ETSI Standards Making Process Guide

ETSI Deliverables

Work in ETSI is done on the basis of ETSI work items, approved by the Technical Body and adopted by the ETSI membership. A work item results in one deliverable (sometimes more than one), which can be a European Standard or a Technical Specification, an ETSI Guide or a Technical Report. ETSI has a suite of specifications, standards and reports that fulfil the various needs of the market:

• ETSI EN (European Standard) - adopted by ETSI National Standards Organizations (NSOs) (except those elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq)).
• ETSI European standardisation deliverables – adopted by ETSI National Standardisation Bodies (NSBs).
• ETSI TS (ETSI Technical Specification) and ETSI TR (ETSI Technical Report) - adopted by the responsible Technical Group (except those elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq)).
• ETSI ES (ETSI Standard) and ETSI EG (ETSI Guide) - adopted by ETSI Members (except those elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq)).
• ETSI SR (ETSI Special Report) - adopted by the ETSI responsible Technical Group (except those elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq)).
• ETSI GS (ETSI Group Specification) and GR (ETSI Group Report) - adopted the responsible Industry Specification Group.

NOTE: The skeletons of each specification are available here.

This suite of deliverables fulfils the needs for:

• Deliverable intended to meet needs specific to Europe and requiring transposition into national standards - ETSI EN.
• Deliverable intended to meet needs specific to the Europe Economic Area (EEA), required under a Standardisation Request (SReq) from the European Commission (EC)/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – ETSI EN and European standardisation deliverable.
• Deliverable providing technical requirements or explanatory material or both – ETSI GS.
• Deliverable containing only informative elements – ETSI GR.
• High quality specifications delivered early to the market - ETSI TS.
• High quality standards supported by the whole ETSI global membership - ETSI ES.
• Deliverable containing explanatory material – ETSI TR.
• Information document used for various purposes, including giving public availability to information not produced within a Technical Group – ETSI SR.
• Document elaborated by ETSI partners and adopted by ETSI, to become an ETSI Technical Specification (TS) or an ETSI Technical Report (TR) - Publicly Available Specification (PAS).

NOTE: For more information, please read about PASs in our Partnerships section.

The numbering convention used by ETSI to link related documents at these various "levels" simplifies their market application.

Process

The Standards Making Process (SMP) is the process applied for the Technical Organization's production of standards and deliverables and the Secretariat's involvement in and interaction with the Technical Organization, the ETSI members and the ETSI National Standards Organizations. The general conditions for the SMP are defined by the ETSI Directives, in particular the Technical Working Procedures. The Secretariat's tasks and activities in SMP are primarily defined in the Quality Management System (QMS) documentation of ETSI Operations (OPS) Division.

Process overview

[process - a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output]

The objective of the ETSI Standards Making Process (SMP) is to convert market needs for standardization in the ICT area into ETSI deliverables (specifications, standards, norms, guides, reports) used in the market place. The input to the process is an existing (as yet known or unknown) market need for standardization. The output is the broad application of the produced deliverables in the market place. The SMP consists of five main elements, sub-processes, with their own distinct objectives, inputs and outputs. Each sub-process is defined to the level of which operational tasks are performed, and where in the ETSI organization they are performed. The whole ETSI organization is in one way or the other involved in either operation of the SMP or in direct or indirect support of it. The main technical activities are performed in the Technical Groups of the Technical Organization. The main direct support to those activities is provided by ETSI Operations (OPS) and ETSI Standardization Service (STS) Divisions of the ETSI Secretariat. The operation of the SMP in the Technical Organization is governed by the ETSI Directives, in particular the Technical Working Procedures, and the ETSI Drafting Rules. The processes, tasks and procedures of the ETSI Secretariat are governed by the Secretariat's Quality Management System documentation, notably that of ETSI Operations (OPS) and ETSI Standardization Service (STS) Divisions.

