WTSA-08 Resolution 76: Conformance and Interoperability Arthur Levin Chief, Services Department Telecommunication Standardization Bureau

CONFORMITY Ability of a product to meet the requirement(s) of a standard. A first step to increase the probability of interoperability Interoperability Ability of two or more systems or applications or network management products and services from different suppliers to exchange information and to mutually / fruitfully make use of it

What happens everyday Lack of performance and of compliance to conformity and interoperability requirements Market invaded by counterfeit products Legacy, regulatory, contractual and legal issues Developing Countries linked to one vendor only with poor market competition and lack of technology neutrality

Effects Impact on ITU: Reaction from Developing countries: Erosion of the perceived importance of ITU as the place of choice to develop the full range of interoperable standards. Reaction from Developing countries: a plea expressed in WTSA-08 Resolution 76 for help and assistance to achieve the desired level of conformity and interoperability nationally and internationally ITU commitments: WTSA-08 Resolution 76: ITU-T not proposing to do anything that is not already being done by other successful SDOs including those that are expressing opposition to Res.76 implementation WTDC-10 Resolution 47 : supporting and complementing the Res.76

The contents the WTSA-08 Res. 76, WTDC-10 Res. 47, Councils 09 and 10 highlights Conformity Interoperability ITU-T Study Groups and JCA-CIT Assistance to Developing Countries Conclusions

The WTSA-08 Res. 76 the WTDC-10 Res. 47 Council-09 and -10 decisions

WTSA-08 Resolution 76 Johannesburg, October 2008 “Studies related to conformance and interoperability testing, assistance to developing countries, and a possible future ITU mark programme”

Res. 76 Resolves ITU-T Study Groups to develop ITU-T Recommendations taking into account conformance and interoperability issues Conformance and Interoperability testing requirements shall provide for verification of the parameters defined in ITU-T Recommendations ITU-T to develop a programme to assist developing countries in capacity-building, training opportunities, and in the creation of regional/sub-regional test facilities

Highlights of Res. 76 The Res. 76: to meet the needs of Developing Countries for conformance and interoperability The conformity as a first step to increase the probability of interoperability between different manufacturers, vendors, service providers The identification of Labs able to carry out tests according to the ITU-T Recommendations requirements and training programs The voluntary based ITU conformity programme as a demonstration of conformance to ITU-T Recs The increased business opportunities and benefits to both suppliers and customers

TSB Director’s Recommendations endorsed by the Council-09 Implement conformance assessment and interoperability events programme, including the creation of the conformance database Creation of human resources capacity building opportunities Assist establishment of test facilities in developing countries Report to next Council on the effective implementation of the above.

Council 2010 - views - 1 Properly assess developing country needs Need of a step-by-step approach and a of a business plan Need of a workshop to ascertain needs and level of demand Need to work closely with BDT and BR Willingness to organize workshops worldwide and to assist for capacity building Director of TSB to meet with the CEOs/CTOs to add components to standards development work: test suites, conformance testing, and interoperability test events.

Council 2010 - views - 2 Contribution Analysing Vendors’ Concerns one-by-one and finding them unjustified Developing countries could not afford to postpone the ITU-T actions. Parallel implementation is advisable Lack of experience in developing countries: suppliers deploy proprietary technologies, sell standard equipment with additional specific features engage in inappropriate or misleading practices regarding the SDoC “Accredited” Conformity and Interoperability testing in DCs would: protect the interests of all parties and enable the developing countries to have access to truly competitive suppliers combat no compliant cheap products create market openness and liberalization on a win-win basis Additional “certification” costs by vendors would be compensated by economies of scale in testing & recognition agreements, easier access to open market and competition

WTDC-10 Resolution 47 (Hyderabad 2010) “Enhancement of knowledge and effective application of ITU Recommendations in developing countries, including conformance and interoperability testing of systems manufactured on the basis of ITU Recommendations”

WTDC-10 Res.47 – “resolves” linked to Res. 76 to assist developing countries in capacity building / training in collaboration with ITU-T to assist TSB in conducting conformance assessment and interoperability testing events, preferably in the developing countries to collaborate with the Director of TSB to implement the actions endorsed by the ITU Council in 2009 on Resolution 76

