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WTSA-08 Resolution 76:
Conformance and Interoperability
Arthur Levin
Chief, Services Department
Telecommunication
Standardization
Bureau
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CONFORMITY
Ability of a product to meet the requirement(s) of a
standard.
A first step to increase the
probability of interoperability
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
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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 with poor market competition and
lack of technology neutrality
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Effects
Impact on ITU:
 Erosion of the perceived importance of ITU as the
place of choice to develop the full range of
interoperable standards.
Reaction from Developing countries:
 a plea expressed in WTSA-08 Resolution 76 for help
and assistance to achieve the desired level of
conformity and interoperability nationally and
internationally
ITU commitments:
 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
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The contents
1. the WTSA-08 Res. 76, WTDC-10 Res. 47,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Councils 09 and 10 highlights
Conformity
Interoperability
ITU-T Study Groups and JCA-CIT
Assistance to Developing Countries
Conclusions
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1
The WTSA-08 Res. 76
the WTDC-10 Res. 47
Council-09 and -10 decisions
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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”
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Res. 76 Resolves
•
ITU-T Study Groups to develop ITU-T
Recommendations taking into account
conformance and interoperability issues
•
Conformance and Interoperability testing
requirements shall provide for verification of
the parameters defined in ITU-T
Recommendations
•
ITU-T to develop a programme to assist
developing countries in capacity-building,
training opportunities, and in the creation of
regional/sub-regional test facilities
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Highlights of Res. 76
 The Res. 76: to meet the needs of Developing Countries for
conformance and interoperability
 The conformity as a first step to increase the probability of
interoperability between different manufacturers, vendors,
service providers
 The identification of Labs able to carry out tests according to
the ITU-T Recommendations requirements and training
programs
 The voluntary based ITU conformity programme as a
demonstration of conformance to ITU-T Recs
 The increased business opportunities and benefits to both
suppliers and customers
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TSB Director’s Recommendations
endorsed by the Council-09
 Implement conformance assessment and interoperability
events programme, including the creation of the
conformance database
 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.
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Council 2010 - views - 1
 Properly assess developing country needs
 Need of a step-by-step approach and a of a

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business plan
Need of a workshop to ascertain needs and
level of demand
Need to work closely with BDT and BR
Willingness to organize workshops worldwide
and to assist for capacity building
Director of TSB to meet with the CEOs/CTOs
to add components to standards development
work:
 test suites,
 conformance testing, and
 interoperability test events.
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Council 2010 - views - 2
 Contribution Analysing Vendors’ Concerns one-by-one and
finding them unjustified
 Developing countries could not afford to postpone the ITUT actions. Parallel implementation is advisable
 Lack of experience in developing countries:
 suppliers deploy proprietary technologies,
 sell standard equipment with additional specific features
 engage in inappropriate or misleading practices regarding the SDoC
 “Accredited” Conformity and Interoperability testing in DCs would:
 protect the interests of all parties and enable the developing countries
to have access to truly competitive suppliers
 combat no compliant cheap products
 create market openness and liberalization on a win-win basis
 Additional “certification” costs by vendors would be compensated
by economies of scale in testing & recognition agreements, easier
access to open market and competition
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WTDC-10 Resolution 47
(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”
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WTDC-10 Res.47 –
“resolves” linked to Res. 76
 to assist developing countries in capacity
building / training in collaboration with ITU-T
 to assist TSB in conducting conformance
assessment and interoperability testing
events, preferably in the developing countries
 to collaborate with the Director of TSB to
implement the actions endorsed by the ITU
Council in 2009 on Resolution 76
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Next steps:
Regional Consultation Meetings 2010
 Americas – 6 July, Quito, Ecuador
 Africa – 30-31 July 2010 Nairobi, Kenya
 Asia Pacific – Mid September – (Sydney
?, Australia)
 http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/wtsa08/res76/index.html#events
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Contents Consultation meetings
Objectives:
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
Continue the discussion to better implement the action lines adopted by Council-09 and the
ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability programme
Improve the ITU pilot conformity database addressing needs of developing countries
Discussions also based on contributions:
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Why Conformity ad Interoperability ?
