7. IEEE Participation on committees outside the IEEE
7.1 IEEE representatives on Accredited Standards Committees (ASCs)
7.1.1 General
The IEEE is represented on ASCs in which it has a substantial interest. This provides IEEE an opportunity to have a direct influence on the development of an American National Standard generated by the ASC. Positions have been allotted the IEEE as a substantially interested standards-developing organization.
7.1.2 Assignment of positions
The positions allotted to the IEEE are assigned by the IEEE-SA Standards Board to IEEE Societies having a substantial interest in the work of an ASC. The Societies reassign the positions to their substantially interested Technical Committees (TCs). In making these recommendations to ASCs where the IEEE is the secretariat and responsible for balance, the IEEE Societies shall attempt to achieve overall balance within the ASC through the selection of appropriate IEEE delegates (see 5.4.1).
7.1.3 Appointment of IEEE representatives
IEEE representatives on ASCs are appointed by the IEEE-SA Standards Board from nominations submitted by the appropriate Society or SCC that provides technical instruction to the representative.
7.1.4 Instructions to IEEE representatives on ASCs
7.1.4.1 Source of instructions
IEEE representatives and their alternates shall utilize the expertise of the members of their sponsoring group or TC to develop an IEEE position on proposed standards being considered by their ASC. They shall report at meetings of their Sponsor on the activities of their ASC, either in person or by a written report to be included in the minutes of the meeting, to inform the members of the work of the standards committee. They shall solicit comments and suggestions from interested members of their Sponsor in order to establish their position on projects under consideration, and to identify substantially interested members to whom they can turn for advice and recommendations on short notice. They shall work with the chair and the IEEE-SA Standards Board liaison representative of their Sponsor to ensure that they act in accordance with the consensus within the Sponsor. In the absence of instructions, they shall use their best judgment based on their experience as a member of their Sponsor to support the position with which they believe the membership would agree. All ballot actions taken by IEEE representatives shall be reported to the sponsoring committee. On all policy matters coming before this committee, the representative shall solicit instructions from the IEEE-SA Standards Board.
7.1.5 Coordination within the IEEE
Where there are two or more representatives, the IEEE-SA Standards Board will appoint a head of delegation, generally from the TC having the primary interest in the ASC. The head of delegation is responsible for supervising the work of the IEEE delegation, particularly the coordination of the positions of the representatives and alternates based on the instructions from their respective Sponsors. A unified position shall be developed to be supported unanimously by the IEEE delegation. In the case of letter ballots, various methods may be used to secure the unanimous vote:
- a)
- Each representative and alternate may send his or her completed ballot to the head of delegation who mails it in when a unanimous vote has been obtained.
- b)
- Each representative and alternate notifies the head of delegation how he or she intends to vote, or sends a copy of his or her executed ballot. The head of delegation notifies them to mail their ballots when the vote is unanimous.
- c)
- The head of delegation sends his or her recommended vote with reasons to the other members of the delegation with a deadline for returning objections. If no objections are received within the time limit, the head of delegation directs the members to execute their ballots in accordance with the recommendation.
Unanimity is required within the IEEE delegation because the members represent IEEE and not their individual Sponsors. Positions are assigned to the Sponsors in order to provide a recognized spokesperson from the Sponsor to facilitate coordination within the IEEE delegation. Therefore, if a representative on an ASC determines that a project within the committee might be of interest to an unrepresented Society or TC, he or she should notify the organization (generally through its IEEE-SA Standards Board liaison representative) and furnish requested information. Normally, temporary interest can be handled by an existing representative, but if the organization wishes the assignment of a position on the ASC, it should make a request to the Secretary of the IEEE-SA Standards Board and submit a nominee.
