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Master plan (strategic): Accredited standards committee X3 - information processing systems
Computer Standards & Interfaces 14 (1992) 103-116 North-Holland
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Master plan (strategic): Accredited Standards Committee X3 - Information Processing Systems * S.P. Oksala Chairman, X3 Strategic Planning Committee, and Director, Corporate Standards UNISYS, Inc. World Headquarters P.O. Box 500 MS E8-130 Blue Bell, PA 19424-0001, USA
Abstract Oksala, S.P., Master plan (strategic): ASC X3-Information Processing Systems, Computer Standards and Interfaces 14 (1992) 103-116. The X3 Strategic Plan is intended as a roadmap; to illuminate major stategic issues and recommend actions which should be taken for the continued health and effectiveness of the organization. Issue areas discussed include technology changes; improvements in the standards development process; and the relationship between X3 and 'outside' entities such as governments and consortia.
Keywords. Strategic planning; consortia; advanced technology; standards process.
1. Introduction
The X3 Strategic Planning Committee has developed the X3 Strategic plan (see section 4: Appendix) as a 'roadmap' for the future of X3. The committee realizes, however, that one of the most important observations of the plan is the interdependency of all standards groups and consortia. For that reason the committee is taking certain actions-such as this publication-to expose others in the IT industry to the plan. It is our hope that this exposure will result in (1) feedback to X3 for future improvement; (2) an impetus for other standards organizations to do similar plans; and (3) an impetus for all affected organizations to improve their relationships with others to benefit the overall standards process. It should be noted that while X3 has approved the text of the plan, it has not yet approved the specific recommendations for implementation. * Feely reproduced by permission of CBEMA, 311 First Street N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001 (1991). Operating under the procedures of the American National Standards Institute.
These will be the subject of future proposals which X3 will approve individually. Most of all, we hope that others will share their ideas and experiences with us so that everybody benefits.
1.1. Purpose of the plan In the dynamic world of the 1990s, standards must be a change leader rather than the one unchanging element in the information technology area. Like many other mature industries dealing with change, it will not be sufficient to keep doing what we have done before. The economics of standardization are changing; and with it the emphasis and direction of formal standardization are also changing. There are new groups concerned with the development and use of standards; more in the last three years than in the preceding twenty-five. And with the myriad of requirements and interactions this demands, the changing nature of the information technology industry requires standards to be done in less t i m e - a n d they must all interoperate with each other. In this environment, efficiency and effectiveness demand a 'road map'; all standards develop-
09204489/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved
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ers need to chart their courses for the future in terms of their products, processes, and interactions. This Strategic Plan is intended to be a guide in this new environment and provide the information needed in order to take the timely actions that will determine the future of standards.
1.2. Plan goals This strategic plan is intended to address a number of areas of concern. First of all, the plan is intended to identify change a r e a s - t h o s e areas most likely to be affected in the future. Within those areas, the plan provides information about trends-technical, operational or political-and general recommendations associated with those trends. Where appropriate, the plan will recommend specific actions and time frames in order to implement these recommendations. These recommendations should form the basis of a 'Master p l a n ' - a guide for the future. The plan is also intended to inform; to provide insight into future change areas that may eventually lead to new recommendations. This will be provided for specific areas of technical or procedural interest through a variety of methods. Finally, it is the intent of this Strategic Plan to establish a common sense of mission; to put down, in some way, a set of common objectives. This is done primarily through the recommendations; but it also occurs through the identification of an agreement on the key areas for the future. The current X3 'mission' statement is the combination (as presented in SD-1A, 'Master Plan (Overview)') of the Scope Statement and the Objectives. Many of the topics covered in this document are not reflected in either the scope or objectives of X3, and it is our intent that this plan be a key element in the updating of the X3 Mission Statement to ensure that it will be relevant in the future.
1.3. Strategic overL'iew Subsequent sections of this report identify specific areas of interest, but the Strategic Planning Committee has found certain overall topics to be worth noting in an introductory sense. Some of these are change areas; they are the variation in our environment which makes tomorrow different
from today. The others are response changes; overall strategic goals to be established. There are several change areas which appear to be critical. The growing diversity, in both formal standards organizations and consortia of various forms, will have a profound effect on the dynamics of standards development. Of particular interest will be the changes due to the European community because of its use of standards as regulatory and procurement tools with consequent worldwide implications. We must move forward with the changes which are technically inherent in the Information Age; complexity, interaction, and constant evolution will be the normal course of events in the technical work of standards development. There are also several response areas of interest; items which should be part of the fundamental goals. The first is to pursue international leadership, because the future belongs to the international arena rather than the national one. We also need to do whatever we can to conserve resources, applying new methods to reduce the time and money required. We must continue to be an effective organization or we may lose our resources to those who might be more efficient but less effective. We also need to be more productive. But most of all, we need to be more responsive as the audience for standards grows and their needs change.
1.4. Contents/methodology Beyond this introduction, this Strategic Plan contains two sections. The first section is 'Trends and recommendations', which represents consensus views on the important trends and general recommendations for dealing with them. The particular trends are grouped into general areas of interest (Environmental, Technology, and Process) for easier understanding. This section is followed by a separate section detailing specific actions necessary to implement these recommendations. All parts of the plan are subject to change; in a world as dynamic as the world of standards, no plan can long survive in one form. It is our intent that the plan will be formally reviewed and revised on an eighteen month cycle; within the committee, however, items will be dealt with as they are introduced. In this way we hope to have
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a living plan which is stable enough to live by, but amenable to enough change so that it never becomes obsolete.
2. Trends and recommendations
2.1. Eneironmental forecast 2.1.1. Industry impact 2.1.1.1. Trend The Information Technology industry is becoming the most important single industry in the United States; it will be the primary determinant of success and timeliness in our entry into the Information Age. With 'open systems' as the keystone for the Information Technology industry, standards developers are the cornerstones of the future. A failure to provide leadership may lead to loss of world leadership for the US. This leadership will depend on broad-based name recognition in the information technology equipment and information services industry sectors. Further, leadership opportunities in the standardization community will require innovative approaches to create an awareness of the importance of information technology standards in the Information Age. 2.1.1.2. Recommendation X3 must plan for the future and establish mechanisms for anticipatory standardization activities through a visionary but well structured life cycle process. X3 must at the same time preserve the necessary mechanisms based on the principle of voluntary standardization in an open, free market economy. Consistent with this, X3 SPC should develop a Standards Life Cycle Model directed toward this goal. In addition, X3 should adopt the life cycle model as a guide for understanding and managing standards project activity as soon as possible. 2.1.2. The standards context 2.1.2.1. Trend Entry into the information age creates economic and social dislocations in the traditional industry sectors and associated standardization activities. Application arenas are becoming ever more important in both technological and business contexts. The overall interest in and use of standards has become an integral dynamic of today's business world.
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The coexistence of different types of standards and standardization activities, including test and conformance activities, increase the competition for scarce resources and the complexity of coordinating and differentiating among the various types and categories of standards. Reliance on the traditional, proven, and well known procedures will be tested by the need to accelerate standards development and the use of reference models to represent different industry needs for integrated sets of information technology standards.
2.1.2.2. Recommendation X3 must establish mechanisms to respond to increased resource demands for both traditional standards and standards that are not based on tested design specifications. X3 must make appropriate adjustments to meet the national and international needs for developing useful, provable, and reliable standards. 2.1.3. Cont,ergence of IT and telecommunications 2.1.3.1. Trend The technologies of telecommunications and information technology are converging; moreover, the deregulation of the telecommunications industry makes the two areas increasingly similar in scope and interests. This will continue in the future, with the differences inherent in the two disciplines diminishing over time. This convergence will result in a greater degree of overlap between X3 technical committees and the technical committees of other US standards development organizations such as T1, EIA, NEMA, and IEEE. In ANSI's current federated system, sole reliance on liaisons will not be a sufficient m a n a g e m e n t tool to ensure effective and efficient standards development. 2.1.3.2. Recommendation In the near term, X3 needs to develop more formal liaisons with other I T SDOs in the telecommunications arenas at both the technical and m a n a g e m e n t levels. Improved direct interaction should cover strategic planning, new project initiation, as well as continual evaluation of emerging technologies. The aim of these liaison activities is to (1) avoid duplication and conflict, (2) gain insight as to h o w / w h e n to embark on complementary and synergistic partnerships, and (3) explore opportunities for leveraging one another's standards development projects.
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X3 needs to develop a matrix of technological interfaces between the telecommunications and IT arenas in order to pinpoint subjects that need to be monitored more closely in a proactive manner. ANSI must be encouraged by X3 to develop more effective management mechanisms for coordination of areas of mutual concern. 2.1.4. Standards as procurement documents 2.1.4.1. Trend Public sector organizations are increasingly using IT standards as procurement documents, deriving specifications from voluntary standards. This use may be seen as a positive force for increasing the acceptance of standards in the marketplace. However, there is an increasing trend toward the use of draft documents rather than the final, approved standard. While the use of draft documents can at times speed up the standards process, the use of documents with ambiguities, or documents which will change in the near term, can result in the acquisition of IT products which do not meet interoperability and other planned goals. This can cause negative economic impact as well as delays and other difficulties for both providers and consumers. 2.1.4.2. Recommendation X3 needs to educate its standards developers about this trend and the techniques which will minimize difficulties when standards are used in this way. X3 also needs to examine methods which will improve the predictability of schedules as well as the timeliness, in order to minimize the likelihood of premature use. Further, X3 needs to monitor such use by public sector customers and communicate with them to avoid such premature use. Finally, the X3 subgroups need to be encouraged to be more receptive to inputs from implementation workshops and similar organizations. 2.1.5. Conformance 2.1.5.1. Trend There is an increasing need by users for validation of standards conformance. There are a number of mechanisms being proposed to satisfy this need, including a manufacturer's declaration of conformance and third party certification. In Europe, there are definite trends toward the certification approach for both the product and the quality assurance process.
