Public Review

The IEEE SA Public Review process gives the public the ability to impact the content of IEEE standards, which are often implemented globally. As public review commenters are materially-interested parties, IEEE is able to further ensure that it provides appropriate opportunities to further its work through an open process that reflects OpenStand principles.

There are no costs associated with participating in the Public Review process. However, the draft standard will be available for purchase by any public review commenters who need access to the draft standard in order to provide comments.

The IEEE SA Public Review draft will be available for sale from IEEE, and links to purchase the draft will be available from the IEEE SA Public Review page.

Drafts available for Public Review are listed on the IEEE SA Public Review page.

Comments may be submitted through the IEEE SA Public Review system using the submission format provided. An IEEE Account is required prior to accessing the Public Review comment area.

The Help button in the Public Review system provides an opportunity to obtain help with several topics. You can review the User’s Guide, FAQ?s, or click ‘contact us’ for further assistance.

You will not be able to submit comments in the IEEE SA Public Review system after the 60 day Public Review period. Comments submitted to the Working Group outside the Public Review period or outside the system will be handled in accordance with IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual 5.4.6.

You will not be able to submit comments in the IEEE SA Public Review system after the Public Review period ends. Comments submitted to the Working Group outside the Public Review period or outside the system will be handled in accordance with IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual 5.4.6.

No. Drafts are purchased under license from IEEE under terms and conditions that do not allow further distribution of the draft.

The Working Group will consider your comments and provide a response. You will be able to view the responses in the IEEE SA Public Review system.

Yes. However, your comments will not be associated with a vote and will be treated as any other Public Review comment.

The IEEE SA Public Review process starts simultaneously with the initiation of the Sponsor Ballot and runs for 60 days.

Public Review comments are captured in the IEEE SA Public Review system, and can be accessed from the system after you are logged in.

Comments are available for edits for 24 hours after they are initially entered. After that time, the comments cannot be edited or deleted.

Access to the Public Review system and any Public Review comments will remain available through the Public Review system.

You will see only your comments.

IEEE SA Public Review is an enhancement to the IEEE SA process that provides to the public the ability to submit comments on the initial ballot draft via an online tool. Previously, such comments were submitted outside the IEEE SA electronic tools directly to the Working Group.

The IEEE SA Public Review process starts simultaneously with the initiation of the SA Ballot and runs for 60 days. During the 60 day period, public review commenters are able to purchase a copy of the initial ballot draft and submit comments through the IEEE SA Public Review system to the Working Group. Public Review comments submitted to the Working Group will need to be considered and responded to, and will be reviewed by RevCom. However, Public Review comments will not be associated with the Sponsor balloting requirements for balance and consensus.

The IEEE SA Public Review process facilitates public input into all initial SA Ballot drafts. This allows for wider review and participation in the development of IEEE standards. It is also a further demonstration of how IEEE meets the principles of the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards.

No, public review commenters do not have a vote associated with their comments, and they are not included in the balance requirement for SA Ballot.

The Public Review system will be fully integrated into the myBallot system after the myBallot system has been redesigned. Until that time, the Public Review system will be accessed separately. Comments, however, can be downloaded from the Public Review system and uploaded to the myBallot system, and vice versa.

There are three options for the SA Ballot process:

1. The initial ballot period is usually 30 days, but the IEEE SA Public Review period is 60 days. Sponsors have the option to choose a 60 day initial ballot if they so desire. This will allow them to address all Public Review comments as they address the initial ballot comments.
2. If Standards Committee or SA Ballot designees prefer to continue the ballot process, including recirculations, during the 31 to 60 day period, they are able to do so. If the response by the Working Group indicates that the draft should be further changed in response to a Public Review comment, then the updated draft showing the changes shall be recirculated. If a recirculation was not already intended, then the Public Review comment would result in an additional recirculation. However, if a recirculation was already intended, then there would be no additional impact on the SA Ballot.
3. If the ballot group reaches successful consensus and no further changes are made to the draft after the initial ballot, the Standards Committee can submit the standard to RevCom for consideration. However, after the Public Review period, the Working Group will still need to consider and respond to the Public Review comments. If the response by the Working Group to the Public Review comments does not identify that changes will be made to the draft, then after finalizing the responses, the Standards Committee should immediately submit all Public Review comments and responses to RevCom in order to meet RevCom requirements for submittals.

Of course, the time spent reviewing and responding to Public Review comments may affect the timeline for the SA Ballot.

The IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual states, “All public review comments received during an IEEE SA Public Review shall be considered by the Standards Committee and a response shall be provided to the commenter. If the response indicates that a change is to be made to the draft, the commenter is entitled to receive a copy of the revised draft from the Standards Committee upon request.”

Standards Committee and SA Ballot designees do not have to take any additional notification steps. The IEEE SA Public Review process allows public review commenters to refer to an auto-generated list of public review drafts.

Yes. During the comment resolution process, the Working Group may consider and then reject any Public Review comments. However, an appropriate response has to be provided to the public review commenter.

During the review of the Public Review comments, the comment resolution group would identify in the responses whether the draft will be updated after considering the comments. If the response to a public review commenter identifies that the draft will be updated, then the public review commenter can request and download an updated version of the draft.

Public Review comments are only valid for the initial draft and Public Review comments cannot be submitted into the Public Review system after the Public Review period. If a public review commenter comments on the updated draft and submits the comment to the Working Group, then those comments will be treated as any other comments submitted outside the SA Ballot process.

No. Public Review occurs for the initial SA Ballot draft only, and only during the Public Review period.

The IEEE SA Public Review process is automatically initiated by the system when the initial ballot begins.

The IEEE SA website will have links to the IEEE SA Public Review system and the public page listing upcoming and ongoing IEEE SA Public Reviews. The Public Review commenter will be directed to purchase a draft and submit comments using the IEEE SA Public Review system. Each comment will be available for review by Sponsor/Ballot Designees during the Public Review period. However, responses to comments can only be entered into the Public Review system following the 60-day Public Review period.

Public Review comments are captured in the IEEE SA Public Review system, and can be accessed from the IEEE SA website.

Yes, public review commenters have the right to appeal any actions that they believe do not comply with IEEE SA policies and procedures.

Public Review comments should be submitted either with the normal RevCom submittal (by the submittal deadline after SA Ballot is complete, or after the last recirculation is initiated, and the draft standard is ready for SASB approval consideration), or as soon as possible thereafter in compliance with the submittal requirements.

Public Review comments can be extracted as a file and uploaded to myProject for inclusion in a recirculation.

The Public Review comments can be extracted as a file and uploaded to myProject for inclusion in the RevCom package (through additional supporting file upload).

RevCom may review the responses to Public Review comments (because they shall be considered and a response shall be provided—of course RevCom will also consider whether the responses are appropriate) and confirm whether the responses identify that the draft will be updated, and then confirm that the comment was included in a recirculation. RevCom may also review whether the responses were properly reviewed by the Working Group. In addition, RevCom may also check that updated drafts are made available when requested according to the policies and procedures.

Public Review comments can delay the draft from being submitted to RevCom only if a) responses were not provided to Public Review comments, or b) the Working Group made changes to the draft as identified in a response to a Public Review comment, and the draft wasn?t recirculated (as happens with any other substantive changes to the draft).

Yes.

The Public Review period starts at the same time as the initial ballot, and continues for 60 days.

Submission to RevCom can occur while Public Review is open. However, if substantive changes are made to the draft after submission, then the submission would have to be withdrawn and a recirculation of the draft would have to occur. RevCom will most likely review the Public Review comments to ensure that all comments have been considered, and that a response was provided for each comment.

Public Review comments will have an identifier in each comment that labels the comment as a Public Review comment. Public Review comments can be exported from the Public Review system and uploaded into myProject.

Access to Public Review comments is available through the Public Review system, and the ability to download the Public Review comments is provided.

The Public Review comment system is similar to the myBallot comment system: the Working Group can enter a response in the Public Review system directly, or download the comments and upload them into myProject for response then download the Public Review comments and upload into the Public Review system, or download the comments and respond in the comment file provided then upload the file into the Public Review system.

Yes, all Public Review comments have to be considered and a response provided.

If you believe that there is undue influence by public review commenters you should notify the IEEE Staff Program Manager immediately. The Staff Program Manager will provide guidance on the best way to address the issue.

Yes. Since the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual requires that all Public Review comments be considered and a response provided, RevCom may reject or recommend disapproval of the project if the Standards Committee has not complied with the policies and procedures.

Yes. All Public Review comments and the associated responses by the Working Group shall be submitted to RevCom.

Public Review comments may affect the scope of a recirculation if the Working Group decides to update the draft as identified in the response to Public Review comments. These changes or any text affected by the changes will then be in-scope during a recirculation.

The Working Group has the discretion of determining which, if any, Public Review comments should be shown to balloters. Comments identified by the Working Group to be shown to balloters can be extracted after the Public Review period and included in the next SA Ballot recirculation.

No.