1. Preface
In today's technological environment, standards play a
critical role in product development and market share.
Responsibility for how a standard evolves begins in the
working group. Every input, behavior, and action has both a
contributory and a potential legal consequence. These
procedures help protect working group members and the IEEE.
These operating procedures outline the orderly transaction
of business by the Working Group. The working group may
amend these procedures with the approval of its Sponsor and
the IEEE-SA Corporate Advisory Group (CAG).
2. Hierarchy
Several documents take precedence over these procedures in
the following order:New
York State Not-for-Profit Law
IEEE Certificate of Incorporation
3. Fundamental Principles of
Operation
For the development of standards,
openness and due process must apply, which means that
any entity with a direct and material interest has a right
to participate by:
1) Expressing a position and its
basis,
2) Having that position considered,
and
3) Appealing if adversely
affected.
Due process allows for equity and fair
play. In addition to openness, due process requires
balance, i.e., the standards development process should
have a balance of interests and shall not be dominated by
any single interest category. IEEE due process also
requires a consensus of those parties interested in the
project. Consensus is defined as a majority agreement, but
not unanimity.
4. Legal Accountability
The working group will abide by all intellectual property
policies of the IEEE, including those for patents,
trademarks, and copyright. The working group chair shall
review the IEEE patent policy slides at the start of each
meeting. The working group is obligated to avoid
discussions that could result in an antitrust action. If
health, safety and environmental issues are raised in the
standards document developed by the working group, the
chair will inform IEEE Standards staff to ensure that the
appropriate legal review of these clauses is
fulfilled.Working group participants should always consider
the
IEEE Code of Ethics when taking action.
4.1 Indemnification
IEEE Bylaw I-300.3 discusses the IEEE policies for
indemnification. Participants must be included in the
working group roster and have signed the Copyright Sign-Off
Form to be recognized as an official participant in IEEE
standards development activities.
5.
Working Group Responsibilities
The working group shall
a) Complete the project from
Project Authorization Request (PAR) approval to IEEE-SA
Standards Board approval within 12 to 24 months as
specified by the funding level of service
b) Provide a business rationale for the development of the
standard
c) Submit required documentation, for example, a project
schedule or a monthly status report
d) Schedule meetings (in person or electronic) as
appropriate, based on an agenda distributed at least two
weeks prior to the meeting
e) Obtain funding to cover dedicated support when desired
to expedite the standards development process
f) Use the
IEEE FrameMakerTM document templates g) Include the Sponsor on distribution of the standard
as it is developed and when it is ready to begin
IEEE Standards Sponsor ballot
5.1 Working Group Constitution The following qualify as corporate members of the
working group:
-- Corporation: An entity that has a controlling
body, such as a Board of Directors, that does not report to
another controlling body.
-- Government agency or subdivision: An entity that
reports to its parent or executive, legislative, or
judicial branch of a government.
-- Partnership or association: An entity comprised
of two or more principal members. In order to be a voting
member, each partnership or association shall declare that
it does not represent the interests of another member of
the working group.
-- Consultant: An entity whose principal source of
revenue is derived from providing consulting services for
other institutions. In order to be a voting member in a
working group, each consultant shall declare that it does
not represent the interests of another person in the
working group.
-- Academic institution: An educational entity that
has a controlling body, such as a Board of Regents or a
Board of Governors.
-- Consortia, vendor-specific user groups, professional
societies, and other standards-developing
organizations: The principal and alternate
representatives for these types of entities may be employed
by other entities that have voting membership in the
working group.
-- Other institutional persons as approved by the
Sponsor
In the event that, through merger or
acquisition or other similar event, a working group member
has its assets totally or substantially transferred to
another entity, working group membership may be transferred
to the new entity, provided that all provisions of
membership are maintained. Any such transfer of membership
shall be subject to the approval of the Sponsor.
6.
Officers
There shall be a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and a Secretary. The
office of Treasurer is suggested if significant funds are
involved in the operation of the working group and/or its
subcommittees. All officers shall be IEEE members of
any grade, individual
IEEE-SA members, and must also be Designated
Representatives (DRs) of entities that are corporate
IEEE-SA members.
The Chair, for organizational purposes,
will work with the Sponsor to submit the PAR form to the New
Standards Committee (NesCom). At the first
organizational meeting, the working group shall elect its
operating officers in accordance with the procedures of its
Sponsor, and, where necessary, Robert's Rules of
Order.
6.1 Election of Officers The Chair shall appoint a Returning Officer to
conduct an election of officers. The Returning Officer
shall not be a nominee in the election and shall not vote
in the election. An election will seek to fill offices that
are either vacant, have an official in temporary
appointment, or when the term of office has expired.
The members shall nominate to the
Returning Officer one or more members for each office to be
filled at the election. Nominees shall be eligible to hold
the office for which they are elected. A member shall be
nominated for no more than one office. The response period
for nominations shall be at least 14 calendar days. If no
nomination is received for an office, a temporary
appointment shall be made in accordance with
6.2.