This increased emphasis on conformance means that the base standards will become part of other processes; profile development, conformance test suites, regulatory declarations, and procurement specifications. These new uses will demand greater precision, features for testability, and improved synchronization with other related standards in order to meet the conformance needs of the new user community. 2.1.5.2. Recommendation X3 needs to review its processes to ensure that standards developers will produce documents that meet these objectives. The necessary conformance information must be provided before the standard is approved, and a mechanism for synchronization of multiple standards from both X3 and other SDOs needs to be developed by ANSI. 2.1.6. Globalization 2.1.6.1. Trend In the current geopolitical and economic climate, an increasing number of governments and businesses are realizing (1) the economic interdependence of markets, and (2) the value of information technology to facilitate globalization of the flow of goods and information to improve and expedite trade. Consequently an increased interest in the modernization of national computer and communications policies has emerged. Further liberalization of centralized economies in the Eastern bloc are creating increased demand for information technology, while potentially creating divergent needs and specifications for IT standards. The emergence of industry interest groups and the alliances created on a regional level such as the Arab League, the various interests in Eastern Europe and the USSR as well as middle Asian countries will increase resources available for creation, implementation, and testing of standards. 2.1.6.2. Recommendation X3 should monitor these trends and keep an open and constructive posture in maximizing opportunities to interact with these organizations when appropriate. 2.1.7. Europe 1992 2.1.7.1. Trend As the European Community completes its program for economic unification, it
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will become increasingly consistent in its positions on standards issues. This consistency will mean that an economic community comparable in size to the United States will hold the reins of power in international standards deliberations. Some X3 members will be able to participate in this community through EC national bodies; but others, most notably the government agencies, will not. The US leadership role will be increasingly challenged by unified European interests. (It is unclear what impact recent events in Eastern Europe will have on this process.)
2.1.7.2. Recommendation X3 needs to increase the active, committed participation of its members both in national work in other countries besides the US and in international work. X3 should also task SPC to study the impact of regionalism as a significant factor in international standards and to recommend solutions for US participation in regional standards development. 2.1.8. Asia/Pacific Rim 2.1.8.1. Trend The Asia/Pacific rim countries (e.g. Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong) are increasingly using standards in their products to compete in the US and around the world. An increased interest of economic and trade alliances have emerged in recent years providing the opportunity for regional alliances in the establishment of standards profiles and the related conformance testing and certification. 2.1.8.2. Recommendation X3 should review the development of this regional alliance which is unlike that of the European Community. X3 should remain aware and receptive to establish cooperation within this area. 2.1.9. Information at~ailability and access 2.1.9.1. Trend In the emerging Information Age, accessibility and affordability of information will significantly affect traditional socioeconomic structure in both the public and private sectors. Ability to gain access to collections of data in a timely and economical manner and to store, organize, and process the data for decision makers will differentiate those industries that will grow
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rapidly in the Information Age as contrasted to those that will grow, but at a dramatically slower rate. The needs of a broader range of individuals (including those who are physically disadvantaged), and the aging and changing composition of the national population require different perspectives for developing standards to make effective and adaptable use of information technology devices and services. The ability to evolve into the Information Age is dependent on employees knowledgeable in the use of information technology. Different aspects of traditional business and government functions will be subjected to standardization as information technology devices and services are increasingly used in more and more places to replace older technology and in the daily activities of people, including the audiovisual, publishing, entertainment and leisure, transport, critical health care, and consumer product marketplaces.
2.1.9.2. Recommendation C o m m u n i c a t i o n s channels must be established for cross-industry interchange of data through an active strategic planning and outreach program. X3 expertise must be made available to other industry groups trying to use our standards, e.g. MEDIC use of ODA (Medical Industry need to exchange medical information.) 2.2. Technology forecast 2.2.1. Adl'anced systems technolog~ 2.2.1.1. Trend New concepts in information technology such as artificial intelligence, expert systems, optical computing, and neural networks have the potential to significantly expand the technology and improve the effectiveness of information technology systems. Similarly, the continued evolution of greater speed and capacity allow new applications to be economically feasible, such as the integration of text, graphics, voice, etc. These new concepts can affect all X3 work since that work is based on (in large measure) current architectural concepts and the relationship of elements such as languages to those concepts. 2.2.1.2. Recommendation All relevant X3 subgroups should be asked to evaluate, validate, and
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forecast the nature of this technology and base any standardization decisions on user requirements and technical feasibility. The X3 community should proactively identify the impact of these technologies on existing and emerging standards and standardization efforts.
2.2.2. Portability and interoperability 2.2.2.1. Trend Application Portability (the ability to move an application from one system to another) and interoperability (the capability for heterogeneous systems to interoperate) are two areas of great current interest. Interoperability at the communications level has been greatly expanded by the adoption of OSI. There still remains much to be done, however, at higher levels of interoperability, i.e. application interoperability. This requires both a standardized 'model' for interaction and standardized access methods. Interfaces need to be standardized. The location for these interfaces, at a high level of abstraction, will be identified as part of overall modeling activities. Actual interfaces themselves, however, will need to be identified and specified by the specific standardizers. It is important to recognize that these interfaces should be transparent as far as specific communications mechanisms are concerned. This will permit both the greatest backward as well as forward flexibility. Some requirements for portability may be alleviated by interoperability; for example, programs will not be required to execute at the same location where their data resides. However, application portability will remain an important aspect for both users and vendors. Portability demands that all of the external aspects required by an application are equivalent between its old locale and the new. Standards and profiles defining these environments will be necessary. 2.2.2.2. Recommendations X3 must continue to explore, refine, and reach consensus on an overall portability reference model and related concepts. X3 should also continue with standards projects as they relate to portability concepts (model). X3 projects should monitor profiling activities and obtain feedback to validate functionality and identify additional requirements. Consideration
should also be given to enhancing the project management process to address the impact of portability issues, check conformance to relevant models, and consider overall user implications.
2. 2.3. Distributed processing 2.2.3.1. Trend There is a growing trend to specify and install distributed processing systems to support organizational information technology needs and distributed application functionality. The use of distributed processing will increase as computing storage becomes less expensive, faster, and larger in capacity. Distributed processing allows a variety of users to manipulate data that is in the organizations's minicomputer, PC, a n d / o r mainframe databases. The data must therefore be managed, controlled, and shared via networks and through database servers. This technology cuts across traditional standards committee boundaries of data communications, database, languages, and applications. A distributed processing system allows a user to connect and share a variety of applications programs ( C A D / C A M , spreadsheet, graphics, desktop publishing) and operating systems in a seamless manner. In order to achieve this, a distributed processing environment needs, among other things, common data dictionaries, network directories, and application programming interfaces (APIs). 2.2.3.2. Recommendation X3 subgroups need to evaluate the implication of distributed processing requirements on their current and emerging standards projects to accommodate the advantages of this new technology. X3 subgroups should also work closely with other SDOs and relevant consortia to facilitate the further standardization and implementation of the necessary family of standards. 2.2.4. Data management / representation / complexity 2.2.4.1. Trend Data is viewed more and more as a corporate asset that should be managed as such; applications will no longer own the data that they process. Data, along with applications, will be more distributed. Transaction processing done on a sub-second basis will require very rapid access to any required data.
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These new requirements mean that methods and standards are needed for the management (directories, dictionaries) of data in a distributed environment. It will be necessary for the directories and dictionaries to also be distributed. Other models in addition to the relational may need to be standardized inlorder to accommodate evolving technology and high speed response requirements. The level of complexity of the entities addressed by standards developed is increasing. The focus of attention is moving from data to 'objectoriented' data with significant potential benefits in integrity and efficiency. While several X3 subgroups are beginning to examine objects and object-oriented processing, there is no comprehensive plan or model for addressing this subject across the many subgroups which may be affected by this technology. 2.2.4.2. Recommendation Standards need to focus on the ability to share data across multiple applications. X3 needs to examine the entire subject of objects and object-oriented processing and determine what level of coordination and consistency is required across X3 subgroups in developing standards utilizing this technology. 2.2.5. Object orientation 2.2.5.1. Trend The use of object-oriented techniques promises significant benefit to the design and development of information processing systems. As a result, a number of private and public groups are exploring common techniques and products. Acceptance of these object-oriented techniques will have implications for most components of systems architecture. This could mean changes-perhaps significant o n e s - t o our programming language, data base, and user interface standards. 2.2.5.2. Recommendations X3 needs to work with the emerging groups already active in this area to coordinate what standardization work is going on and to determine what additional formal standardization work should be initiated. As part of this effort, an investigation should be undertaken on the feasibility of developing modeling techniques that apply to such fields as network man-
agement, guages.
data
bases,
and
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2.2.6. Multimedia 2.2.6.1. Trend New technologies are rapidly blurring the previous boundaries between various kinds of data (text, graphics, etc.) as well as the methods by which they are encoded manipulated, transmitted, and presented. The mixing of these different types of information is leading to new uses and thus to new standards for both representation and operation. At the current time the standardization efforts in this area are fragmented, both within X3 and between X3 and other standards developers. Until some unity is brought to this area, significant progress will be extremely difficult. 2.2.6.2. Recommendation X3 should take the lead in reconciling various efforts in this area and in developing a plan for potential standardization at both the national and international levels. 2.2. 7. Storage media 2.2.7.1. Trend An increasing number of data storage devices with different operating characteristics are being introduced to meet demands for collecting, retrieving, processing, and disseminating data. The devices vary in size, capacity, cost per unit and cost per stored unit of data, and performance. Families of standards for unrecorded and recorded media, labels and file structures, and physical properties of media have been developed and maintained as new technologies emerge and old technologies are placed to new and different uses. The changes in storage media capacities have increased demand for increased speed in computers and increased bandwidth in communicating channels. Availability of storage devices with increased capacity will lead to further development of high resolution visualization and other applications. 2.2.7.2. Recommendation X3 should plan for the need to maintain an increasing number of media standards and form alliances with other industry groups to effectively use the storage devices in different application or industry areas.
