1. WTSA-08 Resolution 76: Conformance and Interoperability
Arthur Levin
Chief, Services Department
Telecommunication
Standardization
Bureau

2. 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

3. 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

4. Effects Impact on ITU: Reaction from Developing countries:
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

5. The contents
the WTSA-08 Res. 76, WTDC-10 Res. 47, Councils 09 and 10 highlights
Conformity
Interoperability
ITU-T Study Groups and JCA-CIT
Assistance to Developing Countries
Conclusions

6. The WTSA-08 Res. 76 the WTDC-10 Res. 47 Council-09 and -10 decisions

7. 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”

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. Council 2010 - views - 1 Properly assess developing country needs
Need of a step-by-step approach and a of a 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.

12. Council views - 2
Contribution Analysing Vendors’ Concerns one-by-one and finding them unjustified
Developing countries could not afford to postpone the ITU-T 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

13. 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”

14. 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

15. Next steps: Regional Consultation Meetings 2010
Americas – 6 July, Quito, Ecuador
Africa – July 2010 Nairobi, Kenya
Asia Pacific – Mid September – (Sydney ?, Australia)

16. Contents Consultation meetings
Objectives:
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:
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
Industry / Vendors
Governments and Regulators
Operators/service providers/ end users / civil society
Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)
Laboratories

17. CONFORMITY

18. 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)

19. Implementation of the ITU Conformity Programme
ITU-T Recs &
test suites
Supplier’s
conformity route
decision
Test lab (certification body responsibility)
1st 2nd or 3rd party accredited lab
(ISO/IEC 17025)
ITU Conformity Database
Test results
(ITU-T X.290)
1st party
Evaluation
Supplier’s Conformity
Declaration
(ISO/IEC 17050)
Accredited
(ISO/IEC Guide 65) Certification body Evaluation
Conformity
Certificate issued by Certification
Body
Conformity Assessment / Certification
ITU CIP services
Supplier’s Request to ITU
Route 1
Route 2
Implementation of the ITU Conformity Programme

20. The ITU Pilot Conformity Database:
Company
ITU code
Prod. Name
Product category
ITU-T
Recs
SDOs stand.s
Date
SDoC
Vendor A
C.12345
AH-1234
VDSL 2
G.992.2, G.995, GPON
IEEE, IETF, OIF
“.pdf”
Vendor B
Vendor C
Any field search facilities

24. INTEROPERABILITY 24

25. 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

26. IPTV Interop event

27. 4
ITU-T Study Groups and
JCA-CIT

28. 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)

29. Developing Countries:5
Assistance to
Developing Countries:
Capacity Building and
Test Centres

30. 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

31. 6
Conclusions

32. 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

33. Useful links ITU-T Conformity and Interoperability
ITU-T Workshops and Seminars
ITU-T News