Organization
adds new SPC membership category designed to enhance the
expertise available in Ecma standards development work
Geneva, 19 December 2003:
Geneva 19 December 2003 - The General Assembly of Ecma
International has voted to introduce a new category of membership
in the association for Small Private Companies (SPCs).
Such companies have often in the past been involved informally
in Ecma standardization work, with the support of multiple
Ecma members, and have contributed significantly to the
success of Ecma standards.
The rights of SPC members are identical with those of associate
members of Ecma International, with the following exceptions:
- An SPC member is only entitled to participate in one
TC;
- An SPC has no right to take part in the discussions
at the General Assembly;
- A project proposal made by SPC members shall be supported
by at least three companies in other membership classes,
in addition.
A proposed SPC member shall not be accepted if it holds
at least 50% of the capital of an existing company member,
nor if at least 35% of its capital is held by an existing
company member.
Additionally no two or more SPCs, where at least 35% of
whose capital is held by the same company, which is not
a company member itself, may be SPC members but shall be
represented by one of these SPCs only.
Jan van den Beld, Ecma International Secretary General
welcomed the decision, noting: "This is a very useful development,
enabling Ecma standardization projects to benefit from some
of the world's leading experts, who often work for - or
own - very small companies, much more significant to technology
progress than their headcounts would suggest."
Other General Assembly Decisions
In other decisions at the meeting:
- The application for Full membership from Macromedia
was accepted (See the Macromedia
announcement.);
- The application for Not for Profit (NFP) membership
from the University of Copenhagen was accepted; and
- Several new standards were
approved.
About Ecma International
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International (Ecma)
has developed standards for information and communication
technology (ICT) and consumer electronics (CE). Ecma is
a not-for-profit industry association of technology developers,
vendors and users. Industry and other experts work together
in Ecma to complete standards. Ecma submits the approved
work for approval as ISO, ISO/IEC and ETSI standards.
Ecma is the inventor and main practitioner of "fast tracking"
of specifications through the standardization process in
Global Standards Bodies like the ISO. In ISO/IEC JTC 1,
Ecma has the status of an A-liaison, equivalent to a national
body without voting rights. Since its start in 1987, about
200 (more than 80%) of the 232 proposals for fast-track
processing have come from Ecma International.
Main areas of standardization include: Scripting and programming
languages; Optical and Magnetic storage; High speed interconnects;
Safety, Environmental, Acoustical and Electromagnetic product
attributes; Enterprise and Proximity Communication and Networking;
and File and Volume structures. Publications can be downloaded
free of charge from http://www.ecma-international.org.
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