Joint ITU/CTO event:
“Bridging Standardization Gap, ITR
and Interoperability issues”
13 September 2010, Colombo, Sri Lanka
The ITU-T activities for
Conformity Assessment and
Interoperability
Paolo Rosa
Head, Workshops and Promotion Division
Telecommunication
Standardization
Bureau
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
– poor market competition
– lack of technology neutrality
2
Some Problems
1)
How many Bluetooth™ earpieces are
you ready to buy before you find the good
one for your mobile?
2)
your service provider changes its
equipment, are you happy to discover
that your just bought “super-wirelessADSL2+ modem-router” is not
compatible?
Effects of lack C&I
Impact on ITU:
– Erosion of the perceived importance of ITU as the place of
choice to develop the full range of interoperable standards.
Reactions from Developing Countries
– a plea expressed for ITU to help and to assist in achieving
the requested level of conformity to standards and
interoperability among vendors both nationally and
internationally
ITU commitment
– 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 from the development sector point of view
4
The contents
1. WTSA-08 Res. 76, WTDC-10 Res. 47,
Councils 09 and 10 highlights
2. Conformity
3. Interoperability
4. Assistance to Developing Countries
5. Conclusions
5
1
The WTSA-08 Res. 76
the WTDC-10 Res. 47
Council-09 and -10 decisions
6
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”
7
Why the Res. 76
– Major concerns were raised at WTSA-08,
especially in developing countries;
• lack of conformance
• poor quality
• counterfeit equipment
• lack of legal framework
– Need of developing countries to be assisted
in deploying testing facilities and building
capacity facilities in the regions
– Other standards bodies have already
introduced a number of activities to address
conformity and interoperability and are far
ahead of ITU.
Res.76: instructs the Director of TSB
•
identify and prioritize the problems of developing
countries
•
study the overall effect on ITU and manufacturers,
legal, national and international regulatory
implications, cost of set up and location of testing
facilities, measures to build the necessary human
resource capacities
•
Conduct studies with the view to introduce
thevoluntary use of ITU Mark permitting
manufacturers and service providers to make a
visible declaration of conformity to ITU-T standards
of products and to study the relevant financial and
legal implications for the ITU-T and ICT industries
•
to submit the result of these studies to Council-09
for its consideration and required actions
Conclusions on Res. 76
•
Res. 76: meets the needs of Developing Countries for conformance
and interoperability aspects
•
Conformity is a first step to increase the probability of interoperability
between different equipment, manufacturers, vendors, service
providers
•
Identification of Labs able to carry out tests according to the ITU-T
Recommendations requirements and training programs
•
Voluntary based ITU conformity programme as a demonstration of
conformance to ITU-T Recs and possible creation of an ITU-Mark: the
“ITU inside” concept that now is dropped.
•
The increased business opportunities and benefits to both suppliers
and customers, positive industry response
10
RESOLUTION 47 (REV. 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
WTDC-10 Resolution 47
instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development
Bureau to:
1
encourage the participation of developing countries in
training courses and workshops organized by ITU-D on best
practices in the application of ITU-R and ITU-T
Recommendations;
2
assist developing countries in building their capacity,
in collaboration with ITU-T, so as to be able to perform
conformance testing of equipment and systems;
3
assist the Director of TSB, and in collaboration with the
Director of BR, and as appropriate, with equipment and systems
manufacturers, internationally and regionally recognized
standards development organizations, in conducting
conformance assessment and interoperability testing
events, preferably in the developing countries, and
encouraging developing countries to attend these events; and
WTDC-10 Resolution 47
In collaboration with TSB
First Step:
Issue a Questionnaire. Done at NGN & C&I
workshop issues Nairobi, 2-4 August 2010
Second Step:
Define the framework of the Field study on the
economic
feasibility of and need for creating regional
laboratories in the regions and to report to Council
on the results of this field study;
Third Step
Identify partners for conducting the Field Study and
Training Activities Region by Region.
The TSB Programme
• Conformity assessment:
– The first step to interop,
– Testing: certification / SDOs-Forums recognized labs
– Creation ITU conformity database
• ITU as facilitator for interop events to:
– identify the interoperability problems
– develop Interoperability test suites as needed
• Use of Current international procedures (ISO/IEC
17025, 17050, ISO Guidelines 65 - CASCO toolbox)
• Conduct feasibility studies in developing countries
• Develop a long-term business plan
14
ITU-CIP Programme Benefits
– Industry:
increased business opportunities
(time to market, reduced costs, widen market for Mutual
Recognition Agreements, no TBT issues)
– End users:
increased QoS &
interoperability legacy to existing
infrastructure, savings
– Developing countries:
capacity
building opportunities, regional and sub-regional
type testing laboratories, bridging
standardization Gap and digital divide,
promotion of a conformity testing culture)
TSB Director’s Recommendations
endorsed by the Council-09
• Implement conformance assessment and
interoperability events programme, including
the creation of a conformance database instead
of an ITU mark
• 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.