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Z2.8. New development methodologies 2.2.8.1. Trend There is an increasing interest in and emphasis on the use of Fourth Generation Languages (4GL) and other CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tools to improve productivity. As hardware costs go down and people costs go up, this interest will become even stronger. And as the use of such tools becomes more prevalent, standards will be more desirable, particularly in the program development methodology. The use of these tools will impact X3 in several ways. Interfaces will be required for services covered by other X3 standards such as data bases. In addition, the 4GL technologies will tend to replace existing language and supporting technologies. 2.2.8.2. Recommendation X3 needs to take on this area as a natural outgrowth of its current work. X3 should establish itself as the responsible group for 4GL standards and their coordination. This should initially be a technical study group to determine standardization requirements. This study should include liaison with work going on in other SDOs. 2.2.9. LANs 2.2.9.1. Trend LANs will continue to evolve with higher data rates of from one to two orders of magnitude over the next decade. Applications will first demand fully integrated voice and data and then eventually video service. The evolution of LAN, MAN, and WAN technologies will demand that more sophisticated routing functionality be incorporated into LAN technologies. LANs are of increasing importance to the end user community. Data rates in the 0.5 to 2.0 Gbps range may well change the basic structure/architecture of LANs and the way data is transferred and processed at source/destination locations. The integration of services with 'real time' presence is likely to impact the lower layer architecture and protocols to handle m u l t i p l e / c o n c u r r e n t services in a synchronized manner. Seamless interconnection of L A N / M A N / W A N technologies will likely require multiple path or 'mesh' technologies and significantly richer and more robust LAN
routing functionality. All of the above will significantly increase the need for more comprehensive management, security, and accounting capability among other functions. 2.2.9.2. Recommendation The relevant SDOs (e.g. X3, IEEE, T1) should be asked to further evaluate, validate, and forecast the nature of these emerging technologies for the 90's and then prioritize the needs based on both user requirements and technological feasibility. Particular attention should be paid to the L A N / M A N / W A N integration issues. The issues of interworking a m o n g L A N s and b e t w e e n L A N and M A N / W A N environments needs to be studied further. X3 must manage the overall study and consider potential implications on related areas (e.g. operating systems, distributed environments) outside the basic LAN (OSI layers 1-3) arena. 2.2.10. Communications speed and capacity 2.2.10.1. Trend There will continue to be significant improvement in the speed and capacity of communications channels. This increased capacity should lead to increased interest in telefax/ teletext and integrated networks for voice, data, and video. This will in turn result in more complex networks. 2.2.10.2. Recommendation X3 needs to identify relevant standards work and coordinate standards efforts (e.g. X3T9.5, I E E E 802.6, T1X1, X3S3) to ensure compatibility. 2.2.11. Human-computer interaction 2.2.11.1. Trend The h u m a n - c o m p u t e r interaction is an increasingly important part of applications and system design. There are a number of independent, but overlapping projects in various SDOs to develop h u m a n - c o m p u t e r interaction standards. They are focussed in two areas: (1) that which allows for application portability and network compatibility, and (2) the interaction area, i.e. icons, character size and width, color and shape, etc. 2.2.11.2. Recommendation X3 needs to catalog, characterize, and structure the standards efforts (both current and future) in this area so that the
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X3 work program, including its liaisons, can be properly established. 2.2.12. Visualization 2.2.12.1. Trend As the IT industry attempts to make computer-based applications accessible to an ever increasing population who are not typically computer-literate, visual presentation methods (as contrasted with text-based methods) are becoming the dominant h u m a n - c o m p u t e r communications mechanism. This trend is facilitated by daily advances in computer power, storage capacity, miniaturization, and data transfer rates. The trend is exemplified by recent interest in Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, Visual Programming Systems, and Multimedia Applications. Many SDOs are increasingly specifying application architectures and representation formats that presume the availability of certainsometimes very sophisticated-graphical and image presentation, interaction, and interchange facilities. 2.2.12.2. Recommendation X3 needs to identify relevant architectures, reference models, and frameworks with the goal of promoting the synthesis of these models so that both duplication of effort and important omissions can be identified and avoided. X3 should also assist with the education of the external standards-using community and actively promote this architectural work within the international arena, especially JTC 1. Finally, X3 needs to assist its technical committees in promoting the gathering of application ('user') requirements in this area so that the technical committees, especially X3H3 and X3L3, can respond with the appropriate presentation and encoding standards in a timely fashion. 2.3. Process forecast 2.3.1. Standards life cycle 2.3.1.1. Trend Information Technology standards are increasingly complex and dynamic in nature; this increases the difficulty in their development. At the same time however, shorter product life cycles as well as an increasing economic dependence on standards by all parties has led to demands for more standards and a shorter time
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frame for development. This demand for greater productivity and responsiveness from a relatively fixed resource will continue to intensify. Failure of the formal standards process to meet these demands could result in other organizations assuming the leadership role. Formal standards organizations would then be limited to a ratification process for standards developed elsewhere in groups with more limited access. 2.3.1.2. Recommendation X3 needs to document the major standards life cycle milestones to facilitate the interactions within X3 and between the X3 community and other SDOs and consortia. Changes must then be proposed to ensure that the overall life cycle is as (1) short, (2) user responsive, (3) efficient, (4) of high quality, and (5) complete as possible. 2.3.2. National standards 2.3.2.1. Trend There is an increasing level of international participation in US national standards meetings. The convergence of the telecommunication and information technology standards and market trends requires ever closer interaction among a growing set of national SDOs (X3, T1, EIA, I E E E etc.). There is a growing trend in the national industrial arenas (e.g. photographic imaging, banking, publications) to utilize X3 related IT standards and require modifications to them to satisfy new applications needs such as EDI. The need to exchange timely, accurate data as well as articulate meaningful compromises among a growing number of SDOs and projects is increasing to such an extent that the resources (people and processes) to work these issues are becoming inadequate. The net result is likely to be more standards (and more incompatibility). This will impact US industry's effectiveness and competitive position on a global basis. 2.3.2.2. Recommendation There needs to be an effective data base to communicate subjects, projects, and areas of expertise in order to identify the strategic areas of concern. X3 also needs to explore ways in which the current fragmentation
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of responsibility within the United States could be developed into a cohesive whole in order to be more effective in the international community. 2.3.3. International standards 2.3.3.1. Trend With the increasing instances of information technology development and utilization in all parts of the world, there is a greater emphasis on internationally approved standards and, in some cases, regional standards. Unique national standards will become less and less significant. The focus of the process within the United States is therefore becoming one of developing international standards or positions on international documents. The preponderance of standards in use in the US will be internationally approved. 2.3.3.2. Recommendations There are a number of actions X3 should take in this area: (1) make international work (present or anticipated) a consideration for approval of a new project within X3; (2) consider restructuring the committee responsibilities to be more efficient and effective in the international arena; and (3) explore ways in which the current fragmentation of responsibility within the United States could be developed into a cohesive whole in order to be more effective in the international community. 2.3.4. The importance of profiles 2.3.4.1. Trend Standardized profiles will become increasingly important to the world of information technology, and their use will be expanded from the OSI arena to encompass other technologies. The profile development work and related workshops will increasingly drive the base standards. Traditionally these activities have evolved outside the X3 subgroups' concern. However I S O / I E C JTC 1 has recognized the value of internationally harmonized profiles and has established a formal process and taxonomy to assure the creation of consensus-based International Standardized Profiles (ISPs). 2.3.4.2. Recommendation X3 should actively represent the US interests in the ISP registration
process and establish a consistent mechanism to respond to the needs of North American Open System Implementors Workshop. Additionally, X3 is encouraged to proactively establish liaisons with these workshops to address future needs of profiling work items which involve combinations of technical standards. 2.3.5. Broadened participation 2.3.5.1. Trend The increasing size of the IT industry has seen more than a corresponding increase in the number of companies developing products for this industry. These new entries are typically small and typically focussed on software products-particularly applications development. While these firms are impacted by X3 standards, and could make significant contributions to the process, they are generally represented only in the specific technical committee that is of primary interest. They are generally not involved at the management level. The same is true for many users, including large organizations. 2.3.5.2. Recommendation The X3 community should be producing a forward looking vision and mission. X3 needs to review the parameters of participation to determine what changes would result in broader participation by the new companies in the IT industry as well as by responsible users. Membership categories, fee schedules, meeting participation requirements, and document availability criteria all need to be reexamined. In addition, new services may need to be offered to these new types of organizations. 2.3.6. Education 2.3.6.1. Trend Despite the increasing economic importance of standards, there is widespread ignorance about how the process works, what it does, and the advantages (and disadvantages) of the system as it exists today. There is also a growing level of misinformation in the literature available on the subject, which causes confusion and delay. 2.3.6.2. Recommendation X3 needs to attack both the general education issue and the specific issue of X3 recognition relative to other standards bodies. Of particular interest in the former
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area are the newly graduated professionals, who will be the 'front line' users of X3 standards. X3 specific information is most important for the user and vendor organizations who are not members of X3 and for the general and trade press. X3 needs to establish specific programs to improve the knowledge available in these areas for each of the target audiences, and should do so through the respective member companies as well as through external organizations.
2.3. 7. Consortia 2.3.7.1. Trend There is an increasing movement toward the use of 'consortia' to develop base and i m p l e m e n t a t i o n / p r o d u c t oriented standards outside the formal standards process because of the requirement for speed in the development process (particularly in light of today's increasingly short product life spans) or because of the need for product-related implementable 'standards'. 2.3.7.2. Recommendation X3 needs to undertake a number of activities in order to derive maximum synergy from both standards organizations and consortia. First of all, technical committees need to be encouraged-through tutorials, through officer responsibility definition, and through milestone tracking-to take an active role in involving relevant consortia. Secondly, basic X3 procedures and processes need to be modified to recognize the existence of such groups and the necessity for involvement in the process. Changes to the process should address improving the means by which consortia access the standards committees and providing educational material to make the process known. Finally, X3 needs to identify consortia, monitor their activities, and define roles for each of these groups within X3 where appropriate. 2.3.8. Reference models" 2.3.8.1. Trends Since the introduction of the SPARC database model (3-schema model) and the OSI reference model to guide the work of standards groups, there has been an increased dependence on reference models of various types. Some of the different 'models' are included in the X3 SD-1B ('Master Plan (Operational)') and have changed slightly since the first publication
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over five years ago. The use of reference models can facilitate communication of ideas and concepts better than sole reliance on written text. As boundaries among SDOs blur and nontraditional organizations move into and out of the information technology standardization activities, there is a greater need for a global information processing system or information technology system reference model incorporating both the internal (defects, addenda, bindings, conformance definition, multiple standards, configuration management, change control) and external (interdependencies, synchronization, conformance test suite development, obsolescence) factors. The absence of reference models can lead to increased cost to participants and extended time periods for the development of standards. Additionally, requirements for standards have been identified when reference models were used in standards activities. Reference models identify the interrelationship among standardization activities and groups participating in those activities.
