Why should you take part in the ETSI User Group's work?

Interoperability is a key issue in telecommunications and standardization. It is still one of the best means to ensure compatibility between systems provided by different suppliers and that you get the expected features. Interoperability is also a good way to protect your assets against an early obsolescence. Whether you are a manufacturer, operator, service provider or user, it is important to share your point of view to complete pertinent functional requirements. At the same time, when taking part in this process the users involved are getting up-to-date information on the related topic and suppliers will get relevant information on users' needs.

How does the ETSI User Group work?

For a long time now, ETSI has been trying to get as much input as possible from users in order to improve the suitability of standards.

The ETSI User Group team is open to the ETSI users' community (e.g. individual members or users' representative associations). The ETSI User Group team proposes their work programme to the ETSI Board, it contains work items defined in co-operation with the Technical Bodies. The team also reports to the General Assembly.

Taking into account that most users’ representatives are not keen to come to ETSI to take part in the standardization process, the ETSI Board has agreed to send User Group representatives to the main European countries to ascertain user requirements on various issues.

When a study item has been identified between the ETSI User Group and the technical bodies, an e-mail discussion open to everybody is launched to result in a position paper. The latter is then presented to the users during workshops in their own countries in collaboration with the local user organisations. After consolidation and, if needed, final approval by the user community, these requirements are presented to the appropriate ETSI technical bodies with the aim of creating a new work item to prepare a standard.

Such a process should considerably help users to understand standardization issues and to outline their requirements.

In other words, ETSI has given room for users' input into ETSI but now users should realise that standardization is a powerful means to get the products they want and therefore forward the requirements that they have in this area.

What are the ETSI User Group goals?

According to its Terms of Reference, the main task of the ETSI User Group is to establish reports on user requirements pertaining to topics previously defined by either the ETSI User Group, or other relevant ETSI bodies, for recommendation to the Board and GA. The report on a given topic will analyse the users' requirements under a functional approach in order to improve the standardization results.

In addition to general guidance on ETSI policy, the ETSI User Group is orienting and distributing consultative questions to pertinent users within the user population at large in order to answer standardization experts' interrogations.

And finally, the ETSI User Group endeavours to make standards understandable to everyone by means such as easy-to-understand papers, conferences, etc.

Recent standards of interest to the users 

Current Programme

How can you contribute to the ETSI User Group work?