[CMC] ITU-T standards

[Adrian J. Hooke]

http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/newslog/Free+Access+For+All+To+ITUT+Standards.aspx

"Standards produced by ITU ­ 
<http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/publications/recs.html>ITU-T 
Recommendations ­ are now available without 
charge. The announcement follows a highly 
successful trial conducted from January October 
2007, during which some two million ITU-T 
Recommendations were downloaded throughout the world.

The experiment’s aim was to “increase the 
visibility and easy availability of the output of 
ITU-T”. Offering standards for free is a 
significant step for the standards community as 
well as the wider information and communication 
technologies (ICT) industry. Now, anyone with 
Internet access will be able to download one of 
over 3000 ITU-T Recommendations that underpin 
most of the world’s ICT. The move further 
demonstrates ITU’s commitment to bridging the 
digital divide by extending the results of its work to the global community.

Director of ITU’s Telecommunication 
Standardization Bureau (TSB) Malcolm Johnson, 
presenting the results of the trial to the 2007 
meeting of ITU’s Council, said that not only had 
the experiment been a success in raising 
awareness of ITU-T, it would also attract new 
members. Most importantly, he noted, it had 
helped efforts to bridge the “standardization 
gap” between countries with resources to pursue 
standardization issues and those without. “There 
has been very positive feedback from developing 
countries,” said Johnson. “Last year exactly 500 
ITU-T Recommendations had been sold to developing 
countries; this year, after allowing free access, 
they have downloaded some 300 000.”

ITU-T Recommendations are developed in a unique 
contribution-driven and consensus-based 
environment by industry and government members, 
with industry providing the most significant 
input. A strong focus of current standards work 
is providing the foundations for the so-called 
next-generation network 
(<http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/ngn/index.phtml>NGN). 
Other key areas include IPTV, ICT in vehicles, 
cybersecurity, quality of service, multimedia, 
emergency communications and standards for 
access, such as VDSL 2 ­ very high speed digital 
subscriber line 2, the newest and most advanced 
standard of DSL broadband wireline communications. "

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