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IEEE CALLS FOR THE CONSULTATION OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS WHEN REFERENCING ICT TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

For further information, please contact:
Ms Karen McCabe (Media), k.mccabe@ieee.org
Ms Karine Iffour (Policy), k.iffour@ieee.org

IEEE welcomes Ms Lara Comi¹’s draft report on European Standardisation, and stresses the appropriateness of consulting representatives of all stakeholders in the review of ICT technical specifications. For this purpose, we suggest the use of the European Multi-Stakeholder Platform² on ICT Standardisation.

IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) is the world’s largest technical professional association with more than 400,000 members in over 160 countries. IEEE is very well known for its standardisation work, where a quarter of the participants in entity working groups are European.

“Many ICT standards are increasingly used on a global scale and developed at a fast pace. For this reason, it is crucial to recognise existing and market-accepted standards,” said Judith Gorman, managing director, IEEE Standards Association.

Accepting standards developed by such global Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs) as the IEEE is already common practice around the world. IEEE standards, such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3™) and Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11™, often referred to as Wi-Fi™), are implemented and used worldwide. These global deliverables are highly relevant to industrial and innovation policies, and have contributed to the competitiveness of European industry and the EU innovation policy through easy and quick access. These standards define the backbone of ICT infrastructure.

In the interests of the vast community of IEEE standards developers and users worldwide, IEEE has been closely following the European debate on standardisation. IEEE leadership welcomes the promotion of broad, easy and transparent involvement of all interested parties in ICT standardisation by the European Commission.

“Ms Lara Comi’s draft report addressing the European regulation on Standardisation is a very valuable starting point. By allowing the use of ICT technical specifications in EU policies and public procurements, a truly efficient, cooperative and competitive standardisation framework is created that acknowledges the specificities of the ICT sector. Coupled with the stronger cooperation between European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) and global SDOs, this will establish an EU system that is more adapted to global market opportunities,” continued Gorman.

IEEE calls for the consultation of all stakeholders when identifying ICT technical specifications for EU referencing. For the consultation to proceed in a timely manner, IEEE recommends utilizing the recently created ICT platform promoted by the European Commission. The platform provides an environment dedicated to ICT standards, where EU Member States, ESOs, ICT SDOs, Industry, SMEs, and stakeholders are all represented.

About IEEE – A global leader in standards development
IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society, with a 125-year history of technological innovation. The organisation comprises more than 400,000 members who conduct and participate in its activities across the world in over 160 countries, including all EU Member States. IEEE is a leading developer of industry standards, with an active portfolio of more than 1,400 standards and projects under development. In the course of standards development, the five key values of consensus, due process, openness, right of appeals and balance underpin the activities. All participants are equally recognised and have an equal basis in the standards development processes.

The development of IEEE standards provides the means for technological development to reach the global marketplace. The standards produced by IEEE are known for achieving high levels of technical excellence and broad applicability.The IEEE standards process is fully consistent with WTO criteria for international standards developing organisations, and many IEEE standards have been adopted by ISO and IEC.

¹MEP, Vice Chair of the IMCO Committee, Rapporteur for the regulation on standardisation
²COMMISSION DECISION of 28 November 2011 setting up the European multi-stakeholder platform on ICT standardisation (2011/C 349/04)