The ITU-T activities for Conformity Assessment and Interoperability Paolo Rosa Workshops and Promotion Division Head, Workshops and Promotion DivisionTelecommunicationStandardizationBureau Joint ITU/CTO event: “Bridging Standardization Gap, ITR and Interoperability issues” 13 September 2010, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2 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 – poor market competition – lack of technology neutrality

Some Problems 1) How many Bluetooth™ earpieces are you ready to buy before you find the good one for your mobile? 2) your service provider changes its equipment, are you happy to discover that your just bought“super-wireless- ADSL2+ modem-router” is not compatible?

4 Effects of lack C&I Impact on ITU: – Erosion of the perceived importance of ITU as the place of choice to develop the full range of interoperable standards. Reactions from Developing Countries – a plea expressed for ITU to help and to assist in achieving the requested level of conformity to standards and interoperability among vendors both nationally and internationally ITU commitment – 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 from the development sector point of view

5 The contents 1.WTSA-08 Res. 76, WTDC-10 Res. 47, Councils 09 and 10 highlights 2.Conformity 3.Interoperability 4.Assistance to Developing Countries 5.Conclusions

6 The WTSA-08 Res. 76 the WTDC-10 Res. 47 Council-09 and -10 decisions 1

7 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”

Why the Res. 76 – Major concerns were raised at WTSA-08, especially in developing countries; lack of conformance poor quality counterfeit equipment lack of legal framework – Need of developing countries to be assisted in deploying testing facilities and building capacity facilities in the regions – Other standards bodies have already introduced a number of activities to address conformity and interoperability and are far ahead of ITU.

Res.76: instructs the Director of TSB identify and prioritize the problems of developing countries study the overall effect on ITU and manufacturers, legal, national and international regulatory implications, cost of set up and location of testing facilities, measures to build the necessary human resource capacities Conduct studies with the view to introduce thevoluntary use of ITU Mark permitting manufacturers and service providers to make a visible declaration of conformity to ITU-T standards of products and to study the relevant financial and legal implications for the ITU-T and ICT industries to submit the result of these studies to Council-09 for its consideration and required actions

10 Conclusions on Res. 76 Res. 76: meets the needs of Developing Countries for conformance and interoperability aspects Conformity is a first step to increase the probability of interoperability between different equipment, manufacturers, vendors, service providers Identification of Labs able to carry out tests according to the ITU-T Recommendations requirements and training programs Voluntary based ITU conformity programme as a demonstration of conformance to ITU-T Recs and possible creation of an ITU-Mark: the “ITU inside” concept that now is dropped. The increased business opportunities and benefits to both suppliers and customers, positive industry response

RESOLUTION 47 (REV. 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 Resolution 47 instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau to: 1encourage the participation of developing countries in training courses and workshops organized by ITU-D on best practices in the application of ITU ‑ R and ITU ‑ T Recommendations; 2assist developing countries in building their capacity, in collaboration with ITU-T, so as to be able to perform conformance testing of equipment and systems; 3assist the Director of TSB, and in collaboration with the Director of BR, and as appropriate, with equipment and systems manufacturers, internationally and regionally recognized standards development organizations, in conducting conformance assessment and interoperability testing events, preferably in the developing countries, and encouraging developing countries to attend these events; and

WTDC-10 Resolution 47 In collaboration with TSB First Step: Issue a Questionnaire. Done at NGN & C&I workshop issues Nairobi, 2-4 August 2010 Second Step: Define the framework of the Field study on the economic feasibility of and need for creating regional laboratories in the regions and to report to Council on the results of this field study; Third Step Identify partners for conducting the Field Study and Training Activities Region by Region.

14 The TSB Programme Conformity assessment: – The first step to interop, – Testing: certification / SDOs-Forums recognized labs – Creation ITU conformity database ITU as facilitator for interop events to: – identify the interoperability problems – develop Interoperability test suites as needed Use of Current international procedures (ISO/IEC 17025, 17050, ISO Guidelines 65 - CASCO toolbox) Conduct feasibility studies in developing countries Develop a long-term business plan

ITU-CIP Programme Benefits – Industry: increased business opportunities (time to market, reduced costs, widen market for Mutual Recognition Agreements, no TBT issues) – End users: increased QoS & interoperability legacy to existing infrastructure, savings – Developing countries: capacity building opportunities, regional and sub-regional type testing laboratories, bridging standardization Gap and digital divide, promotion of a conformity testing culture)

TSB Director’s Recommendations endorsed by the Council-09 Implement conformance assessment and interoperability events programme, including the creation of a conformance database instead of an ITU mark 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.

