IP: conf on "Building the Global Information Society for the

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 14:09:51 -0400
Reply-To: amr () chaos com




As many of you know, a significant difference in
function and process of standards development has
existed for some years between the traditional 
telecom/formal standards communities/constituencies, 
and the newer computer/Internet/applications standards
communities.  In a nutshell, the perspectives are
rather different, and have been manifested in such
now historical skirmishes as TCP/IP vs. OSI.


For that reason, it may be worthwhile to be
aware of a major "traditional" conference sponsored by
the ITU, ISO, IEC, and EC entitled "Building the Global 
Information Society for the 21st Century: New Applications 
and Business Opportunities Coherent Standards and Regulations."
This is being held at Brussels, 1-3 Oct 1997.
See <http://www.ispo.cec.be/standards/conf97/>


Themes include: electronic commerce, services to the public,
individual use, and interoperability.


In the U.S., participation oversight is through a joint
Dept of Commerce and industry committee, and is being 
coordinated by ANSI - contact: Peter Lefkin, <plefkin () ansi org>
In other countries, it would likely occur through the entity
responsible for formal telecom standards developments.


There are discussion lists available for expressing views.
See <http://www.ispo.cec.be/standards/conf97/discuss.html>


If the last ten years of history in this arena can be a guide,
including veritable paradigm shifts involving the Internet/WWW, 
it seems highly desirable to have a broad array of bodies and 
perspectives in evidence at any policy-oriented global standards
conference - that underscore the diversity that now exists for 
standards development, and which relies substantially on fast 
moving, industry driven, self-organized approaches, bodies,
consortia, and corporate initiatives.




cheers,
--Tony