2.3.8.2. Recommendation X3 should strongly encourage the use of reference models within X3 subgroups, and give consideration to reference models in the project approval process. In addition, X3 should examine the feasibility of creating an information processing system or information technology system reference model. 2.3.9. Formal description techniques (FDTs) 2.3.9.1. Trend There is a growing need to specify standards in unambiguous ways. A formal description technique is a method of specifying standards or parts thereof, in mathematical or other rigorous, unambiguous notation. In general, an FDT can be used to replace or supplement specifications written in natural languages. Initial work in developing specifications using FDTs is for defining protocols and services. Because of the complex interrelationship among component parts of information technology systems, the use of FDTs may result in benefits for standards developers, testing organizations, and system integrators. On the other hand, the notation used differs significantly from natural language approaches and its use is likely to slow the development of standards even further because of the lack of knowledgeable profession-
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als familiar with FDTs involved in X3 standardsdeveloping activities. The unambiguous and concise specifications written using FDTs are likely to be beneficial when testing or implementing standards. However, there is little known experience on the time it would take to change the specifications, once written using FDTs, and the affect on standards when the F D T standard is changed.
2.3.9.2. Recommendation X3 needs to explore opportunities in the use of FDTs. Opportunities appear most promising for parts of standards requiring rigorous, unambiguous, and testable specifications; when specifying interface services; and for describing interaction points for standards-conforming system components. Project proposals should indicate explicit need, feasibility, and selection of a target FDT. The proposal should also define the relationship with F D T techniques Used in closely related or interdependent standards. 2.3.10. Mechanization/automation of the standards process 2.3.10.1. Trend The use of information technology is essential in the effective and efficient running of any organization. In standards development, this trend is manifested at three levels. At the subgroup level, technology is essential in the development and production of standards documents and for related administrative paperwork; it is being used increasingly during subgroup meetings as well. For X3 management, and for inter-subgroup communication, technology is becoming essential in order to deal with the enormous paper flow in a timely manner. Finally, greater use of technology will be important in order to provide information on developing standards to the public more efficiently. On a technical level, the trend is toward use of more comprehensive techniques, e.g. hypertext, and of media with higher capacity and performance, e.g. optical media. 2.3.10.2. Recommendation X3 has taken the initial steps toward mechanization. X3 must look continually at the evolution of information technology standards and their availability for use by standards developers and standards management
to assure that the technology is used as quickly as possible after its availability. Finally, X3 should look at possible procedural changes to better utilize technological advancements.
3.
Recommended
action
summary
The following recommended action summary is based on the more detailed text in the previous sections. For maximum flexibility, no specific X3 management committees are mentioned; the final action is, in any case, the responsibility of X3. The parenthetical number(s) at the end of each recommended action ties that action to one or more of the items in the main text.
3.1. Life cycle model Develop and maintain a Life Cycle Model which describes the standards process. Once developed, adopt this model as the basic X3 process guide (2.1.1., 2.3.1.).
3.2. X3 procedures Review the X3 procedures for consistency with the processes and technologies which are critical to the modern world of standards development. Specific areas for review and change include the following. - option of the Life Cycle Model (2.1.1., 2.3.1.) Consider restructuring that might make international participation more effective (2.3.3.) Review the parameters of membership and participation to determine how to broaden participation in X3 (2.3.5.) Identification of changes which will better recognize and involve the consortia (2.3.7) Identification of changes which will allow better use of current IT technology, and evaluation of the availability of tools by standards developers and standards management (2.3.10.) - Establish specific programs to address professionals, potential members of X3, and the press (2.3.6.)
3.3. Project definition process Establish an ad hoc to conduct a fundamental review and revision of the project definition and
Master Plan (strategic)ASC X3 approval (project and final standard) process, with a focus on the following change areas: - Adoption of the key elements of the Life Cycle reference model; for example, requirements definition (2.1.1., 2.3.1.) Establish mechanisms to respond to increased resource demands based on the need for useful, provable, and reliable standards (2.1.2.) Standards meet the requirements of testability and synchronized use with other standards (2.1.5.) Enhance the process to address the impact of portability issues and consider user implications (2.2.2.) International work (current or anticipated) as a consideration for approving new X3 projects (2.3.3.) - The need, feasibility, and selection of FDTs (2.3.9.) - The use of reference models (2.3.8.).
(b) the development of an effective data base to communicate subjects, projects, and areas of expertise; and (c) ways in which current US fragmentation could be developed into a cohesive whole (2.1.3., 2.3.2, 2.3.3.) Make X3s expertise available to industry groups attempting to use X3 standards, and establish communications channels for crossindustry exchange of data (2.1.9.).
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3.5. Guidance for X3 subgroups Provide guidance and direction to the X3 subgroups in areas where change is taking place. - Develop an education program on techniques which will minimize difficulties when standards are used as procurement documents (2.1.4.) - Encourage X3 subgroups to be more receptive to input from implementation workshops and similar organizations (2.1.5.) Projects should monitor profiling activities and obtain feedback to validate portability functionality and identify additional requirements (2.2.2.) - Encourage X3 subgroups to take an active role in involving relevant consortia (2.3.7.) Direct X3 subgroups to evaluate the implication of distributed processing requirements on their current and emerging projects (2.2.3.) - Strongly encourage the use of reference models within X3 subgroups (2.3.8.) -
3.4. External liaisons Establish active formal liaisons with groups outside X3 whose interests overlap. These may be formal SDOs or other types of organizations. O f interest should be the following specific recommendations. - Establish liaisons with other I T and Telecommunications SDOs covering strategic planning, new project initiation, and evaluation of emerging technologies (2.1.3.) - Monitor the use of standards as procurement documents and communicate with users to avoid p r e m a t u r e use (2.1.4.) Interact with international, regional, and other national SDOs as appropriate (2.1.6.) Establish liaisons with ISP workshops to address future needs of profile work items (2.3.4.) Work with the relevant consortia to facilitate further standardization in the area of distributed processing (2.2.3) Work with emerging groups in the area of 'objects' and determine what additional standardization work needs to be initiated (2.2.5.) - Work with ANSI to develop (a) more effective m a n a g e m e n t mechanisms for coordination of areas of mutual concern, including the arbitration of both scope and technical content issues; -
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3.6. International focus Recognize that the field of I T standards is becoming primarily international rather that national. Consider the following specific actions. Monitor global activity relative to the IT industry and IT standards (2.1.6.) R e c o m m e n d that X3 members increase their participation in international, regional, and national standards activities in other countries (2.1.7.) ~tudy the impact of regionalism and recommend solutions for US participation (2.1.7.) Review the development of Asia/Pacific regional alliances and establish cooperation in this area (2.1.8)
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3. 7. New technology Take a leadership role in investigating, initiating and coordinating the development of new standards for new technology areas, both inside and outside X3. The following are specific recommendations. - Define key advanced system technology areas (e.g. neural networks, optical computing) and determine the needs for standardization. Make specific recommendations for new projects and study groups (2.2.1.) - Continue efforts toward an overall portability reference model and continue with existing standards projects as they relate to portability issues (2.2.2.) Make sure that the ODP and portability reference models are compatible (2.2.2.) - Take the lead in reconciling various efforts in the field of Multimedia (2.2.6.) Emphasize the importance of data and data-related standardization; explore multi-disciplinary approaches to evolving various data and data element conventions and architectures. (2.2.4., 2.2.7.) Undertake an investigation into the feasibility of developing modeling techniques for 'object orientation' that apply across the areas of X3 standardization (2.2.5.) Form alliances with other industry groups to effectively use storage devices in different application or industry areas. (2.2.7.) Establish a study group to determine the best approach for standardization in the areas of 4GL and CASE tools (2.2.8.) Initiate and manage a multi-SDO study on the nature of emerging LAN technology (2.2.10.) Identify and coordinate standards work associated with high speed and capacity in communications (2.2.10.) Catalog, characterize, and structure the human-computer interface standards efforts and establish an appropriate work program (2.2.11.) Examine the feasibility of creating an information processing system reference model (2.3.8.)
4.
Appendix:
X3
Standing
Documents
This document is one of a series, developed by X3 and the X3 Secretariat, which provides a 'database' of information on Accredited Standards Committee X3-Information Processing Systems. Each document is updated periodically on an individual basis. The series is intended to serve several purposes: • To describe X3 and its program to inquirers • To inform committee members of the organization and operation of X3 • To provide a system of orderly administration incorporating the procedures required by ANSI together with supplements approved by the X3 Secretariat, for the guidance of X3 officers, members, subgroups and the Secretariat staff. The series of Standing Documents consists of the following: - X3/SD-0 Information Brochure-January 1989 3 / S D - I Master Plan SD-1A-(Overview) January 1990 SD-1B-(Operational) January 1991 SD-1C-(Strategic) February 1991 - 3 / S D - 2 Organization and Procedures-May 1990 - 3/SD-3 Project Proposal Guide-June 1990 - 3/SD-4 Project Manual-August 1990 - 3/SD-5 Standards Criteria-September 1984 - 3 / S D - 6 Membership and Officers-January 1991 - 3/SD-7 Meeting Schedule and Calendar-September 1990 - 3/SD-8 Officers Reference Manual-June 1990 - 3/SD-9 Policy and Guidelines-March 1989 - 3/SD-10 X3 Subgroup Annual Report Format-February 1991 Corrections and suggestions for improvement will be welcomed, and should be addressed to: X3 Secretariat-CBEMA Attn: Manager, Membership Services, 311 First St NW-Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001-2178, USA
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Master plan (strategic): Accredited Standards Committee X3 - Information Processing Systems * S.P. Oksala Chairman, X3 Strategic Planning Committee, and Director, Corporate Standards UNISYS, Inc. World Headquarters P.O. Box 500 MS E8-130 Blue Bell, PA 19424-0001, USA
Abstract Oksala, S.P., Master plan (strategic): ASC X3-Information Processing Systems, Computer Standards and Interfaces 14 (1992) 103-116. The X3 Strategic Plan is intended as a roadmap; to illuminate major stategic issues and recommend actions which should be taken for the continued health and effectiveness of the organization. Issue areas discussed include technology changes; improvements in the standards development process; and the relationship between X3 and 'outside' entities such as governments and consortia.