Next steps: Regional Consultation Meetings 2010 Americas – 6 July, Quito, Ecuador Africa – 30-31 July 2010 Nairobi, Kenya Asia Pacific – Mid September – (Sydney ?, Australia) http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/wtsa-08/res76/index.html#events

Contents Consultation meetings Objectives: Continue the discussion to better implement the action lines adopted by Council-09 and the ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability programme Improve the ITU pilot conformity database addressing needs of developing countries Discussions also based on contributions: Why Conformity ad Interoperability ? Resolution 76 : a short review The action lines decided by the Council-09 Impact on developing countries: benefits of the ITU C&I Programme, costs of lack of conformity and/or interoperability Impact on industry, testing, MRAs, associated costs, time to market Improvements to the ITU pilot conformity database Encouraging interoperability testing Audience Industry / Vendors Governments and Regulators Operators/service providers/ end users / civil society Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) Laboratories

CONFORMITY

The ITU C&I Programme Voluntary basis & free programme open to ITU members. Non-members may participate on a case by case basis waiting for public availability Testing 1st , 2nd, 3rd party accredited labs conformity assessment 3rd party accredited certifiers (any lab) Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) (ISO/IEC 17050)

Implementation of the ITU Conformity Programme ITU-T Recs & test suites Supplier’s conformity route decision Test lab (certification body responsibility) 1st 2nd or 3rd party accredited lab (ISO/IEC 17025) ITU Conformity Database Test results (ITU-T X.290) 1st party Evaluation Supplier’s Conformity Declaration (ISO/IEC 17050) Accredited (ISO/IEC Guide 65) Certification body Evaluation Conformity Certificate issued by Certification Body Conformity Assessment / Certification ITU CIP services Supplier’s Request to ITU Route 1 Route 2 Implementation of the ITU Conformity Programme

The ITU Pilot Conformity Database: Company ITU code Prod. Name Product category ITU-T Recs SDOs stand.s Date SDoC Vendor A C.12345 AH-1234 VDSL 2 G.992.2, G.995, GPON IEEE, IETF, OIF 01.01.11 “.pdf” Vendor B Vendor C Any field search facilities

INTEROPERABILITY 24

Interoperability initiatives TSB facilitator and co-organizer, calendar of interoperability events & partnership with relevant SDOs/forums/consortia Hot topics: IPTV (Geneva, Singapore, India) G.9960 (Home Networking); HomeGrid Forum VDSL; Broadband Forum GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network) G.hn – Home grids Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia to contact TSB (interop@itu.int).

IPTV Interop event

4 ITU-T Study Groups and JCA-CIT

ITU-T Joint Coordination Activity on Conformity and Interoperability Testing (JCA-CIT) To facilitate information sharing and collaboration with the participation of ITU-T Study Groups experts and relevant outside bodies such as ETSI, ISO and OMA. Seeking of input with regard to the implementation of tasks stated in WTSA-08 Resolution 76 Development of a common understanding of Conformance vs. Interoperability testing Developing a roadmap for the implementation of the four action lines agreed by the Council-09 and taking into account a draft action plan developed by TSB (live document)

Developing Countries: 5 Assistance to Developing Countries: Capacity Building and Test Centres

Capacity building and test centers The ITU-T Secretariat (TSB) is implementing proposals on human capacity building in close collaboration with the ITU-D Secretariat (BDT): assign more resources hold workshops and tutorials on conformity assessment and interoperability on the BDT project on International Telecommunication Testing Center. The ITU-T will assist in the establishment of test facilities in developing countries and in cooperation with international institutions is planned (UNIDO, International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation - ILAC, International Accreditation Forum - IAF,…) A project is in progress to establish a test center in Tanzania

6 Conclusions

What we said Resolutions 76(ITU-T) and 47(ITU-D) : the reply to the needs of Developing Countries Conformity to increase probability of interoperability Created the voluntary based and free pilot conformity database to be populated since now ITU-T interop events started TSB committed to the implementation of the Res. 76 requirements Capacity Building activities and creation of test centers started in cooperation with the BDT

Useful links ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-T/cdb/Default.aspx ITU-T Workshops and Seminars http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/index.html ITU-T News http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-T/info/news.aspx