IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual
7. Liaisons with organizations external to IEEE
7.1 Liaisons from Standards Committees to organizations external to IEEE
7.1.1 Definition of a Standards Committee External Liaison
A Standards Committee External Liaison is an information conduit that enables sharing of information from a Standards Committee/Subgroup to an organization external to IEEE.
7.1.2 Definition of a Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator
A Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator is appointed by the Standards Committee/Subgroup and facilitates the sharing of information from a Standards Committee/Subgroup to an organization external to IEEE (see subclauses 7.1.6 and 7.1.7).
A Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator is not an External Representative as defined in the IEEE Standards Association Operations Manual, subclause 7.1.1.
7.1.3 General guidelines for the establishment of a Standards Committee External Liaison
The Standards Committee/Subgroup should have activity in the relevant technical field of the organization external to IEEE with which the liaison is being established.
7.1.4 Establishing a Standards Committee External Liaison
A Standards Committee/Subgroup may establish a liaison with an organization external to IEEE.
Establishment of a Standards Committee External Liaison shall be communicated to the appropriate IEEE SA Program Manager.
7.1.5 Appointment of a Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator
Once a Standards Committee/Subgroup has established a Standards Committee External Liaison, the Standards Committee/Subgroup shall appoint a coordinator and notify the IEEE SA Program Manager with the name and contact information of the coordinator.
7.1.6 Responsibilities of a Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator
The Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator:
a) Shall indicate their Standards Committee/Subgroup Liaison coordinator role when attending meetings of the organization external to IEEE.
b) May share IEEE information with the organization external to IEEE as authorized by the Standards Committee/Subgroup (a template for sharing written information may be used and can be obtained from the IEEE SA Program Manager) (see subclause 7.1.7 regarding the sharing of IEEE documents). Any other information shared shall be identified as the views of the individual and not that of the Standards Committee/Subgroup.
Recognizing that a Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator might need to represent another group (such as his/her employer or other affiliation), the Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator is permitted to represent that group as well as serve as the Standards Committee/Subgroup Liaison coordinator in the same organization external to IEEE.
c) May share materials from the organization external to IEEE with the Standards Committee/Subgroup subject to the other organization’s policies and procedures (including copyright policy).
d) Is responsible for adhering to the Standards Committee/Subgroup’s policies and procedures. All information shared by the Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator shall comply with the IEEE SA Copyright Policy, outlined in Clause 7 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and subclause 6.1 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual.
e) If the Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator becomes aware of IEEE copyrighted material being used in another organization’s document, the Standards Committee External Liaison coordinator shall notify the IEEE SA Program Manager.
7.1.7 Submission of IEEE documents to an organization external to IEEE
If a Standards Committee/Subgroup would like to share a draft IEEE standard with an organization external to IEEE, the procedures in subclause 6.1.3.4 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual apply.
If a Standards Committee/Subgroup would like to share a published standard with an organization external to IEEE, please contact IEEE SA and notify the IEEE SA Program Manager.
Any requests not addressed above shall be sent to [email protected].
7.1.8 Submittal of comments to an organization external to IEEE
Comments submitted to an organization external to IEEE are subject to that organization’s intellectual property rights policies.
7.2 Liaisons from organizations external to IEEE to Standards Committees/Subgroups
An organization external to IEEE may request to establish a liaison relationship from the organization external to IEEE to a Standards Committee/Subgroup as an information conduit and may provide information as part of the consensus building process.
7.2.1 Criteria for the establishment of a liaison
In order to establish a liaison relationship with a Standards Committee/Subgroup, the organization external to IEEE shall meet the following criteria:
a) Have technical competence or expertise in the field of technology represented by the Standards Committee/Subgroup with which the liaison relationship is established
b) Have a process for developing consensus on any input provided to the Standards Committee/Subgroup
7.2.2 Establishing a liaison with a Standards Committee
An organization external to IEEE may request to establish a liaison with a Standards Committee/Subgroup. The Standards Committee/Subgroup that receives the request shall determine whether to accept it and shall reply to the requesting organization.
Establishment of a liaison shall be communicated by the Standards Committee/Subgroup to the IEEE SA Program Manager.
7.2.3 Roles and responsibilities of a liaison coordinator
Liaison coordinators may attend and participate in Standards Committee/Subgroup meetings. If a meeting fee is being charged, the liaison coordinator is responsible for paying the fee.
While participating in IEEE standards development activities, all participants shall act in accordance with all applicable laws (nation-based and international), the IEEE Code of Conduct, the IEEE Code of Ethics, the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws (see IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws subclause 5.2.1 on “Participation in IEEE standards development”), and the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual.
Liaison coordinators cannot attain voting rights in the name of the organization external to IEEE.
7.2.4 Technical contributions
If a liaison organization external to IEEE makes a technical Contribution to an IEEE draft standard, the liaison organization thereby agrees to comply with IEEE SA’s policies and procedures related to Contributions (e.g., the IEEE SA Copyright Policy, outlined in Clause 7 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and subclause 6.1 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual; the IEEE SA Patent Policy in regards to disclosure of potential essential patent holders, outlined in Clause 6 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and subclause 6.3 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual).
If a liaison organization submits one of its copyrighted documents to a Standards Committee/Subgroup for coordination, the document shall not be considered to be a Contribution and shall not be used in any IEEE document without prior permission from the organization external to IEEE. Prior to distributing the organization’s document, the Standards Committee/Subgroup shall reference the Working Group Draft Sharing List to determine if guidance is required from the IEEE SA Program Manager.
7.3 Annual review of liaison relationships
The Chair of the Standards Committee or the Chair of the Subgroup is responsible for reviewing the liaison relationship(s) annually with their respective group.
7.4 Termination of liaisons
Liaisons may be terminated by the Standards Committee/Subgroup at their discretion for reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
a) All work is deemed to have been completed
b) The organization external to IEEE has not been compliant with the permission terms associated with an IEEE Standards draft provided to them
c) The relationship is determined to not be in the best interest of the Standards Committee/Subgroup, IEEE SA, or IEEE