SECTION 10 STANDARDS ACTIVITIES
10.0 DEFINITION
The IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board (SAB) organizes and promotes Standards Committees and related activities on behalf of the IEEE Computer Society. Standards Committees and related requirements and responsibilities are defined in subclause 5.2.2 (Standards Committee) of the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board (IEEE SASB) Bylaws.
10.1 MISSION OF THE IEEE COMPUTER SOCIETY STANDARDS ACTIVITIES BOARD
The mission of the IEEE Computer Society SAB is to encourage IEEE Computer Society members to participate in standards activities, to promote the use of IEEE standards, and to develop useful products that leverage IEEE standards within the scope of the IEEE Computer Society (see the IEEE Computer Society Constitution, Article I, Section 3) . Moreover, the mission of SAB is to promote and foster industry participation and engagement, through standards but also through other activities. The SAB accomplishes this mission by:
a. Working with other IEEE Computer Society boards and committees to provide standards leadership,
b. Working with other IEEE Computer Society boards and committees to identify initiatives for wider industry participation in IEEE Computer Society activities,
c. Helping to ensure the vitality and success of IEEE Computer Society standards committees operating under the auspices of the IEEE SASB (see Sections 10.6.1 and 10.6.2),
d. Helping to establish new standards activities in response to changes and advances in the computing profession,
e. Managing standards activities for which there is no appropriate existing IEEE Computer Society standards committee (see Section 10. 7).
10.2 MISSION OF THE IEEE COMPUTER SOCIETY STANDARDS COMMITTEES
For standards development activities, the mission of a Standards Committee is to develop high quality, market relevant standards. A Standards Committee assumes all of the duties of a standards committee as defined in subclause 5.1.2 (Duties of the Standards Committee) of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual.
To accomplish its mission, a Standards Committee may also engage in the following related activities:
a. Help promote its projects and/or standards to relevant standards development organizations and international trade associations;
b. Publicize and communicate its activities and mission (e.g., via press releases, tutorials, presentations, and publications);
c. Generate educational materials (e.g., tutorials, standards seminars) about its projects and/or standards;
d. Organize standards-related events;
e. Organize post-standardization activities (e.g., development of conformity assessment programs) to encourage market adoption of published standards; and
f. Organize pre-standardization activities to identify standardization opportunities that are within the scope of the Standards Committee;
g. Coordinate with other IEEE societies and/or councils for projects that have similar scope of work.
10.3 RELATIONSHIP OF THE IEEE COMPUTER SOCIETY TO IEEE STANDARDS ASSOCIATION
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) is responsible for the processes and procedures used by all standards development groups. In that capacity, the IEEE SASB is responsible for auditing standards committee and working group processes, proposed Project Authorization Requests (PARs) and standards for conformance with approved IEEE procedures. The IEEE Computer Society applies the expertise of its members to develop standards in accordance with the processes of the IEEE SA. The Society accomplishes standards development via the SAB and the standards committees assigned to the IEEE Computer Society. A major role of the IEEE Computer Society standards committees is to manage standards development and revision efforts within the scope of the IEEE Computer Society. The SAB shall assist each of the standards committees with maintaining the technical vitality of its portfolio and operating under IEEE standards policies and procedures approved by the IEEE SASB.
10.4 SAB MEMBERSHIP
The SAB shall be chaired by the vice president for standards activities as provided in the bylaws of the IEEE Computer Society. Voting members of the SAB shall consist of:
a. The vice president for standards activities,
b. The Society Representatives to other standards developing organizations (see Section 23.4),
c. The SAB vice chairs (see section 10.6), and the SAB secretary,
d. The chairs of IEEE Computer Society standards committees, or their designated representatives approved by the vice president for standards activities.
Each of the above members gains the right to vote immediately upon becoming a member of the SAB and shall participate in SAB meetings and votes. If a standards committee chair or their designated representative misses two consecutive SAB meetings and does not participate in any electronic votes during a period of at least three months, the vice president for standards activities may through written communication to a standards committee suspend the voting privileges of the standards committee chair or their designated representative. The vice president for standards activities shall request that the respective standards committee appoint an alternate representative to the SAB who when approved by the vice president of standards activities shall then become a voting member of the SAB. A standards committee chair with suspended voting privileges does not count against a quorum. Voting members of the SAB shall be members of the IEEE Computer Society and shall be encouraged to be members of the IEEE and the IEEE SA. All vice chairs of SAB and all chairs of IEEE Computer Society standards committees are required to be members of the IEEE SA.
10.4.1. Non-voting Members
The president and executive director of the IEEE Computer Society shall be ex officio, non-voting members of the SAB. The SAB may include non-voting members appointed by the vice president for standards activities to serve as External liaisons to other standards developing organizations external to the IEEE (see Section 20.3 DESIGNATION OF EXTERNAL LIAISONS). Other organizations, internal and external to the IEEE Computer Society, may be invited to designate liaison representatives to serve as non-voting members of the SAB.
The vice president for standards activities may, with approval of the SAB, establish additional committees to conduct the business and responsibilities of the SAB. The vice president for standards activities shall appoint the chairs and may appoint the members of such committees. A chair of such an additional committee who is not otherwise a member of the SAB shall become a non-voting member of the SAB. The membership of the SAB may also include non-voting members appointed annually by the chairs of IEEE Computer Society program boards and committees. Additional non-voting members may be designated by the vice president for standards activities as needed to support IEEE Computer Society activities and initiatives. Non-voting members may participate in SAB discussions. Observers who are neither voting nor non-voting members of the SAB may attend and participate in relevant portions of SAB meetings.