Keywords. Strategic planning; consortia; advanced technology; standards process.
1. Introduction
The X3 Strategic Planning Committee has developed the X3 Strategic plan (see section 4: Appendix) as a 'roadmap' for the future of X3. The committee realizes, however, that one of the most important observations of the plan is the interdependency of all standards groups and consortia. For that reason the committee is taking certain actions-such as this publication-to expose others in the IT industry to the plan. It is our hope that this exposure will result in (1) feedback to X3 for future improvement; (2) an impetus for other standards organizations to do similar plans; and (3) an impetus for all affected organizations to improve their relationships with others to benefit the overall standards process. It should be noted that while X3 has approved the text of the plan, it has not yet approved the specific recommendations for implementation. * Feely reproduced by permission of CBEMA, 311 First Street N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001 (1991). Operating under the procedures of the American National Standards Institute.
These will be the subject of future proposals which X3 will approve individually. Most of all, we hope that others will share their ideas and experiences with us so that everybody benefits.
1.1. Purpose of the plan In the dynamic world of the 1990s, standards must be a change leader rather than the one unchanging element in the information technology area. Like many other mature industries dealing with change, it will not be sufficient to keep doing what we have done before. The economics of standardization are changing; and with it the emphasis and direction of formal standardization are also changing. There are new groups concerned with the development and use of standards; more in the last three years than in the preceding twenty-five. And with the myriad of requirements and interactions this demands, the changing nature of the information technology industry requires standards to be done in less t i m e - a n d they must all interoperate with each other. In this environment, efficiency and effectiveness demand a 'road map'; all standards develop-
09204489/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved
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ers need to chart their courses for the future in terms of their products, processes, and interactions. This Strategic Plan is intended to be a guide in this new environment and provide the information needed in order to take the timely actions that will determine the future of standards.
1.2. Plan goals This strategic plan is intended to address a number of areas of concern. First of all, the plan is intended to identify change a r e a s - t h o s e areas most likely to be affected in the future. Within those areas, the plan provides information about trends-technical, operational or political-and general recommendations associated with those trends. Where appropriate, the plan will recommend specific actions and time frames in order to implement these recommendations. These recommendations should form the basis of a 'Master p l a n ' - a guide for the future. The plan is also intended to inform; to provide insight into future change areas that may eventually lead to new recommendations. This will be provided for specific areas of technical or procedural interest through a variety of methods. Finally, it is the intent of this Strategic Plan to establish a common sense of mission; to put down, in some way, a set of common objectives. This is done primarily through the recommendations; but it also occurs through the identification of an agreement on the key areas for the future. The current X3 'mission' statement is the combination (as presented in SD-1A, 'Master Plan (Overview)') of the Scope Statement and the Objectives. Many of the topics covered in this document are not reflected in either the scope or objectives of X3, and it is our intent that this plan be a key element in the updating of the X3 Mission Statement to ensure that it will be relevant in the future.
1.3. Strategic overL'iew Subsequent sections of this report identify specific areas of interest, but the Strategic Planning Committee has found certain overall topics to be worth noting in an introductory sense. Some of these are change areas; they are the variation in our environment which makes tomorrow different
from today. The others are response changes; overall strategic goals to be established. There are several change areas which appear to be critical. The growing diversity, in both formal standards organizations and consortia of various forms, will have a profound effect on the dynamics of standards development. Of particular interest will be the changes due to the European community because of its use of standards as regulatory and procurement tools with consequent worldwide implications. We must move forward with the changes which are technically inherent in the Information Age; complexity, interaction, and constant evolution will be the normal course of events in the technical work of standards development. There are also several response areas of interest; items which should be part of the fundamental goals. The first is to pursue international leadership, because the future belongs to the international arena rather than the national one. We also need to do whatever we can to conserve resources, applying new methods to reduce the time and money required. We must continue to be an effective organization or we may lose our resources to those who might be more efficient but less effective. We also need to be more productive. But most of all, we need to be more responsive as the audience for standards grows and their needs change.
1.4. Contents/methodology Beyond this introduction, this Strategic Plan contains two sections. The first section is 'Trends and recommendations', which represents consensus views on the important trends and general recommendations for dealing with them. The particular trends are grouped into general areas of interest (Environmental, Technology, and Process) for easier understanding. This section is followed by a separate section detailing specific actions necessary to implement these recommendations. All parts of the plan are subject to change; in a world as dynamic as the world of standards, no plan can long survive in one form. It is our intent that the plan will be formally reviewed and revised on an eighteen month cycle; within the committee, however, items will be dealt with as they are introduced. In this way we hope to have
Master Plan (strategic) A S C X3
a living plan which is stable enough to live by, but amenable to enough change so that it never becomes obsolete.
2. Trends and recommendations
2.1. Eneironmental forecast 2.1.1. Industry impact 2.1.1.1. Trend The Information Technology industry is becoming the most important single industry in the United States; it will be the primary determinant of success and timeliness in our entry into the Information Age. With 'open systems' as the keystone for the Information Technology industry, standards developers are the cornerstones of the future. A failure to provide leadership may lead to loss of world leadership for the US. This leadership will depend on broad-based name recognition in the information technology equipment and information services industry sectors. Further, leadership opportunities in the standardization community will require innovative approaches to create an awareness of the importance of information technology standards in the Information Age. 2.1.1.2. Recommendation X3 must plan for the future and establish mechanisms for anticipatory standardization activities through a visionary but well structured life cycle process. X3 must at the same time preserve the necessary mechanisms based on the principle of voluntary standardization in an open, free market economy. Consistent with this, X3 SPC should develop a Standards Life Cycle Model directed toward this goal. In addition, X3 should adopt the life cycle model as a guide for understanding and managing standards project activity as soon as possible. 2.1.2. The standards context 2.1.2.1. Trend Entry into the information age creates economic and social dislocations in the traditional industry sectors and associated standardization activities. Application arenas are becoming ever more important in both technological and business contexts. The overall interest in and use of standards has become an integral dynamic of today's business world.
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The coexistence of different types of standards and standardization activities, including test and conformance activities, increase the competition for scarce resources and the complexity of coordinating and differentiating among the various types and categories of standards. Reliance on the traditional, proven, and well known procedures will be tested by the need to accelerate standards development and the use of reference models to represent different industry needs for integrated sets of information technology standards.
2.1.2.2. Recommendation X3 must establish mechanisms to respond to increased resource demands for both traditional standards and standards that are not based on tested design specifications. X3 must make appropriate adjustments to meet the national and international needs for developing useful, provable, and reliable standards. 2.1.3. Cont,ergence of IT and telecommunications 2.1.3.1. Trend The technologies of telecommunications and information technology are converging; moreover, the deregulation of the telecommunications industry makes the two areas increasingly similar in scope and interests. This will continue in the future, with the differences inherent in the two disciplines diminishing over time. This convergence will result in a greater degree of overlap between X3 technical committees and the technical committees of other US standards development organizations such as T1, EIA, NEMA, and IEEE. In ANSI's current federated system, sole reliance on liaisons will not be a sufficient m a n a g e m e n t tool to ensure effective and efficient standards development. 2.1.3.2. Recommendation In the near term, X3 needs to develop more formal liaisons with other I T SDOs in the telecommunications arenas at both the technical and m a n a g e m e n t levels. Improved direct interaction should cover strategic planning, new project initiation, as well as continual evaluation of emerging technologies. The aim of these liaison activities is to (1) avoid duplication and conflict, (2) gain insight as to h o w / w h e n to embark on complementary and synergistic partnerships, and (3) explore opportunities for leveraging one another's standards development projects.
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X3 needs to develop a matrix of technological interfaces between the telecommunications and IT arenas in order to pinpoint subjects that need to be monitored more closely in a proactive manner. ANSI must be encouraged by X3 to develop more effective management mechanisms for coordination of areas of mutual concern. 2.1.4. Standards as procurement documents 2.1.4.1. Trend Public sector organizations are increasingly using IT standards as procurement documents, deriving specifications from voluntary standards. This use may be seen as a positive force for increasing the acceptance of standards in the marketplace. However, there is an increasing trend toward the use of draft documents rather than the final, approved standard. While the use of draft documents can at times speed up the standards process, the use of documents with ambiguities, or documents which will change in the near term, can result in the acquisition of IT products which do not meet interoperability and other planned goals. This can cause negative economic impact as well as delays and other difficulties for both providers and consumers. 2.1.4.2. Recommendation X3 needs to educate its standards developers about this trend and the techniques which will minimize difficulties when standards are used in this way. X3 also needs to examine methods which will improve the predictability of schedules as well as the timeliness, in order to minimize the likelihood of premature use. Further, X3 needs to monitor such use by public sector customers and communicate with them to avoid such premature use. Finally, the X3 subgroups need to be encouraged to be more receptive to inputs from implementation workshops and similar organizations. 2.1.5. Conformance 2.1.5.1. Trend There is an increasing need by users for validation of standards conformance. There are a number of mechanisms being proposed to satisfy this need, including a manufacturer's declaration of conformance and third party certification. In Europe, there are definite trends toward the certification approach for both the product and the quality assurance process.
