1. 1 The ATM Forum Carey Williamson Department of Computer Science University of Calgary

2. 2 ATM Forum u The ATM Forum is a “standards body” of vendors of ATM products and services u Mostly industrial organizations, but some research institutions are members as well u Initially half a dozen member companies u Now well over 700 member companies u URL: http://www.atmforum.com

3. 3 ATM Forum (Cont’d) u ATM Forum has a very aggressive timeline,much more so than the official ITU standards body u Meets every 18 weeks or so u Short term product focus u Trying to influence standards for ATM equipment being deployed or designed

4. 4 ATM Forum (Cont’d) u Many proposals come before the Forum, from companies as well as researchers u Proposals discussed, evaluated at length u Membership vote; majority rules u Fast moving standards process u Results and decisions disseminate into the research community very quickly