Rue du Rhône 114- CH-1204 Geneva - T: +41 22 849 6000 - F: +41 22 849 6001 - Document Formats:...

Rue du Rhône 114- CH-1204 Geneva - T: +41 22 849 6000 - F: +41 22 849 6001 - www.ecma-international.org

Document Formats: Ecma Office OpenXML How Ecma International works?

Dr. Istvan Sebestyen

May 30, 2007

Standards@Internet Speed

Rue du Rhône 114 - CH-1204 Geneva - T: +41 22 849 6000 - F: +41 22 849 6001 - www.ecma-international.org 2

About Ecma International

1. Facts

2. Dynamics, or How to drive efficiency

3. Relations

4. IPR

5. ECMA-376 Milestones in Ecma


Facts 1 of 3

What is Ecma International?:What is Ecma International?:

Ecma International is a not-for-profit association under Swiss Law/Geneva, established in 1961

Purpose of Ecma: Development and publication of standards/TRs for Information & Communication Technology and Consumer Electronics

Track record: 450 publications, 2/3 also published by ISO/IEC

Ecma publications are free of charge and can be freely downloaded from the Ecma website www.ecma-international.org

A-liaison with ISO/IEC JTC 1 (similar to a P-member, but without voting rights)

ISO/IEC Fast-track procedure (6-month international ballot) originally proposed by Ecma and accepted in 1987:over 80% of all 250 fast-tracked standards since 1987 have come from Ecma

http://www.ecma-international.org/


Facts 2 of 3

History of Ecma International:History of Ecma International:

Formed in 1961 by major multinational computer hardware manufacturers present in Europe.

Originally “ECMA” stood for “European Computer Manufacturers’ Association”.

In 1994 - due to the high reputation and wide public knowledge - the “brand name” was kept, but changed to simply “Ecma” (now with capital and small letters, signalling the change of the original mission of the Association).

•“International” was added because membership is from around the world, in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

•Broad scope of standardisation topics including hardware, software, communications, consumer electronics, media, storage, environmental subjects, etc…


Facts 3 of 3

How does Ecma International work?How does Ecma International work?

Two decision levels:

• Technical: TC, TG with technical experts

• Managerial: General Assembly (GA)/Coordinating Committee (CC)

Five membership categories, to reflect the diversity of stakeholders in the ICT industry:

• Paying: Ordinary (OM), Associate (AM), Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME), Small Private Company (SPC)

• No charge: Not-for-Profit (NFP)

Note: Members are organizations, not individuals

Voting:

• Simple majority: technical (TC) and simple managerial (GA) issues such as the creation of a new TC, budget changes: in a TC each member can vote, and has one vote; in the GA only Ordinary members can vote, and have one vote each.

• Qualified majority (two thirds of all Ordinary members must be in favour): GA issues like publications, budget, new members, new membership types, expulsion, changes of membership class, By-laws, Rules, and IPR

Note: Voting in a TC or TG is very rare


Dynamics, orHow to drive efficiency 1 of 3

In short:

draftsTechnical

Committee

FinalDraft

General Assembly

accept

1st draft

review

Revisions,contributions

consensusvote

ECMA-XXX

approve

Work item proposal

Ecma Process

Fast TrackSubmission

submit

Work ItemDevelopmentin a Technical

CommitteeFinal Draft

Vote in theGeneral

AssemblyECMA-xxx e.g. ISO/IEC 29500



To begin work, several (3, or more) existing or potential Ecma members must agree a standard is required:

• If the work (area) is new, the GA has to approve it by simple majority, and the Secretary General of Ecma forms a new Technical Committee (TC) responsible for creating the standard.

• If the work fits in an existing TC, then the TC has to approve a project for the new work.

Industry experts work together in the TC to create and prepare the standards for industry use, by means of successive drafts.

An editor, or editing team, is responsible for the drafts: An editor is essential for the contribution-driven progress in a TC.

TCs may use additional tools, e.g., a spreadsheet to control open issues and their progress.



Ecma staff provides “hands on” process guidance, manages procedures for forwarding and escalation, editing and structure of the standards under development.

The infrastructure for the TCs and the GA consists of a web site for working documents, electronic mail facilities and archive, etc.

IPR and other non technical issues must be resolved outside technical meetings.