17 Concerns The database presents both legal and associated financial liability risks for the ITU and the ICT industry A step-by-step approach should be taken in order to take into account the concerns of the membership as ITU moves forward in implementing the action lines adopted by Council 2009 The use of accredited test labs is time consuming and expensive, delaying users’ access to technology and slowing global trade TSB should first prepare a business plan to establish the real costs, potential liabilities and measurable benefits to society before launching the ITU-T Conformity Database Test centres in developing countries, according to one contributor, would lead to confusion in the market place

18 Support Interoperability as Mission for ITU (Res. 71 – Strategic Plan) Res. 76 intended to assist DCs and manufacturers should contribute to its implementation Produced examples of problems The conformance database would be exceedingly useful for operators and end users for whom equipment are manufactured. Good experience in this field is proven by existing DBs from other SDOs Confidence of users in the kind of equipment they buy is more important than how quickly they appear on the market ITU-T Recommendations must be studied in view of conformance assessment and interoperability testing as relevant

19 Regional “robust” Consultation Meetings 2010 Quito, Ecuador, 6 July 2010 Nairobi, Kenya, July 2010 BDT event August 2010 Nairobi, Kenya on NGN and creation of test labs in Africa Sydney, Australia,16-17 September /res76/index.html#events 08/res76/index.html#events

20 2 Conformity

21 ITU Conformity Pilot Database Voluntary and free-of-charge tool permitting manufacturers and service providers to make a visible declaration that their equipment conform to ITU-T Recommendations. Information entered directly by vendors. Users advised that the DB contains only information provided by companies and that ITU is not in a position to verify the accuracy of the information received. Declaration of responsibility requested. The Pilot Database may provide information on applicable normative references by other standards organizations complying with Recommendation ITU-T A.5.

Implementation of the ITU Conformity Programme ITU-T Recs & test suites Supplier’s conformity route decision Test lab (Certification Body / Rec.A.5 SDO/Forum lab) accredited lab (ISO/IEC 17025) ITU Conformity Database Test results (ITU-T X.290) 1st party Evaluation Supplier’s Conformity Declaration (ISO/IEC 17050) Test results (ITU-T X.290) Route 2 A Accredited (ISO/IEC Guide 65) Certification Body Evaluation Conformity Certificate issued by Certification Body Conformity Assessment / Certification ITU C&Iservices Supplier ’ s Request to ITU Route 1 Route 2 Route 2 B Product successfully tested in a lab recognized by any Rec. ITU-T A.5 SDO / Forum

23 Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity – SDoC 1/2

Tests performed in a lab recognized by: (A.5 – SDO/Forum)

25

26 The ITU Pilot Conformity Database: Example CompanyITU code Prod. Name Product category ITU-T Recs/Ed. SDOs stand.s DateSDoC Vendor AC-12345AH-1234VDSL 2G.992.2, G.995, GPON IEEE, IETF, OIF “.pdf” Vendor B Vendor C Search facilities for any field

27 A possible References data base for conform products CompanyProd. Name Product category ApplicationsSDOs stand.s Customers Member AAH-1234F.O. modemGPON, Access, multilambda ITU, IEEE, IETF, OIF A, B, C, E, F Member B Member C Search facilities for any field

28 Customers: looking for conformity as the main requirement to increase interoperability and confidence in vendors, to optimize investments and to benefit of improved quality of service Conformity : necessary but not sufficient condition to increase the probability of interoperability and improve quality of service Vendors : claiming for conformity to standards and interoperability as key elements able to create better business opportunities and to demonstrate the excellence of products with respect to the competitors in the marketplace ITU Conformity Database showing products claimed as successfully tested for conformity is a “key tool” to: a)to help customers find best solutions for their needs b)to offer vendors a for-free additional opportunity to make business giving visibility to their conforming products ITU Conformity Database showing products claimed as successfully tested for conformity is a “key tool” to: a)to help customers find best solutions for their needs b)to offer vendors a for-free additional opportunity to make business giving visibility to their conforming products Transitive property for C&I TRUE THEREFORE

29 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 3

30  TSB facilitator and co-organizer, calendar of interoperability events & partnership with relevant SDOs/forums/consortia  Possible hot topics:  IPTV  G.9960 (Home Networking); HomeGrid Forum  VDSL; Broadband Forum  GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network)  G.hn (home grids / networks) Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia to contact TSB TSB interoperability initiatives

31 IPTV Interop event

32 Next ITU Interop events Singapore – IPTV – September 2010 Geneva – G.hn ??? – November 2010 India – IPTV – December 2010 Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia to contact TSB

33 4 Assistance to Developing Countries: Capacity Building and Test Centres

34 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) (WTDC Res. 47), needed to: 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,…) Visits to various Labs are in progress in the regions A project to create a test center in Tanzania is in progress

The Global Conformity and Interoperability ITU Portal Information on the meaning of Conformity and Interoperability Search functions in databases from ITU and from other SDOs/ Forums on a reciprocal collaboration basis Links to C&I-related international organizations e.g. ILAC, IAF, NABs, Labs (Where are is the lab for my products?), SDOs Repository/link for global MRAs for C&I Information on ITU and other SDOs Interop events worldwide Contributions on best practices for certification, interop organization, MRAs Link to civil society and consumers associations ….?????

36 Conclusions 5

37 What we said Resolutions 76(ITU-T) and 47(ITU-D) : the replies to the needs of Developing Countries about conformity and interoperability Conformity one of the tools able to increase probability of interoperability Created the voluntary based and free pilot conformity database ITU-T interop events successfully started TSB and BDT committed to implement Res. 76 and Res. 47 Capacity Building activities and creation of test centers started

38 Useful links ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability ITU-T Conformity : ITU-T Conformity : ITU-T Interoperability : ITU-T Interoperability : ITU-T Workshops and Seminars ITU-T News ITU-T News

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