Conformance and interoperability continues to give rise to discussions, despite the fact that resolutions from WTSA-08, WTDC-10 and PP-10 are demanding action in this area, with Resolution 177 (Guadalajara, 2010) asking “that this programme of work be implemented in parallel without any delay.” The conformance and interoperability programme requests four actions:

1. Landmark decisions from Guadalajara: Conformance and interoperability (November 2010)

   Conformity database

2. Interoperability events

3. Capacity building

4. Establishment of test centres in developing countries.

Actions 1 and 2 are led by the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), and actions 3 and 4 by the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT).

The conformance and interoperability topic first came up in a meeting of an ad hoc group of the working group of the Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM) on Monday morning (17 October). The remit of the ad hoc group, chaired by Bruce Gracie, was to discuss Unfunded Mandatory Activities (UMACs). These are activities which are mandated by the ITU membership, but for which there are no funds available.

The Chairman focused the discussion on two posts required to move the conformance and interoperability programme forward, one requested by TSB, one by BDT (CHF 700,000 of the total CHF 5 million proposed).

The United States asked that the decision to take CHF 700,000 from the Reserve Account to finance those two posts be postponed until the discussion in Plenary was held later in the afternoon (17 October).

TSB Director Malcolm Johnson

TSB Director Malcolm Johnson said that some staff has been reassigned to work on conformance and interoperability in addition to their regular workload. But this is putting too much strain on staff and is, therefore, not sustainable. Insufficient resources are slowing down the implementation of the programme as requested by Resolution 177. Mr Johnson pointed out that other standards organizations have many more resources available. ETSI, for example, has more than 10 times the resources on conformance and interoperability available than ITU at the moment. He considered that ITU must have this resource if it is to maintain its pre-eminent position.

Numerous countries (Bulgaria, the Russian Federation, India, Mali, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon) supported the proposal to include the two conformance and interoperability posts in the regular budget and not be treated as UMACs.

The chairman of the ad hoc group concluded that the matter would be revisited after the discussion in Plenary. When the Plenary met, the focus was on two documents, one from the ITU Secretariat, the other one from the United States.

Reinhard Scholl presented an update of ITU’s conformance and interoperability work (Document C11/38) summarized below.

Conformity database

• The conformity database allows companies to make a public declaration that their products conform to ITU-T Recommendations. The database is informative, voluntary and free of charge and available to both ITU and non-ITU members.

• A study by TSB found that only about 60 standards, or 2 per cent of ITU-T’s 3000+ Recommendations, have test specifications. Clearly, the study groups and TSB will have a major task to increase this percentage over the coming years.

• The design of the conformity database continues in consultation with membership. A new proposal would allow a vendor the possibility of self-assessment and self-declaration that its equipment conforms to an ITU-T Recommendation. This new route is in addition to the already established routes of going through a certified test lab or an accredited certification body according to ISO/IEC procedures.

2nd ITU Interop Event on IPTV Singapore 23-24 and 27 September 2010

Interoperability events

• ITU has organized six Interop events. Companies pay to participate in those events. Five ITU interops took place to demonstrate interoperability of products meeting ITU T’s IPTV suite of standards: in 2010 in Geneva in July, Singapore in September, Pune (India) in December; in 2011 in July in Rio de Janeiro and in September in Dubai. In May 2011, ITU organized the first interop event on ITU’s G.hn standard (home networking).

Capacity building

•  BDT, in collaboration with TSB, organized numerous capacity-building events (see also Document C11/35).

 

Test centres

• BDT will publish in early 2012 a set of guidelines on building testing labs for conformance and interoperability of equipment and systems in developing countries. A questionnaire to collect information from ITU members on the status of Conformance and Interoperability of Equipment and Systems was sent.

• A number of countries have expressed strong interest in establishing regional test centres. ITU will assist these countries but due to the complexity and cost associated with test centres ITU calls upon regional organizations to assist in identifying the location of regional test centres.

Business plan

• An independent consultancy, with excellent credentials in business plan preparation, would prepare the business plan. The ITU secretariat issued a request for proposal and has chosen a consultancy. The business plan would be presented to Council 2012.
  
  

Richard Beaird, councillor from the United States, then presented Document C11/59 “Conformance and Interoperability”. Mr Beaird said that the United States was looking forward to receiving the business plan. Referring to Document C11/38, Mr Beaird asked about the linkage between Mutual Recognition Agreements/Arrangements (MRAs) and Resolution 177. The United States delegation thanked Paolo Rosa for his presentation at a recent CITEL meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina and said that first-hand knowledge of issues and conformance and interoperability problems raised in the regions should be brought forward to a wider ITU audience. The United States, therefore, proposed that an information session be scheduled at the TSAG meeting in January 2012 and representatives from the regional telecommunication organizations be invited to make presentations.