This increased emphasis on conformance means that the base standards will become part of other processes; profile development, conformance test suites, regulatory declarations, and procurement specifications. These new uses will demand greater precision, features for testability, and improved synchronization with other related standards in order to meet the conformance needs of the new user community. 2.1.5.2. Recommendation X3 needs to review its processes to ensure that standards developers will produce documents that meet these objectives. The necessary conformance information must be provided before the standard is approved, and a mechanism for synchronization of multiple standards from both X3 and other SDOs needs to be developed by ANSI. 2.1.6. Globalization 2.1.6.1. Trend In the current geopolitical and economic climate, an increasing number of governments and businesses are realizing (1) the economic interdependence of markets, and (2) the value of information technology to facilitate globalization of the flow of goods and information to improve and expedite trade. Consequently an increased interest in the modernization of national computer and communications policies has emerged. Further liberalization of centralized economies in the Eastern bloc are creating increased demand for information technology, while potentially creating divergent needs and specifications for IT standards. The emergence of industry interest groups and the alliances created on a regional level such as the Arab League, the various interests in Eastern Europe and the USSR as well as middle Asian countries will increase resources available for creation, implementation, and testing of standards. 2.1.6.2. Recommendation X3 should monitor these trends and keep an open and constructive posture in maximizing opportunities to interact with these organizations when appropriate. 2.1.7. Europe 1992 2.1.7.1. Trend As the European Community completes its program for economic unification, it
Master Plan (strategic) A S C X3
will become increasingly consistent in its positions on standards issues. This consistency will mean that an economic community comparable in size to the United States will hold the reins of power in international standards deliberations. Some X3 members will be able to participate in this community through EC national bodies; but others, most notably the government agencies, will not. The US leadership role will be increasingly challenged by unified European interests. (It is unclear what impact recent events in Eastern Europe will have on this process.)
2.1.7.2. Recommendation X3 needs to increase the active, committed participation of its members both in national work in other countries besides the US and in international work. X3 should also task SPC to study the impact of regionalism as a significant factor in international standards and to recommend solutions for US participation in regional standards development. 2.1.8. Asia/Pacific Rim 2.1.8.1. Trend The Asia/Pacific rim countries (e.g. Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong) are increasingly using standards in their products to compete in the US and around the world. An increased interest of economic and trade alliances have emerged in recent years providing the opportunity for regional alliances in the establishment of standards profiles and the related conformance testing and certification. 2.1.8.2. Recommendation X3 should review the development of this regional alliance which is unlike that of the European Community. X3 should remain aware and receptive to establish cooperation within this area. 2.1.9. Information at~ailability and access 2.1.9.1. Trend In the emerging Information Age, accessibility and affordability of information will significantly affect traditional socioeconomic structure in both the public and private sectors. Ability to gain access to collections of data in a timely and economical manner and to store, organize, and process the data for decision makers will differentiate those industries that will grow
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rapidly in the Information Age as contrasted to those that will grow, but at a dramatically slower rate. The needs of a broader range of individuals (including those who are physically disadvantaged), and the aging and changing composition of the national population require different perspectives for developing standards to make effective and adaptable use of information technology devices and services. The ability to evolve into the Information Age is dependent on employees knowledgeable in the use of information technology. Different aspects of traditional business and government functions will be subjected to standardization as information technology devices and services are increasingly used in more and more places to replace older technology and in the daily activities of people, including the audiovisual, publishing, entertainment and leisure, transport, critical health care, and consumer product marketplaces.
2.1.9.2. Recommendation C o m m u n i c a t i o n s channels must be established for cross-industry interchange of data through an active strategic planning and outreach program. X3 expertise must be made available to other industry groups trying to use our standards, e.g. MEDIC use of ODA (Medical Industry need to exchange medical information.) 2.2. Technology forecast 2.2.1. Adl'anced systems technolog~ 2.2.1.1. Trend New concepts in information technology such as artificial intelligence, expert systems, optical computing, and neural networks have the potential to significantly expand the technology and improve the effectiveness of information technology systems. Similarly, the continued evolution of greater speed and capacity allow new applications to be economically feasible, such as the integration of text, graphics, voice, etc. These new concepts can affect all X3 work since that work is based on (in large measure) current architectural concepts and the relationship of elements such as languages to those concepts. 2.2.1.2. Recommendation All relevant X3 subgroups should be asked to evaluate, validate, and
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forecast the nature of this technology and base any standardization decisions on user requirements and technical feasibility. The X3 community should proactively identify the impact of these technologies on existing and emerging standards and standardization efforts.
2.2.2. Portability and interoperability 2.2.2.1. Trend Application Portability (the ability to move an application from one system to another) and interoperability (the capability for heterogeneous systems to interoperate) are two areas of great current interest. Interoperability at the communications level has been greatly expanded by the adoption of OSI. There still remains much to be done, however, at higher levels of interoperability, i.e. application interoperability. This requires both a standardized 'model' for interaction and standardized access methods. Interfaces need to be standardized. The location for these interfaces, at a high level of abstraction, will be identified as part of overall modeling activities. Actual interfaces themselves, however, will need to be identified and specified by the specific standardizers. It is important to recognize that these interfaces should be transparent as far as specific communications mechanisms are concerned. This will permit both the greatest backward as well as forward flexibility. Some requirements for portability may be alleviated by interoperability; for example, programs will not be required to execute at the same location where their data resides. However, application portability will remain an important aspect for both users and vendors. Portability demands that all of the external aspects required by an application are equivalent between its old locale and the new. Standards and profiles defining these environments will be necessary. 2.2.2.2. Recommendations X3 must continue to explore, refine, and reach consensus on an overall portability reference model and related concepts. X3 should also continue with standards projects as they relate to portability concepts (model). X3 projects should monitor profiling activities and obtain feedback to validate functionality and identify additional requirements. Consideration
should also be given to enhancing the project management process to address the impact of portability issues, check conformance to relevant models, and consider overall user implications.
2. 2.3. Distributed processing 2.2.3.1. Trend There is a growing trend to specify and install distributed processing systems to support organizational information technology needs and distributed application functionality. The use of distributed processing will increase as computing storage becomes less expensive, faster, and larger in capacity. Distributed processing allows a variety of users to manipulate data that is in the organizations's minicomputer, PC, a n d / o r mainframe databases. The data must therefore be managed, controlled, and shared via networks and through database servers. This technology cuts across traditional standards committee boundaries of data communications, database, languages, and applications. A distributed processing system allows a user to connect and share a variety of applications programs ( C A D / C A M , spreadsheet, graphics, desktop publishing) and operating systems in a seamless manner. In order to achieve this, a distributed processing environment needs, among other things, common data dictionaries, network directories, and application programming interfaces (APIs). 2.2.3.2. Recommendation X3 subgroups need to evaluate the implication of distributed processing requirements on their current and emerging standards projects to accommodate the advantages of this new technology. X3 subgroups should also work closely with other SDOs and relevant consortia to facilitate the further standardization and implementation of the necessary family of standards. 2.2.4. Data management / representation / complexity 2.2.4.1. Trend Data is viewed more and more as a corporate asset that should be managed as such; applications will no longer own the data that they process. Data, along with applications, will be more distributed. Transaction processing done on a sub-second basis will require very rapid access to any required data.
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These new requirements mean that methods and standards are needed for the management (directories, dictionaries) of data in a distributed environment. It will be necessary for the directories and dictionaries to also be distributed. Other models in addition to the relational may need to be standardized inlorder to accommodate evolving technology and high speed response requirements. The level of complexity of the entities addressed by standards developed is increasing. The focus of attention is moving from data to 'objectoriented' data with significant potential benefits in integrity and efficiency. While several X3 subgroups are beginning to examine objects and object-oriented processing, there is no comprehensive plan or model for addressing this subject across the many subgroups which may be affected by this technology. 2.2.4.2. Recommendation Standards need to focus on the ability to share data across multiple applications. X3 needs to examine the entire subject of objects and object-oriented processing and determine what level of coordination and consistency is required across X3 subgroups in developing standards utilizing this technology. 2.2.5. Object orientation 2.2.5.1. Trend The use of object-oriented techniques promises significant benefit to the design and development of information processing systems. As a result, a number of private and public groups are exploring common techniques and products. Acceptance of these object-oriented techniques will have implications for most components of systems architecture. This could mean changes-perhaps significant o n e s - t o our programming language, data base, and user interface standards. 2.2.5.2. Recommendations X3 needs to work with the emerging groups already active in this area to coordinate what standardization work is going on and to determine what additional formal standardization work should be initiated. As part of this effort, an investigation should be undertaken on the feasibility of developing modeling techniques that apply to such fields as network man-
agement, guages.
data
bases,
and
programming
lan-
2.2.6. Multimedia 2.2.6.1. Trend New technologies are rapidly blurring the previous boundaries between various kinds of data (text, graphics, etc.) as well as the methods by which they are encoded manipulated, transmitted, and presented. The mixing of these different types of information is leading to new uses and thus to new standards for both representation and operation. At the current time the standardization efforts in this area are fragmented, both within X3 and between X3 and other standards developers. Until some unity is brought to this area, significant progress will be extremely difficult. 2.2.6.2. Recommendation X3 should take the lead in reconciling various efforts in this area and in developing a plan for potential standardization at both the national and international levels. 2.2. 7. Storage media 2.2.7.1. Trend An increasing number of data storage devices with different operating characteristics are being introduced to meet demands for collecting, retrieving, processing, and disseminating data. The devices vary in size, capacity, cost per unit and cost per stored unit of data, and performance. Families of standards for unrecorded and recorded media, labels and file structures, and physical properties of media have been developed and maintained as new technologies emerge and old technologies are placed to new and different uses. The changes in storage media capacities have increased demand for increased speed in computers and increased bandwidth in communicating channels. Availability of storage devices with increased capacity will lead to further development of high resolution visualization and other applications. 2.2.7.2. Recommendation X3 should plan for the need to maintain an increasing number of media standards and form alliances with other industry groups to effectively use the storage devices in different application or industry areas.
