European Telecommunications Standards Institute
ETSI stands for European Telecommunications Standards Institute. ETSI is a non-profit organization based at Sophia Antipolis technical park, Nice, France. It was founded in the year 1988 with a view to standardize information and communications technologies across Europe. Officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization, it is the epicenter which promotes the globally applicable standards for telecommunications, broadcasting and medical electronics. [1] ETSI has more than 700 member organizations from 62 countries across the world. This shows that ETSI is not just renowned in Europe but also globally. ETSI specializes in standardizing the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which are globally used such as fixed, mobile, radio, converged, broadcast and internet technologies. ETSI has successfully standardized the Low Power Radio, Short Range Device, GSM cell phone system and the TETRA professional mobile radio system. It has provided inspiration in the creation of 3GPP and also has partnered with 3GPP. [2]
Vision and Mission
ETSI envisions being the leading organization in standardization for ICT, including telecommunications, which will meet the European as well as global need for standardizations. The mission includes providing world class standards for systems and services of ICT and telecommunications by providing state of the art methodologies and processes for its functioning. ETSI distributes an annual business plan to all its employees at the general assembly to revise these statements. The business plan includes ETSI’s mission and vision, strategic areas, strategic activities and technical topics and secretariat operations review. [3]
Structure
ETSI embodies the following structure which enables it to function it in the most effective way.
- General Assembly: It is the highest authority in ETSI which has the power to take all the decisions. [4]
- Board of executives: It is the executive branch of General Assembly which assists in the decisions of the ETSI.[5]
- Technical Bodies: It includes Technical committees, special committees, Projects and Partnership Projects, which precisely look after all the technical aspects of ETSI and also assist in the important decisions of ETSI.[6]
- Secretariat: The role of the secretariat is to provide support to all the bodies of the Organization. [7]
ETSI majorly focuses of producing standards that are relevant at the global level and also focuses to play central role to ensure the proper functioning of internal market. With its two decades of services of efficiently producing Harmonized European Standards (ENs), it continues to create a platform for the European enterprises to become more competitive in the global markets. This efficiency is strongly supported by the above structure of ETSI members.
Strategic areas
- Global standards provider: To provide standards through production of Technical specifications, ETSI deliverables and reports for global applications and simultaneously favoring the international collaboration.
- European Standards Organization: To provide ITC standards for European region and providing ETSI European Standards in support of EU and EFTA initiatives and regulations.
- Service Providing Organization: To provide services such as Fora hosting, interoperability tests and development of protocol and testing specifications to support ETSI members and other organizations producing ICT standards.[3]
ICANN and ETSI
ETSI supports the ICANN TLG (Technical Liaison Group) which helps the ICANN Board to use the appropriate technical advice on certain specific issues relevant to ICANN’s activities. ETSI has two representatives for ICANN TLG. These members are:
- Fernando Soriano - ETSI Board Member.
- Bernardo Correia – ETSI External Relations Officer. [8]
References