1. Jim Matthews Standards Engineering Director Corning Incorporated
Future Watch Group International Electotechnical Commission Sector Board 4
Jim Matthews
Standards Engineering Director
Corning Incorporated

2. What is the IEC? International Electrotechnical Commission
Geneva, Switzerland Based, Founded 1906
Original Purpose - Electrical Safety
Sister Organization to ISO (International Standards Org.)
Shared Directives and Processes
Very Different Cultures and Operation
Members (and Funding) are National Committees
US National Committee of IEC (An ANSI Committee)
Approximately 56 Countries
Work Organized by Subject Groups (Technical Committees)
Work Done In Working Groups
Each Subcommittee in US has a TAG (Tech. Advisory Group)

3. What Are Sector Boards? IEC “Members” are National Committees
Need for Input Directly From Industry
Advisory in Nature - No Formal Decision Powers
Reports To The Standardization Management Board
Made Up Of Industry Representatives
Cover a Specific Technical Area
Groups of Technical Committees
IEC Currently Has Three
Sector Board 1: Medical Instrumentation
Sector Board 3: Power Systems
Sector Board 4: Telecommunications Infrastructure
Each is Unique and Different From the Others

4. Sector Board 4: Telecommunications Infrastructure
Member Groups:
TC46: Coax and Waveguides
TC48: RF Connectors
TC86: Fiber Optics
TC100: Multimedia
JTC1 / SC25: Wiring Systems
Representatives from ACET and ITU-T
Approximately 13 Members
US, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Italy, Finland, Sweden…
Corning, Lucent, Alcatel, Pirelli, Nokia, Draka, NEC, ….
US Members:
Matthews(Corning), Santana(Lucent), Hoyler (TIA)

5. SB4: Future Watch Sub-Group of the Sector Board
Chair: Albert Grooten, NKF Kabel, Netherlands
Goal: Look Ahead of The Current Work - 3 to 5 years
Provide Guidance To TC’s and SC’s On Market Needs
Original Publication: SB4/18B/INF
First Published 1999
Updated 3/2001
Outline of Market Conditions
Identify Areas Of Market Growth
Emphasis on
Access: Services and Traffic over xDSL, PON, Other
Long Haul Optical Networking

6. Future Watch Today Meeting Last Week In Geneva
Organizing An Umbrella Document (Master)
Telecommunications Landscape
Future Market Conditions
Market By Applications
Market by Technologies
Guidance to Formulating Groups
Specific Areas Of High Importance
Specific Documents for Each Area Of High Importance
Optical Networking, Access, “Dynamic” components, Cable Installation Techniques, etc…
Timing For Next Version - October 2002

7. Your Input Future Watch - A Work In Progress
Inputs Welcomed
Sector Boards One Way For Direct Industry Involvement
Open To Additional Participants
Documents For Your Review
Original Report (SB4/18B/INF)
Current Draft (SB4(0204/Matthews)14
Thanks For Your Input