RE: support for the IEEE Standards Association
Roger, You have my support !!!
Thanx, Buzz
Everett O. (Buzz) Rigsbee
Boeing SSG
PO Box 3707, M/S: 7M-FM
Seattle, WA 98124-2207
ph: (425) 865-2443, fx: (425) 865-6721
email: everett.o.rigsbee@boeing.com
> From: Jim Carlo[SMTP:jcarlo@ti.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 7:26 AM
> To: IEEE802
> Subject: FW: support for the IEEE Standards Association
> fyi. This is a note from Roger Marks to Bruce Eisenstein. Please give Roger your support.
> Jim Carlo(jcarlo@ti.com) Cellular:1-214-693-1776 Voice&Fax:1-214-853-5274
> TI Fellow, Networking Standards at Texas Instruments
> Chair, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6 Telecom and Info Exchange Between Systems
> Chair, IEEE802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee
> From: Roger B. Marks [mailto:r.b.marks@ieee.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 5:56 PM
> To: b.eisenstein@ieee.org
> Subject: support for the IEEE Standards Association
> To: Bruce A. Eisenstein, IEEE President
> From: Roger B. Marks, IEEE Member
> Dear Dr. Eisenstein,
> I am writing to you because I believe passionately in the importance
> of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) and am convinced that it
> is being hurt by activities of the IEEE Industry Standards and
> Technology Organization (ISTO).
> As the Chair of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless
> Access <http://ieee802.org/16>, I am close to the dispute between the
> IEEE-SA's LAN/MAN Standards Committee (Committee 802) and the ISTO
> over the Broadband Wireless Internet Forum (BWIF), which was
> announced in a July 11 ISTO press release provocatively entitled
> "BROADBAND WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS GAINS HIGH SPEED STANDARD"
> <http://www.ieee-isto.org/071100_bwif.html>. I support 802's Position
> Statement <http://ieee802.org/16/802/positionBWIF.pdf> on the issue.
> I'd like to provide you some context.
> First of all, let me mention that I have been a card-carrying IEEE
> member for 15 years. I received an IEEE Fellow Award from you at the
> IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT) Symposium in
> Boston last month; I also received an IEEE Technical Field Award (the
> IEEE Morris E. Leeds Award in Electrical Measurement) in 1995. I
> serve on the MTT Society's AdCom (as Standards Coordinating Chair and
> Meetings & Symposia Operations Chair) and as an IEEE Distinguished
> Lecturer. I initiated the IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (RAWCON)
> and chaired it for its first four years, and I have served in other
> capacities in many IEEE conferences and publications.
> In spite of my many IEEE activities, I never appreciated the treasure
> that is the IEEE Standards Association until I became involved in it
> about two years ago. The IEEE-SA is founded on idealistic principles
> of transnationalism, openness, consensus, due process, balance, and
> appeal rights. Unlike nearly all other standards developing
> organizations, it is also based on individualism; engineers, not
> companies or national institutions, are in the driver's seat. The
> miracle of IEEE Standards is that this idealism does not exclude
> realism. The simple fact is that the IEEE-SA Standards process works,
> and works superbly. With dedicated, technically-minded volunteers,
> standards quickly arise whose quality is almost literally
> unquestioned; that's because questions are openly welcomed and then
> addressed during development. IEEE 802, for example, is enabling the
> emerging computer-centric wireless web while continuing to pioneer
> new Ethernet technology. 802's Millennium Award, perhaps the only one
> awarded to a group, was well deserved.
> The ISTO is a separate legal entity from IEEE and operates outside
> its basic principles. Its purpose is to appeal to industry desires
> for closed consortia. I understand the rationale for such consortia.
> The bestselling Harvard Business School book _Information Rules_
> takes an extremely pragmatic and hard-nosed approach to
> standardization through any means. Yet, calling IEEE "a highly
> respected and neutral industry-wide organization," it said "Adoption
> by the IEEE did much to create self-fulfilling expectations that
> Ethernet would emerge as the accepted industry standard."
> Expectations like those are based on the hard-earned credibility of
> IEEE standards. IEEE must protect that credibility.
> The ISTO can serve as a constructive complement to the IEEE Standards
> Association by offering post-standardization services such as
> marketing, intellectual property rights management, and
> interoperability testing. It might also assist industry groups in
> developing pre-standardization specifications. However, in that
> regard, ISTO has tried to wear two hats: on one hand, it promises a
> fast track without the red tape; on the other hand, it tries to make
> use of the prestige of the IEEE name to enhance its value. This has
> led to widespread confusion. Most 802.16 participants have found it
> difficult to sort out the meaning of the ISTO announcement of a
> "standard," and I have to tell you that many mistakenly viewed it as
> an attempt by IEEE to undermine their work. One can only imagine the
> confusion of people outside IEEE.
> I don't believe that ISTO should continue to wear both hats. I think
> ISTO will best serve IEEE if its pre-standardization efforts are
> clearly distinguished from the activities of the IEEE-SA. I urge
> IEEE, as the sole member of ISTO, to work to enact policy changes to
> ensure the following specific outcomes:
> *ISTO should cease its claim to be "affiliated with the IEEE
> Standards Association"; I have found no basis for this claim.
> *The terms "IEEE Industry Standard" and "IEEE-ISTO Industry Standard"
> should be eliminated in favor of the term "ISTO Industry
> Specification."
> *ISTO announcements concerning "ISTO Industry Specifications" should
> carry a disclaimer such as "ISTO is not accredited to write standards
> and is not affiliated with the IEEE Standards Association."
> *ISTO should avoid projects that are competitive with IEEE Standards projects.
> I suggest that these conditions, which I believe will be good for
> both the IEEE-SA and ISTO, should be incorporated in the ISTO bylaws.
> The IEEE-SA is built upon some of the most dedicated volunteers in
> IEEE. For example, well over 400 individuals from well over 100
> companies have participated in IEEE 802.16. Since we meet for
> virtually an entire week six times a year, the travel schedule alone
> is a very serious commitment. Thanks to the efforts of this group, 35
> proposals aired last November have led to a single consolidated draft
> of our first, core standard. In a few months, when the final document
> is published, IEEE will be a good position to announce "BROADBAND
> WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS GAINS HIGH SPEED STANDARD."
> The IEEE-SA and its volunteers are showing the world how to do
> standards. It would be a tragedy to allow ISTO activities to lead the
> world to believe that IEEE has lost faith in the process.
> Please let me know if I can provide further information.
> Best regards,
> Roger
> Dr. Roger B. Marks <mailto:r.b.marks@ieee.org>
> phone: +1 303 497 3037 fax: +1 303 497 7828
> I am copying a few of the many individuals who have been concerned
> with this issue:
> Jim Carlo (Chair, IEEE 802)
> Steve Diamond (Chair, IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board)
> Larry Hamerman (Director-Elect, IEEE Region 6)
> Robert Hebner (Former Acting Director, U.S. National Institute of
> Standards and Technology)
> Don Loughry (President, IEEE Standards Association)
> Peter Staecker (Director-Elect, IEEE Division IV)
> Roger Sudbury (President, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society)
> and the following:
> ISTO Board of Directors
> -George W. Arnold
> -Richard J. Holleman
> -Marco W. Migliaro
> -Edward M. Roney
> Representative of the IEEE-SA to the IEEE-ISTO>
> -Dennis Bodson
>