Concerns
• The database presents both legal and associated financial
liability risks for the ITU and the ICT industry
• A step-by-step approach should be taken in order to take
into account the concerns of the membership as ITU moves
forward in implementing the action lines adopted by Council
2009
• The use of accredited test labs is time consuming and
expensive, delaying users’ access to technology and
slowing global trade
• TSB should first prepare a business plan to establish the
real costs, potential liabilities and measurable benefits to
society before launching the ITU-T Conformity Database
• Test centres in developing countries, according to one
contributor, would lead to confusion in the market place
17
Support
• Interoperability as Mission for ITU (Res. 71 – Strategic Plan)
• Res. 76 intended to assist DCs and manufacturers should
contribute to its implementation
• Produced examples of problems
• The conformance database would be exceedingly useful for
operators and end users for whom equipment are
manufactured. Good experience in this field is proven by
existing DBs from other SDOs
• Confidence of users in the kind of equipment they buy is
more important than how quickly they appear on the
market
• ITU-T Recommendations must be studied in view of
conformance assessment and interoperability testing as
relevant
18
Regional “robust”
Consultation Meetings 2010
• Quito, Ecuador, 6 July 2010
• Nairobi, Kenya, 30-31 July 2010
• BDT event - 2-4 August 2010 Nairobi, Kenya
on NGN and creation of test labs in Africa
• Sydney, Australia,16-17 September 2010
• http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/wtsa08/res76/index.html#events
19
2
Conformity
Ability of a product to meet the
requirement(s) of a standard
20
ITU Conformity Pilot Database
• Voluntary and free-of-charge tool permitting
manufacturers and service providers to make
a visible declaration that their equipment
conform to ITU-T Recommendations.
• Information entered directly by vendors.
• Users advised that the DB contains only
information provided by companies and that
ITU is not in a position to verify the accuracy
of the information received. Declaration of
responsibility requested.
• The Pilot Database may provide information
on applicable normative references by other
standards organizations complying with
Recommendation ITU-T A.5.
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accredited lab
(ISO/IEC 17025)
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Supplier’s
conformity
route
decision
1st party
Evaluation
Supplier’s Conformity
Declaration
(ISO/IEC 17050)
Route 2 B
Product successfully
tested in a lab
recognized by
any Rec. ITU-T A.5
SDO / Forum
Supplier’s
Request to ITU
ITU Conformity
Database
Test lab
(Certification Body
/ Rec.A.5
SDO/Forum lab)
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
Route 2 A
Accredited
(ISO/IEC Guide 65)
Certification Body
Evaluation
Conformity
Certificate issued by
Certification
Body
Implementation
of the ITU Conformity
Programme
Conformity Assessment / Certification ITU C&I
services
ITU-T Recs &
test suites
Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity – SDoC 1/2
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Tests performed in a lab recognized by: (A.5 –
SDO/Forum)
25
The ITU Pilot Conformity Database:
Example
Company
Vendor A
ITU
code
Prod.
Name
C-12345
AH-1234
Product
category
VDSL 2
ITU-T
Recs/Ed.
G.992.2,
G.995, GPON
SDOs
stand.s
IEEE,
IETF,
OIF
Vendor B
Vendor C
Search facilities for
any field
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Date
01.01.11
SDoC
“.pdf”
A possible References data base
for conform products
Company
Member A
Prod.
Name
AH-1234
Product
category
F.O. modem
Applications
GPON, Access,
multilambda
SDOs
stand.s
ITU,
IEEE,
IETF, OIF
Member B
Member C
Search facilities for
any field
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Customers
A, B, C, E, F
Transitive property for C&I
Conformity : necessary but not sufficient condition to increase the
probability of interoperability and improve quality of service
Customers: looking for conformity as the main requirement to increase
interoperability and confidence in vendors, to optimize investments and to
benefit of improved quality of service
Vendors : claiming for conformity to standards and interoperability as key
elements able to create better business opportunities and to demonstrate the
excellence of products with respect to the competitors in the marketplace
THEREFORE
ITU Conformity Database showing products claimed as successfully
tested for conformity is a “key tool” to:
a) to help customers find best solutions for their needs
b) to offer vendors a for-free additional opportunity to make business
giving visibility to their conforming products
28
3
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
29
TSB interoperability initiatives
www.itu.int/interop
 TSB facilitator and co-organizer, calendar of interoperability
events & partnership with relevant SDOs/forums/consortia
 Possible hot topics:
 IPTV
 G.9960 (Home Networking); HomeGrid Forum
 VDSL; Broadband Forum
 GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network)
 G.hn (home grids / networks)
Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia
to contact TSB (interop@itu.int).
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IPTV Interop event
31
Next ITU Interop events
• Singapore – IPTV – September 2010
• Geneva – G.hn ??? – November 2010
• India – IPTV – December 2010
Interested Companies SDOs, Forums, Consortia
to contact TSB (interop@itu.int).
32
4
Assistance to
Developing Countries:
Capacity Building and
Test Centres
33
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) (WTDC Res. 47), needed
to:
• 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,…)
• Visits to various Labs are in progress in the regions
• A project to create a test center in Tanzania is in
progress
34
The Global Conformity and
Interoperability ITU Portal
•
Information on the meaning of Conformity and Interoperability
•
Search functions in databases from ITU and from other SDOs/ Forums
on a reciprocal collaboration basis
•
Links to C&I-related international organizations e.g. ILAC, IAF, NABs,
Labs (Where are is the lab for my products?), SDOs
•
Repository/link for global MRAs for C&I
•
Information on ITU and other SDOs Interop events worldwide
•
Contributions on best practices for certification, interop organization,
MRAs
•
Link to civil society and consumers associations
•
….?????
5
Conclusions
36
What we said
• Resolutions 76(ITU-T) and 47(ITU-D) : the replies to the
needs of Developing Countries about conformity and
interoperability
• Conformity one of the tools able to increase probability of
interoperability
• Created the voluntary based and free pilot conformity
database
• ITU-T interop events successfully started
• TSB and BDT committed to implement Res. 76 and Res. 47
• Capacity Building activities and creation of test centers
started
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Useful links
• ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability
www.itu.int/C&I
• ITU-T Conformity : www.itu.int/conformity
• ITU-T Interoperability : www.itu.int/interop
• ITU-T Workshops and Seminars
www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/index.html
• ITU-T News www.itu.int/net/ITU-T/info/news.aspx
38
Thank you