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Z2.8. New development methodologies 2.2.8.1. Trend There is an increasing interest in and emphasis on the use of Fourth Generation Languages (4GL) and other CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tools to improve productivity. As hardware costs go down and people costs go up, this interest will become even stronger. And as the use of such tools becomes more prevalent, standards will be more desirable, particularly in the program development methodology. The use of these tools will impact X3 in several ways. Interfaces will be required for services covered by other X3 standards such as data bases. In addition, the 4GL technologies will tend to replace existing language and supporting technologies. 2.2.8.2. Recommendation X3 needs to take on this area as a natural outgrowth of its current work. X3 should establish itself as the responsible group for 4GL standards and their coordination. This should initially be a technical study group to determine standardization requirements. This study should include liaison with work going on in other SDOs. 2.2.9. LANs 2.2.9.1. Trend LANs will continue to evolve with higher data rates of from one to two orders of magnitude over the next decade. Applications will first demand fully integrated voice and data and then eventually video service. The evolution of LAN, MAN, and WAN technologies will demand that more sophisticated routing functionality be incorporated into LAN technologies. LANs are of increasing importance to the end user community. Data rates in the 0.5 to 2.0 Gbps range may well change the basic structure/architecture of LANs and the way data is transferred and processed at source/destination locations. The integration of services with 'real time' presence is likely to impact the lower layer architecture and protocols to handle m u l t i p l e / c o n c u r r e n t services in a synchronized manner. Seamless interconnection of L A N / M A N / W A N technologies will likely require multiple path or 'mesh' technologies and significantly richer and more robust LAN
routing functionality. All of the above will significantly increase the need for more comprehensive management, security, and accounting capability among other functions. 2.2.9.2. Recommendation The relevant SDOs (e.g. X3, IEEE, T1) should be asked to further evaluate, validate, and forecast the nature of these emerging technologies for the 90's and then prioritize the needs based on both user requirements and technological feasibility. Particular attention should be paid to the L A N / M A N / W A N integration issues. The issues of interworking a m o n g L A N s and b e t w e e n L A N and M A N / W A N environments needs to be studied further. X3 must manage the overall study and consider potential implications on related areas (e.g. operating systems, distributed environments) outside the basic LAN (OSI layers 1-3) arena. 2.2.10. Communications speed and capacity 2.2.10.1. Trend There will continue to be significant improvement in the speed and capacity of communications channels. This increased capacity should lead to increased interest in telefax/ teletext and integrated networks for voice, data, and video. This will in turn result in more complex networks. 2.2.10.2. Recommendation X3 needs to identify relevant standards work and coordinate standards efforts (e.g. X3T9.5, I E E E 802.6, T1X1, X3S3) to ensure compatibility. 2.2.11. Human-computer interaction 2.2.11.1. Trend The h u m a n - c o m p u t e r interaction is an increasingly important part of applications and system design. There are a number of independent, but overlapping projects in various SDOs to develop h u m a n - c o m p u t e r interaction standards. They are focussed in two areas: (1) that which allows for application portability and network compatibility, and (2) the interaction area, i.e. icons, character size and width, color and shape, etc. 2.2.11.2. Recommendation X3 needs to catalog, characterize, and structure the standards efforts (both current and future) in this area so that the
Master Plan (strategic) ASC X3
X3 work program, including its liaisons, can be properly established. 2.2.12. Visualization 2.2.12.1. Trend As the IT industry attempts to make computer-based applications accessible to an ever increasing population who are not typically computer-literate, visual presentation methods (as contrasted with text-based methods) are becoming the dominant h u m a n - c o m p u t e r communications mechanism. This trend is facilitated by daily advances in computer power, storage capacity, miniaturization, and data transfer rates. The trend is exemplified by recent interest in Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, Visual Programming Systems, and Multimedia Applications. Many SDOs are increasingly specifying application architectures and representation formats that presume the availability of certainsometimes very sophisticated-graphical and image presentation, interaction, and interchange facilities. 2.2.12.2. Recommendation X3 needs to identify relevant architectures, reference models, and frameworks with the goal of promoting the synthesis of these models so that both duplication of effort and important omissions can be identified and avoided. X3 should also assist with the education of the external standards-using community and actively promote this architectural work within the international arena, especially JTC 1. Finally, X3 needs to assist its technical committees in promoting the gathering of application ('user') requirements in this area so that the technical committees, especially X3H3 and X3L3, can respond with the appropriate presentation and encoding standards in a timely fashion. 2.3. Process forecast 2.3.1. Standards life cycle 2.3.1.1. Trend Information Technology standards are increasingly complex and dynamic in nature; this increases the difficulty in their development. At the same time however, shorter product life cycles as well as an increasing economic dependence on standards by all parties has led to demands for more standards and a shorter time
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frame for development. This demand for greater productivity and responsiveness from a relatively fixed resource will continue to intensify. Failure of the formal standards process to meet these demands could result in other organizations assuming the leadership role. Formal standards organizations would then be limited to a ratification process for standards developed elsewhere in groups with more limited access. 2.3.1.2. Recommendation X3 needs to document the major standards life cycle milestones to facilitate the interactions within X3 and between the X3 community and other SDOs and consortia. Changes must then be proposed to ensure that the overall life cycle is as (1) short, (2) user responsive, (3) efficient, (4) of high quality, and (5) complete as possible. 2.3.2. National standards 2.3.2.1. Trend There is an increasing level of international participation in US national standards meetings. The convergence of the telecommunication and information technology standards and market trends requires ever closer interaction among a growing set of national SDOs (X3, T1, EIA, I E E E etc.). There is a growing trend in the national industrial arenas (e.g. photographic imaging, banking, publications) to utilize X3 related IT standards and require modifications to them to satisfy new applications needs such as EDI. The need to exchange timely, accurate data as well as articulate meaningful compromises among a growing number of SDOs and projects is increasing to such an extent that the resources (people and processes) to work these issues are becoming inadequate. The net result is likely to be more standards (and more incompatibility). This will impact US industry's effectiveness and competitive position on a global basis. 2.3.2.2. Recommendation There needs to be an effective data base to communicate subjects, projects, and areas of expertise in order to identify the strategic areas of concern. X3 also needs to explore ways in which the current fragmentation
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of responsibility within the United States could be developed into a cohesive whole in order to be more effective in the international community. 2.3.3. International standards 2.3.3.1. Trend With the increasing instances of information technology development and utilization in all parts of the world, there is a greater emphasis on internationally approved standards and, in some cases, regional standards. Unique national standards will become less and less significant. The focus of the process within the United States is therefore becoming one of developing international standards or positions on international documents. The preponderance of standards in use in the US will be internationally approved. 2.3.3.2. Recommendations There are a number of actions X3 should take in this area: (1) make international work (present or anticipated) a consideration for approval of a new project within X3; (2) consider restructuring the committee responsibilities to be more efficient and effective in the international arena; and (3) explore ways in which the current fragmentation of responsibility within the United States could be developed into a cohesive whole in order to be more effective in the international community. 2.3.4. The importance of profiles 2.3.4.1. Trend Standardized profiles will become increasingly important to the world of information technology, and their use will be expanded from the OSI arena to encompass other technologies. The profile development work and related workshops will increasingly drive the base standards. Traditionally these activities have evolved outside the X3 subgroups' concern. However I S O / I E C JTC 1 has recognized the value of internationally harmonized profiles and has established a formal process and taxonomy to assure the creation of consensus-based International Standardized Profiles (ISPs). 2.3.4.2. Recommendation X3 should actively represent the US interests in the ISP registration
process and establish a consistent mechanism to respond to the needs of North American Open System Implementors Workshop. Additionally, X3 is encouraged to proactively establish liaisons with these workshops to address future needs of profiling work items which involve combinations of technical standards. 2.3.5. Broadened participation 2.3.5.1. Trend The increasing size of the IT industry has seen more than a corresponding increase in the number of companies developing products for this industry. These new entries are typically small and typically focussed on software products-particularly applications development. While these firms are impacted by X3 standards, and could make significant contributions to the process, they are generally represented only in the specific technical committee that is of primary interest. They are generally not involved at the management level. The same is true for many users, including large organizations. 2.3.5.2. Recommendation The X3 community should be producing a forward looking vision and mission. X3 needs to review the parameters of participation to determine what changes would result in broader participation by the new companies in the IT industry as well as by responsible users. Membership categories, fee schedules, meeting participation requirements, and document availability criteria all need to be reexamined. In addition, new services may need to be offered to these new types of organizations. 2.3.6. Education 2.3.6.1. Trend Despite the increasing economic importance of standards, there is widespread ignorance about how the process works, what it does, and the advantages (and disadvantages) of the system as it exists today. There is also a growing level of misinformation in the literature available on the subject, which causes confusion and delay. 2.3.6.2. Recommendation X3 needs to attack both the general education issue and the specific issue of X3 recognition relative to other standards bodies. Of particular interest in the former
Master Plan (strategic) A S C X3
area are the newly graduated professionals, who will be the 'front line' users of X3 standards. X3 specific information is most important for the user and vendor organizations who are not members of X3 and for the general and trade press. X3 needs to establish specific programs to improve the knowledge available in these areas for each of the target audiences, and should do so through the respective member companies as well as through external organizations.
2.3. 7. Consortia 2.3.7.1. Trend There is an increasing movement toward the use of 'consortia' to develop base and i m p l e m e n t a t i o n / p r o d u c t oriented standards outside the formal standards process because of the requirement for speed in the development process (particularly in light of today's increasingly short product life spans) or because of the need for product-related implementable 'standards'. 2.3.7.2. Recommendation X3 needs to undertake a number of activities in order to derive maximum synergy from both standards organizations and consortia. First of all, technical committees need to be encouraged-through tutorials, through officer responsibility definition, and through milestone tracking-to take an active role in involving relevant consortia. Secondly, basic X3 procedures and processes need to be modified to recognize the existence of such groups and the necessity for involvement in the process. Changes to the process should address improving the means by which consortia access the standards committees and providing educational material to make the process known. Finally, X3 needs to identify consortia, monitor their activities, and define roles for each of these groups within X3 where appropriate. 2.3.8. Reference models" 2.3.8.1. Trends Since the introduction of the SPARC database model (3-schema model) and the OSI reference model to guide the work of standards groups, there has been an increased dependence on reference models of various types. Some of the different 'models' are included in the X3 SD-1B ('Master Plan (Operational)') and have changed slightly since the first publication
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over five years ago. The use of reference models can facilitate communication of ideas and concepts better than sole reliance on written text. As boundaries among SDOs blur and nontraditional organizations move into and out of the information technology standardization activities, there is a greater need for a global information processing system or information technology system reference model incorporating both the internal (defects, addenda, bindings, conformance definition, multiple standards, configuration management, change control) and external (interdependencies, synchronization, conformance test suite development, obsolescence) factors. The absence of reference models can lead to increased cost to participants and extended time periods for the development of standards. Additionally, requirements for standards have been identified when reference models were used in standards activities. Reference models identify the interrelationship among standardization activities and groups participating in those activities.
