Standardization : Bringing Harmony

In a move, that will attract industries and academia to lend voice to the
country's concerns involving matters of standardization, Global ICT
Standardization Forum for India (GISFI), constituted under the guidance of
Denmark based Center for TeleInFrastruktur (CTIF), held the first workshop for
the industry in the national capital recently. GISFI has been set up as a public
private partnership (PPP) entity with an objective to promote Indian initiatives
to develop into global standards.

The country's first of its kind body that was launched in the month of May
this year, aims at harmonizing and unifying the ICT standardization processes in
India. Professionals from industry, academia, manufacturers, service providers,
standardization bodies, and representatives of the government attended the
workshop, organized by GISFI with support from Cellular Operators' Association
in India. Representatives from ETSI and Association of Radio Industries and
Businesses (ARIB), presented a glimpse of standardization scenario in Europe and
Japan, respectively.

The forum has been set up with an idea to increase competitiveness within
companies and create more conducive investor friendly environment in the
country. The idea of setting up such a forum has been derived from developed
countries which have similar standard development organizations. India until now
followed standards created by other countries for some R&D activities. GISFI
creates a platform to facilitate discussions between the body and international
forums like ITU, IEEE, and ETSI.

CTIF's director Prof Ramjee Prasad, who conceived the idea of setting up such
a forum in India said, “GISFI will lead towards the growth of India
scientifically, financially, and industrially and this is the first step to
bring India on the global map.”

Sachin Pilot, minister of state for communications and IT, who inaugurated
the workshop and also launched the GISFI website said, “Government supports
GISFI's initiatives and I am confident that this initiative would bring India to
newer heights setting high standards globally.” He said, for some years in the
past, India was placed at the lower end of the IT value change, it took immense
efforts for the country to keep pace with the rest of the world.

“India has its specific issues, and a body like GISFI was much needed to work
at standards that are custom tailored reflective of the needs of the Indian
sub-continent. It is important that the standards are consensus-driven,” the
minister said.

COAI member TR Dua addresses the participants	Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communication and IT inaugurates the introductory GISFI workshop for the industry

GISFI also signed a letter of intent with the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) and plans knowledge sharing with the Indian
standardization body. Adrian Scarse, VP, international partnership projects,
ETSI, said “Both the group have mutually agreed to share knowledge on standards,
technologies and event in respective countries, this will be a symbiotic
relationship and will help both the sides to connect better.”

Speaking at the inaugural function of the workshop, Prasad said India will
have to strengthen its technological industries in order to meet the wireless,
and environmental challenges. The body will look at the issues of mobility, fast
deployment of technology, and cost-efficiencies.

Setting up a forum like GISFI comes from the fact that developed countries
have similar standard development organizations, but India until now followed
standards created by other countries for some R&D activities. Normally ITU
standards come in handy but the same are not available for all the technological
solutions developed, especially the newly launched innovations.

GISFI will provide a platform for discussion related to standardization, and
upon reaching consensus among all the bodies, GISFI will appropriately frame the
draft standards under 'GISFI Standard' before forwarding it to appropriate
national body for acceptance.

The forum has already started some work on issues relating to green energy,
challenges of convergence, Internet and future of radio access. The Indian
standardization body claims trials on new technological innovations are expected
to fasten up post launch of the forum.

The body will be governed by a Board, and seeks partnership with the
government. GISFI announced that K Sridhara, ex-member, technology, Telecom
Commission has been selected director general of the body. At present, GISFI has
four members, including VNL and Niksun. GISFI hopes that more players will also
join to give India a voice on international platforms for deliberating
standardization.

Prasad says GISFI's efforts within the Indian market and work in close
cooperation with all standardization bodies will be a catalyst for India's
growth as a knowledge based economy. All the developed countries, or a group of
countries, have their own standard development organizations which formulate
standards for their countries on the basis of applied research and development.
These standards, sometimes, are country-specific, thereby creating lots of
interconnectivity and interoperability problems. No such concerted efforts exist
presently in India, and as a result we simply follow the standards created by
other countries, and invariably the aforesaid problems crop-up.

Calling for support from the industry, Prasad said, GISFI fills that void by
acting as a 'single' standardization body. This will alleviate the challenges of
a highly fragmented marketplace, and foster healthy competition, creating an
environment that is conducive to both domestic and international investment.

“The International standards come in handy but the same are not available for
all the technological solutions developed, especially the newly launched
innovations. With GISFI, available as a rich platform to deliberate on India
specific requirements, both domestic and international investment will see a
boost.”

Heena Jhingan

heenaj@cybermedia.co.in