[odf-discuss] ISO Working Group Status Report from Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 WG1

[Russell Ossendryver]

The second half of 2007 has been an extremely trying time for WG1. I am more
than a little glad my 3 year term is up, and must commiserate with my
successor on taking over an almost impossible task.

WG1 has been struggling against the rules laid down ISO for a number of
years, trying to prepare a complex multipart standard that needs to take
account of work being done in OASIS, W3C and IETF within the extremely
limited timescales laid down by ISO for completion of standards. While these
rules make sense when you have a single standard, or sufficient members to
multi-task, they make it impossible for a small group to produce a multipart
standard. WG1 have frequently had to ask for extensions to our time limits,
and must continue to do so while trying to produce an integrated suite of
standards.

This year WG1 have had another major development that has made it almost
impossible to continue with our work within ISO. The influx of P members
whose only interest is the fast-tracking of ECMA 376 as ISO 29500 has led to
the failure of a number of key ballots. Though P members are required to
vote, 50% of our current members, and some 66% of our new members, blatantly
ignore this rule despite weekly email reminders and reminders on our
website. As ISO require at least 50% of P members to vote before they start
to count the votes we have had to reballot standards that should have been
passed and completed their publication stages at Kyoto. This delay will mean
that these standards will appear on the list of WG1 standards that have not
been produced within the time limits set by ISO, despite our best efforts.

Unless ISO tightens up on its rules, and removes or demotes, P members who
do not vote as required by ISO rules I would recommend my successor that it
is perhaps time to pass WG1's outstanding standards over to OASIS, where
they can get approval in less than a year and then do a PAS submission to
ISO, which will get a lot more attention and be approved much faster than
standards currently can be within WG1. The disparity of rules for PAS,
Fast-Track and ISO committee generated standards is fast making ISO a
laughing stock in IT circles. The days of open standards development are
fast disappearing. Instead we are getting "standardization by corporation",
something I have been fighting against for the 20 years I have served on ISO
committees. I am glad to be retiring before the situation becomes
impossible. I wish my colleagues every success for their future efforts,
which I sincerely hope will not prove to be as wasted as I fear they could
be.
Martin Bryan
Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 WG1

http://www.jtc1sc34.org/repository/0940.htm
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