2.3.8.2. Recommendation X3 should strongly encourage the use of reference models within X3 subgroups, and give consideration to reference models in the project approval process. In addition, X3 should examine the feasibility of creating an information processing system or information technology system reference model. 2.3.9. Formal description techniques (FDTs) 2.3.9.1. Trend There is a growing need to specify standards in unambiguous ways. A formal description technique is a method of specifying standards or parts thereof, in mathematical or other rigorous, unambiguous notation. In general, an FDT can be used to replace or supplement specifications written in natural languages. Initial work in developing specifications using FDTs is for defining protocols and services. Because of the complex interrelationship among component parts of information technology systems, the use of FDTs may result in benefits for standards developers, testing organizations, and system integrators. On the other hand, the notation used differs significantly from natural language approaches and its use is likely to slow the development of standards even further because of the lack of knowledgeable profession-
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als familiar with FDTs involved in X3 standardsdeveloping activities. The unambiguous and concise specifications written using FDTs are likely to be beneficial when testing or implementing standards. However, there is little known experience on the time it would take to change the specifications, once written using FDTs, and the affect on standards when the F D T standard is changed.
2.3.9.2. Recommendation X3 needs to explore opportunities in the use of FDTs. Opportunities appear most promising for parts of standards requiring rigorous, unambiguous, and testable specifications; when specifying interface services; and for describing interaction points for standards-conforming system components. Project proposals should indicate explicit need, feasibility, and selection of a target FDT. The proposal should also define the relationship with F D T techniques Used in closely related or interdependent standards. 2.3.10. Mechanization/automation of the standards process 2.3.10.1. Trend The use of information technology is essential in the effective and efficient running of any organization. In standards development, this trend is manifested at three levels. At the subgroup level, technology is essential in the development and production of standards documents and for related administrative paperwork; it is being used increasingly during subgroup meetings as well. For X3 management, and for inter-subgroup communication, technology is becoming essential in order to deal with the enormous paper flow in a timely manner. Finally, greater use of technology will be important in order to provide information on developing standards to the public more efficiently. On a technical level, the trend is toward use of more comprehensive techniques, e.g. hypertext, and of media with higher capacity and performance, e.g. optical media. 2.3.10.2. Recommendation X3 has taken the initial steps toward mechanization. X3 must look continually at the evolution of information technology standards and their availability for use by standards developers and standards management
to assure that the technology is used as quickly as possible after its availability. Finally, X3 should look at possible procedural changes to better utilize technological advancements.
3.
Recommended
action
summary
The following recommended action summary is based on the more detailed text in the previous sections. For maximum flexibility, no specific X3 management committees are mentioned; the final action is, in any case, the responsibility of X3. The parenthetical number(s) at the end of each recommended action ties that action to one or more of the items in the main text.
3.1. Life cycle model Develop and maintain a Life Cycle Model which describes the standards process. Once developed, adopt this model as the basic X3 process guide (2.1.1., 2.3.1.).
3.2. X3 procedures Review the X3 procedures for consistency with the processes and technologies which are critical to the modern world of standards development. Specific areas for review and change include the following. - option of the Life Cycle Model (2.1.1., 2.3.1.) Consider restructuring that might make international participation more effective (2.3.3.) Review the parameters of membership and participation to determine how to broaden participation in X3 (2.3.5.) Identification of changes which will better recognize and involve the consortia (2.3.7) Identification of changes which will allow better use of current IT technology, and evaluation of the availability of tools by standards developers and standards management (2.3.10.) - Establish specific programs to address professionals, potential members of X3, and the press (2.3.6.)
3.3. Project definition process Establish an ad hoc to conduct a fundamental review and revision of the project definition and
Master Plan (strategic)ASC X3 approval (project and final standard) process, with a focus on the following change areas: - Adoption of the key elements of the Life Cycle reference model; for example, requirements definition (2.1.1., 2.3.1.) Establish mechanisms to respond to increased resource demands based on the need for useful, provable, and reliable standards (2.1.2.) Standards meet the requirements of testability and synchronized use with other standards (2.1.5.) Enhance the process to address the impact of portability issues and consider user implications (2.2.2.) International work (current or anticipated) as a consideration for approving new X3 projects (2.3.3.) - The need, feasibility, and selection of FDTs (2.3.9.) - The use of reference models (2.3.8.).
(b) the development of an effective data base to communicate subjects, projects, and areas of expertise; and (c) ways in which current US fragmentation could be developed into a cohesive whole (2.1.3., 2.3.2, 2.3.3.) Make X3s expertise available to industry groups attempting to use X3 standards, and establish communications channels for crossindustry exchange of data (2.1.9.).
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3.5. Guidance for X3 subgroups Provide guidance and direction to the X3 subgroups in areas where change is taking place. - Develop an education program on techniques which will minimize difficulties when standards are used as procurement documents (2.1.4.) - Encourage X3 subgroups to be more receptive to input from implementation workshops and similar organizations (2.1.5.) Projects should monitor profiling activities and obtain feedback to validate portability functionality and identify additional requirements (2.2.2.) - Encourage X3 subgroups to take an active role in involving relevant consortia (2.3.7.) Direct X3 subgroups to evaluate the implication of distributed processing requirements on their current and emerging projects (2.2.3.) - Strongly encourage the use of reference models within X3 subgroups (2.3.8.) -
3.4. External liaisons Establish active formal liaisons with groups outside X3 whose interests overlap. These may be formal SDOs or other types of organizations. O f interest should be the following specific recommendations. - Establish liaisons with other I T and Telecommunications SDOs covering strategic planning, new project initiation, and evaluation of emerging technologies (2.1.3.) - Monitor the use of standards as procurement documents and communicate with users to avoid p r e m a t u r e use (2.1.4.) Interact with international, regional, and other national SDOs as appropriate (2.1.6.) Establish liaisons with ISP workshops to address future needs of profile work items (2.3.4.) Work with the relevant consortia to facilitate further standardization in the area of distributed processing (2.2.3) Work with emerging groups in the area of 'objects' and determine what additional standardization work needs to be initiated (2.2.5.) - Work with ANSI to develop (a) more effective m a n a g e m e n t mechanisms for coordination of areas of mutual concern, including the arbitration of both scope and technical content issues; -
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3.6. International focus Recognize that the field of I T standards is becoming primarily international rather that national. Consider the following specific actions. Monitor global activity relative to the IT industry and IT standards (2.1.6.) R e c o m m e n d that X3 members increase their participation in international, regional, and national standards activities in other countries (2.1.7.) ~tudy the impact of regionalism and recommend solutions for US participation (2.1.7.) Review the development of Asia/Pacific regional alliances and establish cooperation in this area (2.1.8)
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3. 7. New technology Take a leadership role in investigating, initiating and coordinating the development of new standards for new technology areas, both inside and outside X3. The following are specific recommendations. - Define key advanced system technology areas (e.g. neural networks, optical computing) and determine the needs for standardization. Make specific recommendations for new projects and study groups (2.2.1.) - Continue efforts toward an overall portability reference model and continue with existing standards projects as they relate to portability issues (2.2.2.) Make sure that the ODP and portability reference models are compatible (2.2.2.) - Take the lead in reconciling various efforts in the field of Multimedia (2.2.6.) Emphasize the importance of data and data-related standardization; explore multi-disciplinary approaches to evolving various data and data element conventions and architectures. (2.2.4., 2.2.7.) Undertake an investigation into the feasibility of developing modeling techniques for 'object orientation' that apply across the areas of X3 standardization (2.2.5.) Form alliances with other industry groups to effectively use storage devices in different application or industry areas. (2.2.7.) Establish a study group to determine the best approach for standardization in the areas of 4GL and CASE tools (2.2.8.) Initiate and manage a multi-SDO study on the nature of emerging LAN technology (2.2.10.) Identify and coordinate standards work associated with high speed and capacity in communications (2.2.10.) Catalog, characterize, and structure the human-computer interface standards efforts and establish an appropriate work program (2.2.11.) Examine the feasibility of creating an information processing system reference model (2.3.8.)
4.
Appendix:
X3
Standing
Documents
This document is one of a series, developed by X3 and the X3 Secretariat, which provides a 'database' of information on Accredited Standards Committee X3-Information Processing Systems. Each document is updated periodically on an individual basis. The series is intended to serve several purposes: • To describe X3 and its program to inquirers • To inform committee members of the organization and operation of X3 • To provide a system of orderly administration incorporating the procedures required by ANSI together with supplements approved by the X3 Secretariat, for the guidance of X3 officers, members, subgroups and the Secretariat staff. The series of Standing Documents consists of the following: - X3/SD-0 Information Brochure-January 1989 3 / S D - I Master Plan SD-1A-(Overview) January 1990 SD-1B-(Operational) January 1991 SD-1C-(Strategic) February 1991 - 3 / S D - 2 Organization and Procedures-May 1990 - 3/SD-3 Project Proposal Guide-June 1990 - 3/SD-4 Project Manual-August 1990 - 3/SD-5 Standards Criteria-September 1984 - 3 / S D - 6 Membership and Officers-January 1991 - 3/SD-7 Meeting Schedule and Calendar-September 1990 - 3/SD-8 Officers Reference Manual-June 1990 - 3/SD-9 Policy and Guidelines-March 1989 - 3/SD-10 X3 Subgroup Annual Report Format-February 1991 Corrections and suggestions for improvement will be welcomed, and should be addressed to: X3 Secretariat-CBEMA Attn: Manager, Membership Services, 311 First St NW-Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001-2178, USA