Inception

[inception - an act, process, or instance of beginning (as of an institution, organization, or concept)]

The times when initiatives to standardization were taken only when products and services were already available are since long gone. This is particularly the case for telecommunications where standardization precedes or goes hand in hand with the design and development processes. The input to this sub-process is "what's going on in the marketplace", with "marketplace" having a broad interpretation, including development in the research and academic circles. The output is a new standardization area, given to an existing or a new Technical Group. The formal output is the Terms of Reference (ToR) and/or a Project Requirements Definition (PRD) document, approved by the ETSI Board or, in the case of an ETSI Partnership Project with an external organization, approved by the ETSI General Assembly.

The process itself consists, in broad terms, of:

• Identifying needs for standardization in the subject areas defined by the ETSI Statutes and Rules of Procedure.
• Defining the suitable organization for such standardization within ETSI.

There are various actors in this process:

• Experts in the Technical Bodies, Special Committees and ISGs.
• ETSI Members.
• Supported by OPS Technical Officers and staff from Innovation.

Conception

[conception - the capacity, function, or process of forming ideas or abstractions or of grasping the meaning of symbols representing such ideas or abstractions; an idea or general notion; the originating of something (as an idea or plan) in the mind].

The creation of a new standardization area or ISG is manifested by the establishment of the new Technical Group or the amendment of the Terms of Reference of the Project Requirements Definition of an existing. The identification, definition, approval and adoption of work items are the main elements of the conception phase (even if work items may have been envisaged already during the inception process). The input is identified standardization needs in the area. These work items may either be entirely new, leading to new deliverables, or a new version of an existing deliverable ("maintenance work item"). The output is a work item, adopted by the ETSI Membership for ETSI deliverables created on proposal for Full or Associate members. A proposal for a work item may come from inside or outside the Technical Group. The Technical Group may approve the work item, if at least four ETSI Members volunteer to support the work (except those in response to a Standardisation Request (WISR)). The adoption is formally done by the ETSI Membership, except those in response to a Standardisation Request (WISR). The existence of new work items is made known via the ETSI Web site and Members who disagree with the item may within a 30-day period oppose its adoption into the ETSI Work Programme. ETSI may elaborate European Standards and European standardisation deliverables in response to Standardisation Requests to support the European legislation or policies, in accordance with the amended Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. As per Article 20.4 of the Rules of procedure, it is the responsibility of the National Standardisation Bodies (NSB) to adopt a new WISR created by the responsible Technical Group in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq). For full details see clauses 1.6.3 (Adoption of a Work Item) and 1.7 (Decision-making in a Technical Group of the Technical Working Procedures.

Drafting

[drafting - to make a preliminary or tentative version, sketch, or outline (as of a literary composition or other document)].

A work item in the ETSI Work Programme is intended to lead to one (or more) ETSI deliverable(s). A Technical Group is free to organize its work in any way it wishes, within the rules of the Technical Working Procedures, including create Working Groups to which the tasks of drafting parts of the Technical Group's work programme are given. The drafting usually takes place in a small team (Rapporteur group) led by a Rapporteur. The work is largely done by "correspondence", i.e. by exchange of documents via the ETSI DocBox server and LISTSERV email exploder facilities. When the draft by the Rapporteur group is considered ready, the draft deliverable is handed over to the Working Group (when it exists) for approval. The formal approval for further processing or, in the case of ETSI Technical Specifications or ETSI Technical Reports, approval and adoption can only be done by the Technical Group, either at a meeting or by correspondence. Some drafting activities for a Technical Group are performed by Specialist Task Forces (STF)/Testing Task Forces (TTF) located at the ETSI Secretariat. The adaptation of specifications from external bodies (Publicly Available Specifications (PAS)) to the ETSI deliverable structure follows the same rules, but will normally be performed by the PAS provider, as defined in the Guidelines for adoption of Publicly Available Specifications.

Adoption

[adoption - the act or process of adopting someone or something, such as: the act or process of giving official acceptance or approval to something]

While the drafting process is, in principle, the same for all ETSI deliverables, the process elements of the adoption process depend on the type of deliverable being processed.

