of standards.
Discussion about the Global Information Infrastructure,
conformity assessment/quality of standards,
Intellectual Property Rights, the existing
and new High Interest Subjects will be continued
at the next meeting to be hosted by ETSI in
Nice from March 30 to April 3, 1998. In the
interim, members will exchange further information
on the key issues discussed at Kyongju. As
the outgoing host of the meeting, TTA will
provide the interim Secretariat for GSC. Information
exchange will be facilitated by a newly established
GSC World Wide Web Server. Information on
the GSC-3 meeting can be found at the TTA
web site (www.tta.or.kr). |