Resolution 76 : a short review
The action lines decided by the Council-09
Impact on developing countries: benefits of the ITU C&I Programme, costs of lack of
conformity and/or interoperability
Impact on industry, testing, MRAs, associated costs, time to market
Improvements to the ITU pilot conformity database
Encouraging interoperability testing
Audience

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Industry / Vendors
Governments and Regulators
Operators/service providers/ end users / civil society
Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)
Laboratories
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CONFORMITY
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The ITU C&I Programme
 Voluntary basis & free programme open to ITU
members. Non-members may participate on a
case by case basis waiting for public availability
 Testing
 1st , 2nd, 3rd party accredited labs conformity
assessment
 3rd party accredited certifiers (any lab)
 Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC)
(ISO/IEC 17050)
ITU-T Recs &
test suitesCommitted to Connecting the World
Supplier’s
conformity
route
decision
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Accredited
(ISO/IEC Guide 65)
Certification body
Evaluation
1st party
Evaluation
Conformity
Certificate issued by
Certification
Body
Supplier’s Conformity
Declaration
(ISO/IEC 17050)
ITU CIP services
Supplier’s
Request to ITU
ITU Conformity
Database
Implementation
of the ITU Conformity
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Test lab
(certification body
responsibility)
Programme
Conformity Assessment / Certification
1st 2nd or 3rd party
accredited lab
(ISO/IEC 17025)
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The ITU Pilot Conformity Database:
Company
Vendor A
ITU
code
Prod.
Name
C.12345
AH-1234
Product
category
VDSL 2
ITU-T
Recs
G.992.2,
G.995, GPON
SDOs
stand.s
IEEE,
IETF,
OIF
Vendor B
Vendor C
Any field search
facilities
Date
01.01.11
SDoC
“.pdf”
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INTEROPERABILITY
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Interoperability initiatives
 TSB facilitator and co-organizer, calendar of interoperability
events & partnership with relevant SDOs/forums/consortia
 Hot topics:
 IPTV (Geneva, Singapore, India)
 G.9960 (Home Networking); HomeGrid Forum
 VDSL; Broadband Forum
 GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network)
 G.hn – Home grids
Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia
to contact TSB (interop@itu.int).
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IPTV Interop event
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4
ITU-T Study Groups and
JCA-CIT
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ITU-T Joint Coordination Activity on
Conformity and Interoperability Testing
(JCA-CIT)
 To facilitate information sharing and collaboration with the
participation of ITU-T Study Groups experts and relevant
outside bodies such as ETSI, ISO and OMA.
 Seeking of input with regard to the implementation of tasks
stated in WTSA-08 Resolution 76
 Development of a common understanding of Conformance
vs. Interoperability testing
 Developing a roadmap for the implementation of the four
action lines agreed by the Council-09 and taking into
account a draft action plan developed by TSB (live
document)
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5
Assistance to
Developing Countries:
Capacity Building and
Test Centres
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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):
 assign more resources
 hold workshops and tutorials on conformity assessment
and interoperability on the BDT project on International
Telecommunication Testing Center.
 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,…)
 A project is in progress to establish a test center in
Tanzania
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6
Conclusions
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What we said
 Resolutions 76(ITU-T) and 47(ITU-D) : the reply to the
needs of Developing Countries
 Conformity to increase probability of interoperability
 Created the voluntary based and free pilot conformity
database to be populated since now
 ITU-T interop events started
 TSB committed to the implementation of the Res. 76
requirements
 Capacity Building activities and creation of test centers
started in cooperation with the BDT
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Useful links
 ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability
http://www.itu.int/net/ITUT/cdb/Default.aspx
 ITU-T Workshops and Seminars
http://www.itu.int/ITUT/worksem/index.html
 ITU-T News
http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-T/info/news.aspx