1. The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS
Procedural Updates
INCITS TC Officers Symposium
April 1-3, 2019
Steve Diamond
Chairman, INCITS Procedures Board Committee

2. Index Revision to Section 3.2.5, Executive Board Executive Session
Revision to Section , TCs, TGs and SGs
Section Ballot jeopardy in Task Groups
Revision to Section 4.3, Policy Regarding the U.S. Funding of International Structures
Revision to Section 4.3.1, International Structure Funding Framework
Revision to Section , Head of Delegation (HoD)
Revision to Section 8.2, Glossary-definition of Good Standing
US Positions to JTC 1 as approved by the Executive Board

3. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Section 3.2.5, Executive Board Executive Session
Intended to clarify member responsibilities when the Executive Board is in Executive Session

4. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Section and , INCITS Membership Agreement
Language added to these sections to clarify signing the Membership Agreement is a requirement for participation
A representative of a prospective voting member shall initially attend a meeting of the TC, TG, or SG without voting privileges and reaffirm interest in the work of the TC, TG, or SG. Voting privileges become effective with execution of the INCITS Membership Agreement, attendance at one of the next two successive meetings and receipt by the Secretariat of the applicable fees for the membership year.
Section 8.2, Glossary
Definition of Good Standing - updated to include INCITS Membership Agreement
The member has executed the INCITS Membership Agreement, met the requirements for attendance, participation, and payment of fees of the organization with the TAG assignment.

5. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Section 4.3 – Policy Regarding the US Funding of International Structures
INCITS, as the U.S. National Body representative to JTC 1, recognizes the benefit to the U.S. of providing the Secretariat for new international activities in JTC 1 where there is strong interest and expertise from stakeholders in the U.S.
Providing the Secretariat for these activities comes with some cost. The cost will vary depending on the type of International Structure and the level of activity. For permanent international structures, INCITS shall identify new sources of funding to support the activity. For short term structures, such as Study Groups, INCITS may choose to allocate existing or reserve funding to support them as a business development activity.

6. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Funding for New International Structures is described below and includes funding for Special Working Groups (SWG), Working Groups (WG) and Sub Committees (SC) – but not for Study Groups (SG).
Providing the Secretariat for these activities comes with some cost. The cost will vary depending on the type of International Structure and the level of activity. An initial commitment to provide the Secretariat for 3 years and at least 12 months’ termination notice is required; two years after INCITS has assumed the Secretariat function, the Executive Board shall decide whether to integrate support into the INCITS Operational Expense Budget or to continue to rely on the International Structure TAG Steering Committee (see section 4.3.1, International Structure Funding Framework) for funding.
INCITS has the capability and interest in providing Secretariat services when there is interest/expertise in the U.S., and if sufficient sources of funding can be found. For permanent international structures, INCITS shall identify new sources of funding to support the activity. For short term structures such as Study Groups, INCITS may choose to allocate existing or reserve funding to support them as a business development activity. It is recognized that INCITS will be taking some risks in making international commitments at an early stage in order to gain roles that are helpful to the U.S.

7. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Section Ballot jeopardy in Task Groups
Removing ballot jeopardy for TGs without direct TAG authority
With reduced processing times for ballots and documents, there can be insufficient review time for TG and TC
Many TG ballots are already accelerated (which don’t affect jeopardy)

8. INCITS Procedural Updates Overview
Revision to Section , Head of Delegation (HoD)
For groups that serve as U.S. TAGs to international meetings other than Working Groups or Study Groups, the HoD serves as chief spokesperson for the U.S. and is responsible for coordinating the activities of the U.S. delegation. A U.S. person who holds an international officer position as Chair, Chair-Elect or Convenor of a group shall not also act as U.S. Head of Delegation or chief spokesperson to that group or to its parent.
HoDs are appointed by the respective U.S. TAG chair; this does not preclude the U.S. TAG chair from being the U.S. HoD. The HoD's term includes the time required by the U.S. TAG to prepare U.S. positions before the international meeting, as well as the time for the HoD to prepare the HoD Report and report the results of the meeting.

9. Schedule Overview
An overview of the process for publishing the revised procedures was discussed and is outlined below.
INCITS/PBC vote to forward the draft to the Executive Board.
INCITS/PBC presents the draft to the Executive Board.
30-Day review and comment period to the INCITS community and to contacts designated in the INCITS Membership Agreement.
Comments received would be addressed by the INCITS/PBC. Disposition of comments and updated draft presented to the Executive Board.
If no comments are received, a 14-day Executive Board ballot for final approval would be initiated.
Submission of revised procedures to ANSI for ExSC approval (2-4 month timeframe).
Effective date for revised procedures selected (60-day window to withdraw participation if not satisfied with amendments).

10. US Position on International Procedural Changes
USNB Contribution Proposing Changes to Directives, Part 2 – Use of “Must
Currently the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (3.3.8, 7.2 Table 3, 7.6, Annex A Table A.1), document the verb 'must' as expressing only an external constraint:
Recommendations
1. Remove the 'external' from the constraints; instead, express that 'must' is appropriate when mentioning something that is a. expressed elsewhere, in the same or another document, as a provision;
b. necessarily true as a consequence of a combination of provisions expressed elsewhere (internal or external).
c. Used to express untestable/unverifiable actions etc. that nonetheless need to occur.
2. Do not automatically convert 'must' to 'shall' when editing; always check with the project editor and/or responsible committee.

11. US Position on International Procedural Changes
USNB Contribution Proposing Changes to Directives, Part 2 – Variable
Currently, ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, subclause 27.5, requires that in mathematical formulae, “The variables shall be represented by italicized single-letter symbols”.
Recommendations
Change the “shall” in 27.5 to “should” in the phrase “variables shall be represented by italicized single-letter symbols”, or entirely remove this statement.
Delete the sentences and Example 3, saying “Descriptive terms or names of quantities shall not be arranged in the form of a mathematical formula. Names of quantities or multiletter abbreviated terms, for example presented in italics or with subscripts, shall not be used in the place of symbols.”
Review, and potentially delete, the statement saying that “the same symbol shall never be used within a document both for a quantity and for its corresponding numerical value”.

12. US Position on International Procedural Changes
USNB Contribution Proposing Changes to Directives, Part 2 – Use of Comma Versus Decimal Point
Recommendations
1. The Directives, Part 2, should be revised in accordance with the ISO-endorsed JCGM, and reflect that “the decimal sign in the English text is the point on the line.”
2. The Directives, Part 2, should indicate that when the documents are translated into other languages for specific countries or regions, the conventions and standards applicable to those countries and regions should be followed, or that a consistent usage be followed (e.g. if there are code snippets in C, that all numbers are expressed in the English, C, format).
3. The Directives, Part 2, should require that in any edition of a standard, in any language, if there is any possibility that the reader will not understand the conventions used for decimal numbers, or if applicable national or international conventions are not followed, the Foreword shall contain text that explains them. (For example, a French edition might say, in French, that decimal comma is used in prose but decimal point is used in code, or that decimal point is used consistently in both code and prose). This would be a good practice in all editions.

13. US Position on International Procedural Changes
USNB Contribution Proposing Changes to Directives, Part 1 – Technical Corrigenda
Concerned about limitations on the number and timing of corrigenda. Believe the specified maximum of two corrigenda issued no more than 3 years after publication of standards is inconsistent with the life cycle of many JTC 1 standards and that these constraints do not address the needs of producers and consumers of conforming products.

14. Thank you