ETSI Group Specification, ETSI Group Report, ETSI Special Report, ETSI Technical Specification and ETSI Technical Report

• For ETSI Group Specification (GS), ETSI Group Report (GR), ETSI Special Report (SR), ETSI Technical Specification (TS) and ETSI Technical Report (TR) elaborated on proposal from Full and Associate members:

The Technical Group draft approval and adoption take place at the same time (one combined decision).

The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

For full details see clauses 2.2.4 (TS and TR approval procedures), 2.2.6 (SR approval procedure) and 2.2.7 (GS and GR approval procedures) of the Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives.

• For ETSI Technical Specifications (TS), ETSI Special Report (SR) and ETSI Technical Reports (TR) elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq), also called European standardisation deliverables:

They shall be adopted by application of the Standardisation Request deliverables Approval Process (SRdAP) specified in clause 2.2.2.1.1 of the ETSI Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives.

After the Technical Group draft endorsement, the NSBs shall perform a Public Enquiry (see Article 21.4 of the Rules of Procedure) and at least one (1) Weighted National Voting procedure (see Article 21.5 of the Rules of Procedure contained in the ETSI Directives) performed in a combined procedure via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application), over a period of 90 calendar days. If this vote is successful, and if no substantial comments are received as a result of this consultation, the European standardisation deliverable is published.

The deliverable is adopted if at least 71 % of the weighted NSBs’ votes cast are in favour and at least a quorum of fifty percent (50%) participation of NSBs is reached.

The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

ETSI Standard and ETSI Guide

After Technical Group draft approval, the draft ETSI Standard (ETSI ES) or ETSI Guide (ETSI EG) elaborated on proposal from Full and Associate members is made available to the ETSI Membership (Full and Associate members) for voting in accordance with the Membership Approval Procedure (MAP) defined in clause 2.2.3 (ES – EG approval procedures) of the Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives.

Voting is done via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application). The voting period is 60 calendar days (in compliance with World Trade Organization timing requirement). The deliverable is adopted if at least 71 % of the weighted member votes cast are in favour of the draft (there are no quorum requirements). The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

After Technical Group draft approval, the draft ETSI Standard (ETSI ES) or ETSI Guide (ETSI EG) elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq) is made available to the ETSI Membership (Full and Associate members) for endorsement by ETSI Membership Approval Process (MAP) defined in in clause 2.2.3 Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives. Voting is done via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application). The consultation and voting period is 60 calendar days (in compliance with World Trade Organization timing requirement). The deliverable is endorsed if at least 71 % of the weighted member votes cast are in favour of the draft (there are no quorum requirements).

After the Technical Group draft endorsement, the NSBs shall perform a Public Enquiry (see Article 21.4 of the Rules of Procedure) and at least one (1) Weighted National Voting procedure (see Article 21.5 of the Rules of Procedure contained in the ETSI Directives) performed in a combined procedure via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application), over a period of 90 calendar days. If the vote is successful, and if no substantial comments are received as a result of this consultation, the European standardisation deliverable is published.

The deliverable is adopted if at least 71 % of the weighted NSBs’ votes cast are in favour and at least a quorum of fifty percent (50%) participation of NSBs is reached. The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

ETSI European Standard (EN)

European Standards (ETSI EN) elaborated on proposal from Full and Associate members, shall be adopted by application of the European Standard Approval Process (ENAP) specified in clause 2.2.1.1.1 of the Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives. After Technical Group draft approval, the draft ETSI EN is made available to the by the eligible members of the National Standards Organizations Group (NSOG) as per Article 13.2.1 of the Rules of Procedure contained in the ETSI Directives for adoption.

