Interactive Standardisation Guidelines

Introduction

When preparing their proposals and work plans, projects are often confronted with a number of concrete issues, concerning for example the question how to contact a standards organisation to interface with, how to determine the cost of standards work, or how to decide at all whether standards activity should be embedded into their work plan.

The following list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) summarizes most of the issues that projects have to address with respect to their interfacing with standards organizations, either during the preparatory phase, during the start of their activities, or even when they are already close to the completion of their work.

When you have selected the question of your choice, clicking on it will not only lead you to the answer, but also points out a number of related questions to the topic of your choice; moreover, in the answers you will also find cross links to other answers as well as links to related information outside the scope of this FAQ platform.

This FAQ platform will allow you to compile a comprehensive set of information on research/standards interfacing issues in a quick and easy way. Should you still have specific questions however, you can inform COPRAS through the feedback mechanism.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are ICT standards and what is their purpose?
3. Which type of standards should my project pursue?
4. What are the benefits of standardization for research projects?
   1. Governments and public authorities
   2. Industry and SME companies
      1. Immediate benefits
      2. Deferred benefits
   3. Academia and research institutes?
5. How do standardization processes work?
   1. Steps in a typical standardization process
   2. Which type of standardization process should my project pursue?
6. Does a project have to be a member of a standards organization to participate in a standardization process?
7. Can a project be a member of a standards organization?
8. What are the different types of deliverables that may result from a standardization process?
   1. Formal standards
   2. Technical or industry specifications
   3. Technical reports
   4. Private specifications
9. What are Open Standards?
10. What are formal standards organizations?
11. What are industry consortia?
12. Do formal standards organizations always produce formal standards?
13. What are the cost for a project ofparticipating in standardization processes?
    1. Direct cost of initiating a standards activity
    2. Indirect cost of initiating a standards activity
14. How many resources should a project allocate to standards activities?
15. Should every project interface with standards organizations?
16. How do I define cooperation possibilities with standards organizations?
17. Should a project contribute to standardization itself or should this be done through its consortium partners?
    1. Pros and cons to participating as a project
    2. Pros and cons to participating as a consortium partner
19. How do I synchronize my project's work plan with a standards organization's road map?
20. How do I embed standardization activities in my project'swork plan?
    1. Proposal praparation stage
    2. Start of the contract
    3. Requirements defined
    4. Availability of results
    5. Contract termination
21. Which type of project deliverables are suitable for standardization?
22. What do I do when my project comes to an end and standardization activities have not yet been finalized?
23. How much time is involved in standardization processes?
24. When should a project start to think about standardization?
    1. Timing of interactions
    2. Formal mechanisms for interaction between research and standardization
    3. Tasks
25. How can I find a list of standards relevant to my project's area of research?
26. How do I determine and find the standards organization my project should interface with?
    1. Thematic focus area
    2. Timing
    3. Open standardization processes
    4. Membership of standards bodies
27. Should a project focus on European standards organizations or on setting global standards?
28. How can I contact a standards organization?
29. How should my project initiate a new standardization process?
30. Do standards organizations provide mechanisms to address the confidential nature of specific contributions?
31. What if there's no standards organization that is able to address my project's output?
32. How can interoperability between various implementations of a standard or specification be verified?