What is Ecma International

Ecma International is an industry association founded in 1961 and dedicated to the standardization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE). History

The aims of Ecma are:

To develop, in co-operation with the appropriate National, European and International organizations Standards and Technical Reports in order to facilitate and standardize the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE).
To encourage the correct use of Standards by influencing the environment in which they are applied.
To publish these Standards and Technical Reports in electronic and printed form; the publications can be freely copied by all interested parties without restrictions.

For over forty years Ecma has actively contributed to world-wide standardization in information technology and telecommunications. More than 400 Ecma Standards and 100 Technical Reports of high quality have been published, more than 2/3 of which have also been adopted as International Standards and/or Technical Reports.

The organizational structure of Ecma is a simple, flat one: the technical work is done by the Technical Committees, and the results of this work can be submitted twice a year to the General Assembly for approval for publication.

The Ecma procedures consist of a set of By-laws, Rules and a Code of Conduct in Patent Matters and the associated Patent Statement and Licencing Declaration Form (available here in WORD format and here in PDF format).

For the patent policy of Ecma standards approved before December 3, 2009, you may also consult the Historical Code of Conduct in Patent Matters.

On June 17, 2010 the Ecma General Assembly approved an experimental software copyright policy. This policy is being applied by Ecma TC39.

In June 2011, Ecma International celebrated its "golden jubilee" in Divonne while organizing the 101^st General Assembly. Our association indeed officially came into being at the constituent assembly which was held on 17^th June 1961. Please find here the main presentations held during this celebration.

Five categories of members assure a wide participation of the industry and interested organizations in the work of Ecma.

Joining Ecma is easy.

PS1: a Belorussian translation of this webpage is available here.

PS2: a Romanian translation of this webpage is available here.

PS3: a presentation "History of Ecma Rules and Patent Policy" is available here. The audio file is available here.

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