The NSOs shall perform the Public Enquiry (PE) and and at least one (1) Weighted National Voting procedure (see Article 13.4 and 13.5 of the Rules of Procedure contained in the ETSI Directives), performed in a combined procedure via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application), over a period of 90 calendar days. Without any technical comment and after successful Vote (Articles 11.3, 12.2 and 13.5.1 of the Rules of Procedure), the draft is then submitted to the ETSI Secretariat and providing it complies with the ETSI Drafting Rules (EDRs), it is published within 10 calendar days following the Vote.

In the event that technical comments have been submitted, the result of the Weighted National Voting procedure shall be ignored, and the comments shall be discussed by the responsible Technical Group during the planned resolution meeting, within a period of 30 days. If significant changes have been made, the TG Chair may decide that the revised draft shall be submitted to another Enquiry + Vote procedure, otherwise it may be presented for direct use of a second (2) Weighted National Voting procedure (60 calendar days) of the ENAP. After a successful vote, the Secretariat publishes the standard within 10 calendar days.

The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

European Standards (ETSI EN) elaborated in response to a Standardisation Request (SReq), shall be adopted by application of the Standardisation Request deliverables Approval Process (SRdAP) specified in Article 2.2.1.1.1 of the Technical Working Procedures contained in the ETSI Directives

After Technical Group draft approval, the draft ETSI EN is made available to the NSBs (National Standardisation Bodies) for adoption.

The NSBs shall perform the Public Enquiry (PE) and at least one (1) Weighted National Voting procedure (see Articles 21.4 and 21.5 of the Rules of Procedure contained in the ETSI Directives), performed in a combined procedure via a Web browser interface (e-Approval application), over a period of 90 calendar days.

The deliverable is adopted if no technical comments have been submitted, at least 71 % of the weighted NSBs’ votes cast are in favour, and at least a quorum of fifty percent (50%) participation of NSBs is reached (Articles 11.3, 12.2 and 13.5.1 of the Rules of Procedure). The draft is then submitted to the ETSI Secretariat and providing it complies with the ETSI Drafting Rules (EDRs), it is published within 10 calendar days following the Vote.

If technical comments are received, the Technical Group Chair shall, within a period of 30 days, organize the resolution of the comments received, the preparation of a revised draft, approval of the revised draft at TG level, and submission of the revised draft and resolution report to the ETSI Secretariat. If significant changes have been made, the TB Chair may decide that the revised draft shall be submitted to another Approval Process otherwise it may be presented for direct use of the voting step (60 days) of the SRdAP. After a successful vote, the Secretariat publishes the standard within 10 calendar days.

The Publication process element consists of publishing in PDF format and archiving. The published deliverable will then be made available for distribution via the ETSI Web server.

In order to make the results of the work of the Technical Group available to the market at an early stage, some of the above processes may be combined in such a way that two deliverables with identical content are processed/published in parallel.

For example, if the intention is to publish the draft as an ETSI EN, but only after application of the EN Approval Procedure (ENAP) or Standardisation Request deliverables Approval Process (SRdAP), the editing of the ETSI EN (sub-process Editing prior to Public Enquiry) also covers the Publication of an ETSI TS with identical contents.

Parallel ETSI ES and ETSI TS processing is also possible, but the time gain in this case is less pronounced.

NOTE: Detailed rules for the approval procedures described above may be found in the Technical Working Procedures (TWP).

Promotion

[promotion - the act of setting up or furthering a business enterprise; active furthering of sale of merchandise through advertising or other publicity]

The promotion activities address three main objectives to attract new:

• standardization areas
• work items
• active members

in three main time frames:

• prior to start of standardization work (inception and conception)
• during standardization work (drafting and adoption)
• after publication

Process management

[management - the conducting or supervising of something (as business), esp. the executive function of planning, organizing, co-ordinating, directing, controlling, and supervising any industrial or business project or activity with responsibility for results]

The operations of ETSI and its bodies are governed by the ETSI Directives (containing ETSI Statutes, ETSI Rules of Procedure, ETSI Board Working Procedures, Powers and Functions of the Board, Terms of Reference of the Operational Co-ordination Group, and ETSI Technical Working Procedures). The processes, tasks and procedures of the ETSI Secretariat are governed by the Secretariat's Quality Management System.