The United States further asked whether the request for proposal for a consultancy to write the business plan could be published as an information document to the Council.
Mr Scholl responded that the request for proposal was available publicly on the Internet and that an information document be published (now available as INF/14).

On the relation between MRAs and Resolution 177 he said that MRAs were a topic frequently raised by developing countries during the conformance and interoperability regional consultation meetings. MRAs are relevant to testing centres to facilitate worldwide recognition of tests results made in MRAs-agreed labs and to facilitate market penetration by avoiding to repeat tests in every country. MRAs are an obvious instrument both to minimize the need for setting up test labs, and for streamlining access to markets. In the case of developing countries and regions such as Africa where few test labs exist, MRAs will be of particular use as a single regional test lab, for example, can serve the needs of many countries.
Thanking the United States for expressing their appreciation to Mr Rosa, Mr Scholl also mentioned the achievements of Riccardo Passerini from BDT, adding that both men will continue to raise awareness of conformance and interoperability in the regions.

He confirmed that TSAG would organize an information session. Sherif Guinena from Egypt stressed that the information session should not re-iterate the concerns and problems of developing countries as this has already been discussed exhaustively in the regional consultation meetings. The proposed information session at TSAG should be informative and not an interrogation of developing countries. Mr Guinena also clarified that Resolution 177 addressed counterfeit equipment; developing countries needed MRAs to help counteract counterfeit equipment.

Jongbong Park, Korea, asked whether regions other than in Africa would be setting up test labs. Mr Scholl responded that it was not ITU which would be setting up test labs but that it was up to the countries or regions to decide whether to do so. ITU could then assist on how best to go about it.

Cybersecurity

Doreen Bogdan-Martin presented the report of the secretariat highlighting recent activities undertaken by ITU as sole facilitator of WSIS Action C5 (Building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technologies). These activities aim to reinforce efforts in the fight against cyberthreats at the global level and have been carried out in line with Plenipotentiary Resolutions 130, 172 and 179, as well as within the overall framework of the Global Cybersecurity Agenda (Document C11/54). Initiatives such as ITU/IMPACT and Child Online Protection (COP) received broad support from several Member States, with some countries stressing the importance of international cooperation and capacity building to ensure that global action is effective, and that duplication of work is avoided. 

Making the online world safer (June 2011)

There was also clear support for the work of ITU with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). A number of countries saw this relationship as an important and effective framework for assisting, at the global level, United Nations agencies and Member States in cybersecurity and in the fight against cybercrime, noting that each organization works within their respective mandates.

The United States requested a copy of the summary and proposals of the joint meeting organized by ITU and UNODC in July. Clarification was also sought on the relationship between ITU and IMPACT, specifically financial implications. Another question raised was whether any effort had been made to work with the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) or other incident response and security teams.

The secretariat informed the Council that the partnership with IMPACT is on a cost-recovery basis, and within the Financial Regulations of the Union. It is a non-exclusive relationship with IMPACT, and talks have begun with FIRST, which is already a Sector Member of ITU-D and ITU-T. ITU’s Memorandum of Understanding with UNODC is based on equal partnership and concrete actions which respect the mandate of each organization. ITU does work to showcase models and best practice, and provides training on legislation.

Algeria expressed its desire to move forward with the implementation of Resolution 174 (Guadalajara, 2010) on “ITU’s role with regard to international public policy issues relating to the risk of illicit use of information and communication technologies”. This new resolution instructs the Secretary-General to raise awareness of Member States regarding the adverse impact that may result from the illicit use of information and communication resources.

Cybersecurity Episode from "ICTs for a Better Future"

The resolution goes on to request ITU, in its capacity as facilitator for WSIS Action Line C5, to organize meetings of Member States and relevant ICT stakeholders, including geospatial and information service providers, to discuss approaches to addressing and preventing the illicit application of ICT, while bearing in mind the overall interests of the ICT industry.

In this regard, Algeria called on the Council to establish the date and location of the high-level meeting that was meant to take place in June 2011. The secretariat responded that ITU is committed to Resolution 174, and that an action plan had been drawn up and a meeting is planned for next year during the WSIS Forum.

Next steps
A number of Member States underlined the need for cooperation among all stakeholders, with some countries stressing that ITU should play a more important role in cybersecurity. They also encouraged ITU to continue its activities in capacity building and so raise awareness and contribute to the transfer of knowledge and know-how. This will help develop national expertise in cybersecurity.


ITU should continue to be involved in cybersecurity activities at the global level within the overall framework of the Global Cybersecurity Agenda in order to give, through its strategic partners, technical assistance to countries and to the United Nations agencies.