10.4.2. Appointment Procedures
The SAB secretary, the SAB vice chairs (see Section 10.6) shall be appointed for the calendar year by the vice president for standards activities. If an appointee resigns or is removed from office, the vice president for standards activities shall make a new appointment. A current appointee may be removed from office at the request of the vice president for standards activities if such request is approved by a vote of the SAB members. (See Section 10.4.3 Voting.)
10.4.3. Voting
Voting shall be conducted in accordance with Article III, Section 6 of the IEEE Computer Society Bylaws. All votes shall be taken either at an in-person or online meeting scheduled with a minimum of two weeks’ notice or via an email ballot with a duration set by the vice president for standards activities that shall be a minimum of fourteen calendar days and a maximum of thirty calendar days. Discussions of ballot items should be held via email and made visible to the SAB during an email ballot. Proxy voting is not allowed. An advanced notice of fourteen calendar days is required for any of the following actions to be taken at an in-person meeting:
a. Establishment of a new standards committee
b. Dissolving or de-commissioning a standards committee
c. Removal of the secretary, a vice chair, or a standards committee chair.
d. Changes to the SAB Policies and Procedures
10.4.4. Executive Sessions
Executive sessions may be held as provided by and in accordance with the IEEE Constitution and Bylaws Section I-300.1.
10.4.5 SAB RESPONSIBILITIES
To fulfill its mission as stated in Section 10.1, the SAB shall:
a. Recommend to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors policies, practices, and actions with respect to IEEE Computer Society originated standards and standards development activities,
b. Establish (or dissolve when appropriate) IEEE Computer Society Standards Committees, and approve the scope of each standards committee,
c. Monitor all IEEE Computer Society standards activities for conformance to IEEE policies and IEEE Computer Society policies and procedures,
d. Provide timely responses to requests for clarification of issues related to IEEE Computer Society originated standards and standards development activities.
e. Encourage and oversee the efforts of standards committees to pursue adoption of their work by other international, regional, or national standards bodies,
f. Manage an SAB standards committee for working groups and projects if an appropriate standards committee does not exist and until such standards committee is established (See Section 10. 7),
g. Promote the use and understanding of the value of standards originating in the IEEE Computer Society in industry and education,
h. Identify (in coordination with the IEEE Computer Society program boards) needs for computing standards, and determine ways that the IEEE might meet those needs,
i. Monitor standards committees and working groups and facilitate cross-attendance and participation in other IEEE Computer Society boards to foster collaboration on standards-related issues and activities
j. Recommend to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors policies, practices, and actions with respect to industry engagement.
10.5. Appointment of SAB Vice Chairs and Approval or Appointment of Standards Committee Chairs
All standards committee chairs shall be appointed or approved by the vice president for standards activities. The vice president for standards activities shall approve any whose election was conducted by the standards committee in conformance with IEEE SA approved standards committee Policies and Procedures. The vice president for standards activities shall appoint a chair for every standards committee that does not have a chair who has been elected or appointed as required by the standards committee’s Policies and Procedures.
The SAB may remove a standards committee chair if the SAB determines that the chair’s election was not in compliance with the standards committee’s IEEE SA approved policies and procedures or when the Vice Chair of Vitality recommends removal. Grounds for removal shall be included in any motion to remove a standards committee chair. The standards committee chair suggested for removal shall be given advanced notice of at least fourteen calendar days and given an opportunity to make a rebuttal prior to the vote on the motion for removal.
10.6 VICE CHAIRS WITH SPECIFIC ROLES
The SAB shall have a vice chair of Policies and Procedures (P&P) and a vice chair of Vitality. These vice chairs shall be appointed by the vice president for standards activities. The vice chair of P&P and the vice chair of Vitality may establish the respective standing committees to support their respective responsibilities, and the members of these standing committees do not need to be members of the SAB.
10.6.1. Vice Chair of Policies and Procedures (P&P)
The vice chair of P&P shall interface with the IEEE SASB Audit Committee and shall advocate for the IEEE Computer Society standards committees when feasible. The vice chair of P&P shall maintain a current list of the status of policies and procedures of the IEEE Computer Society standards committees and the respective approval status in IEEE SA. The vice chair shall annually review the SAB Policies and Procedures (this Section 10) and recommend revisions if appropriate.
The vice chair of P&P shall carry out the chair’s duties if the chair: is temporarily unable to do so (e.g., not present at a meeting), chooses to recuse themselves due to a potential conflict of interest, or chooses to relinquish the chair to minimize perceived bias.
10.6.2. Vice Chair of Vitality
The vice chair of Vitality shall be responsible for:
• Monitoring the vitality of IEEE Computer Society standards committees
• Providing appropriate support and recommendations to aid the vitality of IEEE Computer Society standards committees
• Recommending the dissolution of a standards committee, when a standards committee has engaged in little or no activity for a period of at least one year, corrective measures (such as replacing the chair) have had no effect, and there is little or no benefit to maintaining the standards committee
• Recommending policies, practices, and actions for industry engagement
10.7. SAB Standards Committee
The SAB Standards Committee is both a standing committee of the SAB and an IEEE Computer Society standards committee. The SAB Standards Committee operates under the “Policies and Procedures for Standards Development for the IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board Standards Committee”, approved by the IEEE SASB.
The SAB Standards Committee shall manage working groups and standards development projects that are under the purview of the IEEE Computer Society and for which no existing standards committee is appropriate (e.g., for new lines of work or for standards for which a viable standards committee has not been identified). The SAB Standards Committee chair shall recommend the establishment of new IEEE Computer Society standards committees to continue work started in the SAB Standards Committee, when appropriate.
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