Process performance

[performance - the capacity to achieve a desired result]

The main performance characteristics of interest for the Standards Making Process are:

• timeliness
• deliverable quality
• cost
• production

Timeliness addresses mainly two time-to-market aspects:

• just-in-time availability, availability of the Technical Body approved deliverable in the optimal moment, not too early, not too late.
• adoption delay, the time it takes to run the deliverable through the approval process.

The first aspect is difficult to quantify, except when it's too late, and thus difficult to improve.

The second is within ETSI a matter for continuous follow-up (and improvement). Requirements are given by the Technical Working Procedures, complemented by annually reviewed objectives for the process elements operated by OPS.

Deliverable quality is a many-faceted concept, ranging from absence of spelling and document layout mistakes to acceptance as a useful standard in the marketplace. Cost is also difficult to estimate. It is estimated that the total cost for the ETSI standardization activities is of the order of 10 times the budget for the ETSI Secretariat. Process costs are only followed on the level of OPS activities in relation to the Technical Organization.

Production, i.e. the process output at three stages in the Adoption process, viz. Publication, Editing prior to Member Voting and Public Enquiry, and Editing prior to Voting (ENAP) is continuously recorded in terms of number of deliverables and size of deliverables (number of pages when the corresponding files are printed).

Monthly statistics for production (per process stage as indicated above, Technical Body and type of deliverable), adoption delays (moving averages for process cycle (lead) times) for the various types of deliverables, and prediction of the production for the next twelve months is made available to the ETSI membership.

Monitoring of the conception, drafting and adoption sub-processes address for the Technical Bodies

• composition of the work programme
• production of deliverables (number of deliverables and their size)
• activity level
• delays
• cost elements

Process reengineering

[reengineering - the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance]

Reengineering of the processes are either part of a continuous improvement programme (which addresses both changes to the formal procedures as described by the Technical Working Procedures and changes to internal OPS working procedures) or change actions that take place (in OPS Division or in the Technical Organization) when new information tools and technologies are mature for implementation.

Working methods

The work in the Standards Making Process is governed by the ETSI Directives, which consists of:

• ETSI Statutes
• ETSI Rules of Procedure
• ETSI Board Powers and Functions, and Working Procedures
• ETSI Technical Working Procedures
• ETSI Drafting rules
• The terms of reference for the operational co-ordination group (OCG) between the Technical Body Chairmen and the Secretariat.

The Chair of a Technical Body (TB), nominated by the TB and appointed by the Board, is responsible for the overall management of the TB, its working groups and its work programme.

Representatives of full and associate members can participate in the work of a TB and its working groups. Representatives of non-members may participate on an "exceptional and temporary" basis, if the TB Chair agrees. Working documents are usually available only to members of ETSI (while the resulting TB approved output is available in the public domain, for free of charge download.

Each TB establishes and maintains a work programme, consisting of Work items. The various TB work programmes together constitute the ETSI Work Programme. The responsibility for a Work item is usually given to small group of experts, chaired by a Rapporteur.

A work item is approved by the TB and then formally adopted by the whole membership (via a web based procedure).

Most of the technical work in such Rapporteur groups, in working groups and in the TB as a whole is done via electronic means, email, email exploders, and the ETSI server (ftp or http). TBs and working groups also arrange physical meetings (with a frequency of 2 - 6 meetings per year). Such meetings take place either at the ETSI Secretariat meeting facilities in Sophia Antipolis or are hosted by ETSI members, in the majority of cases in continental Europe.

Decisions in a TB are taken either by consensus or by a weighted vote (where a proposition passes if at least 71% of the votes cast are in favour).

The TB approves the output from its work on work item, an ETSI Deliverable. In the case of ETSI Technical Specifications and ETSI Technical Reports, the TB also adopts the deliverable for publication; for the other deliverables adoption takes place after application of the relevant approval Process.