Ecma is designed to defuse and separate the political from the technical:

• “No” votes at the TC may only be for technical reasons

• ALL members, not only Ordinary members, can vote at TC level

• At GA “No” votes and abstentions are not counted, only “Yes” votes are counted: only Ordinary members can vote at GA level

When the Ecma General Assembly approves a standard for publication, Ecma usually submits it to ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC JTC 1 and/or ETSI for approval and publication.


RelationsRelations

IPR Policy


It has several components:

•Copyrights: Ecma International grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to obtain (on paper or per download), reproduce and use the information contained in its standards•Trademarks: Ecma International has internationally trademarked its logo•Patents: Solid and proven patent policy and practice:

“The General Assembly of Ecma shall not approve recommendations of Standards which are covered by patents when such patents will not be licensed by their owners on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.”

(more about it on the next slide…)


Patent Policy

However, Ecma does not:

• Assess the essentiality and validity of patents for implementation of a standard, nor

• Conduct patent searches for patents used in standards, nor

• Define the term “Reasonable And Non Discriminatory” (RAND)

Members grant licences under RAND (also including royalty-free) terms, by default.

If, in very rare cases, patent holders are not prepared to grant RAND terms, there are several options:

1) Essentiality of the patent is evident:

• Participants circumvent the patent by alternative definition of the standard, or

• Participants collectively buy the license, or

• Ecma stops the project

2) Essentiality of patent is questioned: Ecma proceeds with standardization and publication. Only a real “roadblock” (e.g. legal ruling) can change the process (then option 1 applies).


ECMA-376 Milestones 1 of 3

TC45 - Office Open XML Formats:

•November 15, 2005: co-submission of Office Open XML Formats to Ecma International

Co-sponsors: Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, British Library, Essilor, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, NextPage Inc., Statoil ASA, Toshiba

•December 8 2005: Ecma General Assembly accepts standardization: Ecma TC 45 created•Goal:

To create an Ecma Office Open XML Formats standardTo contribute the Ecma Office Open XML Formats standard to ISO/IEC JTC 1 for approval and adoption by ISO and IECTo ensure future evolution of Office Open XML

•Open process•Technical Committee open to any Ecma member

Novell, US Library of Congress joined TC45 after creation



TC45 - Office Open XML Formats (cont.):

•Dec15, 2005 - 1st face to face meeting – BrusselsMicrosoft submit initial 2000 page draft of Office Open XML

•Weekly 2 hour conference calls – with 15-20 participants

•Face 2 face meetings @ Ecma, Apple, British Lib, Toshiba, Microsoft, Statoil

•Initial and Interim drafts posted publicly on Ecma web site

•External feedback – SC34 experts, others

•Final standard 6000 pages

•Dec 8, 2006: Ecma GA in Zurich:

Overwhelming positive vote Approval of ECMA-376Decision to Submit to ISO/IEC JTC1 for fast track (ISO/IEC DIS 29500) – Dec. 2006

•Open JTC1 Fast Track ballot: January 2007



TC45 - Office Open XML Formats (cont.):

•ISO Fast-Track Process

•Ballot time

Jan 5, 2007 – Start Office Open XML fast track in ISO/IEC JTC1 Feb 5, 2007 – End of 30-day review period, to determine “perceived contradictions”Feb 28, 2007 – Ecma provides feedback on comments & perceived contradictionsJTC1 5-month DIS letter ballot – Technical Review through September 2nd, 2007Ballot Resolution Meeting: November 2007


Address

Ecma is driven purely by the will of its members

It is run by industry for industry, and is aware of your time and cost constraints

Proven system for getting things done right and on time

The know-how of the secretariat, GA and CC guides technical experts through international standardization jungle

The Ecma process filters out non-commercial interests, resolves competitive clashes which are not productive

The “fast track” by Ecma saves you time and money.

If you get three members together for a project, it can not be stopped by other members

Ecma works readily on several competing solutions to the same problem

The development of an Ecma Standard takes (typically) no more than half the time required to develop a similar standard in any competing forum.

Ecma Standards are recognized worldwide as amongst the highest quality

4. ?????

Rue du Rhône 114CH-1204 GenevaT: +41 22 849 6000 F: +41 22 849 6001

www.ecma-international.org

Thank you!

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