The Returning Officer shall conduct the
election by letter or electronic ballot. Voting will
conclude after 14 calendar days. Voting shall be by
"approval," whereby each balloter may cast one approval
vote for each of any number of nominees for an office. The
nominee with the greatest number of approval votes shall
win the election.
Election of the Chair and Vice-Chair
shall be confirmed by the Sponsor.
6.2
Temporary Appointments to Vacancies If an office becomes vacant
due to resignation, removal, lack of nomination at an
election or for another reason, a temporary appointment
shall be made for a period of up to six months. In the case
of Chair or Vice-Chair, the temporary appointment shall be
made by the Sponsor Coordinating Committee, with input from
the working group. In the case of Secretary, the temporary
appointment shall be made by the Chair. An election for the
vacated office shall be conducted at the earliest practical
time.
6.3 Removal of Officers An officer may be removed by
approval of two-thirds of the voting members of the working
group and approval by the Sponsor. Grounds for removal
shall be included in any motion to remove an officer of the
working group.
a) Be an IEEE member of
any grade, and an IEEE-SA
member
b) Institute a "Call for Participation" to the IEEE-SA
corporate and organizational membership upon initiation of
the project
c) "Call for Patents"
at each meeting
d) Solicit "letters
of assurance" from patent holders
e) Ensure coordination with Societies as appropriate
f) Regularly attend working group meetings (including
face-to-face, teleconference, or other electronic
means)
g) Notify Sponsor when document is ready for
balloting
h) Achieve
ballot resolution
The Chair also shall
a) Be objective
b) Entertain motions, but not make motions
c) Not bias discussions
d) Delegate necessary functions
e) Ensure that all parties have the opportunity to express
their views
f) Set goals and deadlines
g) Be knowledgeable in IEEE standards processes and
parliamentary procedures and ensure that the processes and
procedures are followed
h) Study all training materials available through
IEEE Standards Development Online
i) Seek consensus of the working group as a means of
resolving issues
The Vice-Chair shall carry out
the Chair's duties if the Chair is temporarily unable to do
so or chooses to recuse him- or herself (i.e., to give a
technical opinion). The Vice-Chair shall study all training
materials available through
IEEE Standards Development Online.
a) Distribute the agendas
b) Record and have published minutes of each meeting
c) Create and maintain the membership roster
d) Schedule meetings in coordination with Chair
e) Be responsible for the management and distribution of
working group documentation
f) Maintain list of unresolved issues, action items, and
assignments
g) Study all training material available through
IEEE Standards Development Online
6.4.4 Treasurer If needed, a Treasurer shall
maintain a budget and shall control all funds into and out
of the working group's bank account. The Treasurer shall
follow IEEE policies concerning bank accounts. The
Treasurer shall study all training material available
through
IEEE Standards Development Online.
7.
Working Group Membership
Working group membership is by entity. An entity shall pay
any funding services fee if established and shall fulfill
the requirements of membership determined by its Sponsor to
gain and maintain membership in the working group. An
entity shall have one Designated Representative (DR) and
may have more than one alternate (DRA) participating in the
working group. The Primary Representative of the entity
determines the DR/DRA for the working group. The assignment
of a DR/DRA can change throughout the life of the working
group. It is the entity's responsibility to notify the
Working Group Secretary of changes to the DR/DRA
assignment. Only the DR is eligible to vote on behalf of
the entity for all working group matters. If the DR is
unable to vote at a meeting, one DRA will be recognized at
the start of the meeting to vote on the DR's behalf.
Membership shall give the DR the right to vote on all
working group matters.
Each DR/DRA can vote for only one
member of the working group; no one representative can
represent the interests of more than one member of the
working group except for a temporary proxy vote.
Membership shall be granted
automatically to those entities attending the first working
group meeting. Thereafter, membership shall be granted
after the entity attends two consecutive meetings of the
working group.
The entity (member), through its
DR or DRA, is expected to attend meetings as required by
these procedures. The Secretary records attendance for
members who attend at least 50% of a meeting's duration.
Attendance at a meeting via teleconferencing and/or
electronic means, e.g., Internet conferencing, shall also
be permitted.
Membership status is maintained
through consistent participation at meetings and through
working group votes. If a working group member misses two
consecutive meetings, its membership status shall be
revoked. The Chair shall notify, in writing, a member who
fails to attend two consecutive meetings and that has
therefore lost its membership.
A member who has lost its voting
privileges shall have its voting privileges reinstated by
attendance at two consecutive meetings of the working
group. All voting privileges and rights shall be restored
after attending the second consecutive meeting. If, for
reasons of personal hardship, an entity cannot attend two
consecutive meetings (but that entity continues to vote in
ballots taken between meetings), the working group will be
consulted on the status of the entity.
The entity (members) within a
working group must ensure that their representatives have a
material knowledge of the project scope.
Non-members may also participate
in working group activities, following the principle of
openness at the discretion of the Chair. Non-members cannot
vote in working group actions.
7.1 Subgroups of the Working Group The working group may from
time to time form subgroups for the conduct of its business
and determine the eligibility of working group members and
observers to vote on questions within such subgroups. At
the time of formation, the working group shall determine
the scope and duties delegated to the subgroup. Any changes
to its scope and duties will require the approval of the
working group. Any resolution of a subgroup shall be
subject to confirmation by the working group.
