Updated May 2022
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. For standards development process activities, a Standards Committee is 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 Computer Society members to participate in standardization activities, to promote the use of IEEE standards, and to develop useful products that leverage IEEE standards within the scope of the Computer Society. 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 working with other IEEE Computer Society boards and committees to provide standards leadership, by helping to ensure the vitality and success of IEEE Computer Society standards committees operating under the auspices of the IEEE SASB, by helping to establish new standards activities in response to changes and advances in the computing profession, by managing standards activities for which there is no appropriate existing standards committee (see Section 10.6.3), and by working, with the other Computer Society boards, to identify initiatives for wider industry participation in Computer Society activities (see Section 10.6.4).
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 standards 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, 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 Computer Society. A major role of the CS standards committees is to manage standards development and revision efforts within the technical scope of the 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:
- The vice president for standards activities,
- The Society Representatives to other standards developing organizations (see Section 23.4),
- The SAB vice chair and the SAB secretary,
- The chairs of standing committees (see Section 10.6), and
- The chairs of Computer Society standards committees.
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 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 may through written communication suspend the voting privileges of the standards committee chair and request that the respective standards committee appoint an alternate representative to the SAB who shall then become a voting member of the SAB until such time as, following written notification from the standards committee chair, the standards committee chair resumes participation in SAB meetings and voting. A suspended standards committee chair 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 chairs of standards committees are required to be members of the IEEE-SA). All chairs of SAB standing committees and all chairs of 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 (SDO) external to the IEEE (see Section 23.3). 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 membership of the SAB may also include non- voting members appointed annually by the chairs of Computer Society program boards and committees. Additional non-voting members may be designated by the vice president for standards activities as needed to support 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 chair, and the chairs of SAB standing committees 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 two weeks and a maximum of thirty 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.
Two weeks advanced notice is required for any of the following actions to be taken at an in-person meeting:
• Establishment of a new standards committee
• Dissolving or de-commissioning a standards committee
• Removal of the secretary, vice chair, standing committee chair or a standards committee chair.
• 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.
10.5 SAB RESPONSIBILITIES
To fulfill its mission as stated in Section 10.1, the SAB shall:
- Recommend to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors policies practices and actions with respect to Computer Society originated standards and standards development activities,
- Establish (or dissolve when appropriate) IEEE Computer Society Standards Committees approving the scope of technical work of each standards committee,
- Monitor all IEEE Computer Society standards activities for conformance to IEEE policies and Computer Society policies and procedures,
- Provide timely responses to requests for clarification of issues related to standards development.
- Encourage and oversee the efforts of standards committees to pursue adoption of their work by other international, regional or national standards bodies,
- 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 10.6.3),
- Promote the use and understanding of the value of standards originating in the Computer Society in industry and education,
- Identify (in coordination with the Computer Society program boards) needs for computing standards, and determine ways that the IEEE might meet those needs,
- 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, and,
- Recommend to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors policies, practices and actions with respect to industry engagement.
10.5.1 Approval 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 shall appoint a chair for every standards committee that does not have a chair who has been so elected.
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 SAB Vitality Committee recommends removal. Grounds for removal shall be included in any motion to remove an officer. The officer suggested for removal shall be given at least two weeks’ notice and given an opportunity to make a rebuttal prior to the vote on the motion for removal.
10.6 STANDING COMMITTEES
The SAB shall have a standing Policies and Procedures (P&P) Committee, Vitality Committee, SAB Standards Committee and an Industry Engagement Committee. The chair of each standing committee shall be appointed by the vice president for standards activities. The P&P Committee, Vitality Committee and Industry Engagement Committee shall each have a minimum of two additional members appointed by the chair of the standing committee and approved by vice president for standards activities. Standing committee members do not need to be members of the SAB. For the Industry Engagement Committee, members shall be from an industry relevant to Computer Society objectives.
The vice president for standards activities may, with approval of the SAB, establish additional committees to carry out 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.
10.6.1. Policies and Procedures (P&P) Committee
The P&P Committee shall interface with the IEEE SASB Audit Committee and shall advocate for the SAB standards committees when feasible. Members of the P&P Committee shall be members of the Computer Society and the IEEE-SA. The P&P Committee shall maintain a current list of the status of policies and procedures of the SAB standards committees and the respective approval status in IEEE-SA. The committee shall annually review the SAB Policies and Procedures (this Section 10), and recommend revisions if appropriate.
10.6.2. Vitality Committee
The Vitality Committee shall be responsible for:
- Monitoring the vitality of standards committees,
- Providing appropriate support and recommendations to aid the vitality of SAB standards committees, and
- 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.
10.6.3. SAB Standards Committee
The SAB Standards Committee shall manage working groups and standards development projects that are under the purview of the 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 shall develop standards and operate under policies and procedures approved by the IEEE-SA. The SAB Standards Committee chair shall recommend the establishment of new standards committees to continue work started in the SAB Standards Committee, when appropriate.
10.6.4. SAB Industry Engagement Committee
The SAB Industry Engagement Committee shall be responsible for:
- Recommending policies, practices and actions for industry engagement,
- Piloting the selected policies, practices and actions, and
- Promoting IEEE Computer Society activities to industry.
In doing this activity, the SAB Industry Engagement Committee will consider inputs from the Computer Society Industry Advisory Board (IAB) and from other similar boards and committees within IEEE, such as the IEEE Industry Engagement Committee and appropriate IEEE-SA committees.