7.1.6 Balloting on IEEE standards in an ASC
When an ASC ballots on an IEEE standard for adoption as an American National Standard, the IEEE delegation shall support the adoption of the IEEE standard without change, and vote in the affirmative on the ballot. If there are objections to the IEEE standard, the IEEE delegation shall point out that proposed changes require prior approval by the proprietary Sponsor. The IEEE delegation provides the liaison between the ASC and the IEEE Sponsor to resolve the objections. If resolution results in substantial changes, the revision shall be submitted to the IEEE-SA Standards Board for approval as a revision.
7.2 IEEE Category D Liaisons with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
7.2.1 Definition of a Category D Liaison
Category D Liaisons only apply to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
The ISO/IEC Directives defines Category D Liaisons as organizations that make a technical contribution to and participate actively in the work of an IEC working group, maintenance team, or project team.
7.2.2 General Requirements for the Establishment of an IEEE Category D Liaison
The IEEE Committee requesting the Category D Liaison shall be multinational in objectives and standards development activities, with individual or entity membership, and may be permanent or transient in nature.
The IEEE Committee shall have a sufficient degree of representation within its defined area of competence; within a sector or subsector of the relevant technical or industrial field.
The IEEE Committee shall be willing to make a contribution, in the form of comments to drafts, to the IEC as appropriate
In order to be effective, the liaison relationship shall operate in both directions.
7.2.3 Establishing a Category D Liaison
The IEEE Committee Chair shall work with appropriate IEEE-SA staff to draft a letter to the Secretary of the relevant IEC Technical Committee/Subcommittee requesting a Category D liaison between the two groups. The letter shall include a rationale for the liaison relationship, as well as an indication of how the IEEE Committee meets the general requirements given in Clause 7.2.2.
Once approval for a Category D Liaison has been granted by the IEC, the request for an IEEE Category D Liaison shall be forwarded to the IEEE-SA Standards Board for approval consideration.
7.2.4 Appointment of IEEE Category D Liaison Representatives
Once approval for a Category D Liaison has been granted by the IEEE-SA Standards Board, the IEEE Committee holding the liaison relationship shall appoint a representative and notify the appropriate IEEE-SA staff with the name and contact information of the representative.7.2.5 Participation on an IEC Working Group/Maintenance Team/Project Team
A Category D Liaison representative has the right to participate and vote as a member at the level of an IEC Technical Committee/Subcommittee working group, maintenance team, or project team. This expert acts as the official representative of the IEEE Committee from which he or she is appointed.
Participation at the IEC Technical Committee/Subcommittee level is by country representation only. Category D liaisons may not participate in the work at the IEC Technical Committee/Subcommittee level, which means they cannot participate in IEC Technical Committee/Subcommittee meetings and may not propose new work items, other than Publicly Available Specifications.
7.2.6 Responsibilities of a Category D Liaison
A Category D Liaison provides coordination and communication between the IEEE and the IEC on matters of mutual interest.
The Category D Liaison develops the formal position of the IEEE Committee on IEC standards under development in a working group, maintenance team, or project team.
The Category D Liaison is responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of IEEE standards and IEC standards. If the Category D Liaison wishes to introduce an IEEE document to an IEC Working Group for its consideration, the appropriate IEEE copyright information shall be on the document. If the IEC Working Group wishes to adopt the document whole or in part, the Category D Liaison shall contact the IEEE-SA Manager, Standards Intellectual Property.
The Category D Liaison assists the IEEE and the IEC in identifying possible candidates for submission as Dual Logo documents.
The Category D Liaison assists the IEEE in identifying future collaborative work, which may include documents that previously were either- a)
- developed jointly with the IEC, or
- b)
- adopted in part by the IEC, or
- c)
- adopted whole by the IEC.
The appropriate IEEE-SA staff shall be copied on all correspondence between the Category D Liaison and the IEC.
7.2.7 Annual Reconfirmation of Category D Liaisons
Every year, the appropriate IEEE-SA staff shall review the IEEE Category D Liaison list to verify which relationships remain active. The list of active Category D Liaisons shall then be placed on the March IEEE-SA Standards Board agenda for reconfirmation.