The chair of the subgroup shall
be appointed by the Chair of the working group.
8.
Working Group Membership Roster
A working group membership roster is a vital aspect of
standards development. It serves as a record of
participants in the working group and is an initial tool if
any issue of indemnification arises during the process of
standards development. The Secretary shall maintain a
current and accurate roster for the working group and shall
distribute it to the members upon request or at least
annually. All changes to the roster shall be forwarded to
the Chair immediately. The roster shall include the
following:
5) Members
a. Entity name
b. Designated Representative (indicated by
"DR") and entity address
c. Alternate(s) (indicated by "DRA") and
entity address(es)
All working group members are required
to check the roster at each face-to-face meeting and verify
its accuracy. If a working group meets only virtually, it
shall determine a schedule to check the roster accuracy
periodically.
All working group members are required
to sign off against the roster at each meeting they attend,
ensuring they are maintaining current membership,
expressing their awareness of
IEEE Standards policies, and verifying the accuracy of
their membership listing.
9. Voting
Approval of an action requires an approval vote from a
majority of those votes cast from those members entitled to
vote at the time of a vote (either at a meeting or by
letter or electronic ballot), provided a quorum is present.
Those able to vote shall be official members of the working
group. Notification of the potential for action shall be
included on any distributed agendas for meetings.
These actions include
1) Adoption of working group
procedures, interest categories, or revisions thereof
2) Formation of a subgroup, including
its procedures, scope and duties
9.1 Actions Requiring Approval by Two-Thirds
of the Voting Working Group Membership The following actions require an electronic ballot
or an equivalent formal recorded vote with approval by at
least two-thirds of the voting members of the working
group, excluding abstentions (provided that notification of
the action has been included on the distributed agenda for
the meeting):
1) Approval of change of the working
group scope
2) Approval of termination of the working group (subject to
approval by the Sponsor)
3) Establishment of fees
4) Removal of a working group officer
5) Approval to move draft standards to
IEEE Standards Sponsor ballot
9.2 Proxy Voting Proxy voting may be allowed
in the working group. If the working group elects to permit
proxy voting, the following procedures shall
apply.
The chair must be informed of all
proxies prior to the start of the meeting in which the
proxy is to be in effect. Any assignment of proxy shall be
sent to the chair and the member serving as the proxy via
fax or written communication that contains the assigner's
signature. A proxy is not valid without written
acknowledgment from the chair and member serving as proxy
of receipt of the assignment.
Any one member of the working
group may hold no more than two proxy votes in addition to
his or her vote. Proxy voting is allowed only for those
members who cannot attend the entire meeting; proxies may
not be assigned for parts of meetings. A member can assign
his or her proxy for no more than two consecutive meetings
of the working group. The chair shall announce any proxy
voting to the working group members at the start of the
period in which the proxy is to be in effect.
Members serving as proxies may
only vote on approved agenda items announced through the
distributed agenda prior to the meeting. A member serving
as a proxy must exercise his or her judgment as to the
viability of instruction from the assigner when announced
agenda items are amended or developed through the meeting
process. Proxies may not be further assigned by the member
serving as proxy.
10. Quorum
A working group quorum must be identified before the
initiation of working group business. A quorum shall be
defined as a simple majority of the working group
membership (i.e., the DR or DRA of each entity). A working
group vote requires the presence of a quorum.
11. Meetings
Working Group meetings shall be held, as decided by the
working group, the Chair, or by petition of 15% or more of
the members, to conduct business, such as making
assignments, receiving reports of work, considering draft
standards, and considering views and objections from any
source. Meetings of any ballot review group shall adhere to
the same principles as working group meetings.
A meeting shall be announced 30
days in advance to all members and observers. An agenda
shall be distributed at least 14 days in advance of a
meeting.
The working group may charge a
meeting fee to cover services needed for the conduct of the
meeting. The fee shall not be used to restrict
participation by any interested parties.
While having a balance of all
interested parties is not an official requirement for a
working group, it is a desirable goal. As such, the
officers of the working group should consider issues of
balance that may arise and discuss them with the
sponsor.
It is expected that participants
in the working group behave in a professional manner at all
times. Participants should demonstrate respect and courtesy
towards officers and each other, while allowing
participants a fair and equal opportunity to contribute to
the meeting.
12. Appeals
The working group recognizes the right of appeal. If
technical or procedural appeals are referred back to the
working group, every effort should be made to ensure that
impartial handling of complaints regarding any action or
inaction on the part of the committee is performed in an
identifiable manner.
If the working group must conduct
an appeal, it shall model its appeals process based on the
appeals processes of the IEEE-SA
Standards Board (see
clause 5.4 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws
and
clause 5.8 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations
Manual).
13. Communications
Inquiries relating to the working group should be directed
to the Chair, and all members should so inform the
individuals who raised such questions. All replies to such
inquiries shall be made through the Chair. Informal
communications shall not imply that they are a formal
position of the working group.
