Liaison statement
LS on updated terms of reference and request to appoint vice-chairs or representatives to the Collaboration on ITS communication standards (from CITS)

Background

The Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards (CITS) was established by ITU
in 2011. The intent of the CITS is to provide a globally recognized forum for
the coordination of an internationally accepted, globally harmonized set of
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) communication standards of the highest
quality in the most expeditious manner possible to enable the rapid deployment
of fully interoperable ITS communication-related products and services in the
global marketplace. The CITS is not a standards-setting body, but a
standards-facilitating group, mainly used for exchanging information and
promoting Collaboration. The CITS meetings, which are organized back-to-back
with other ITS events, are opportunities to also exchange information and keep
experts updated on ITS standardization. The representatives of involved SDOs
are invited to submit meetings status reports on ITS standardization ongoing in
their respective organizations.

The CITS is following a yearly cycle of three meetings and three workshops:
1)      March in Europe during the Geneva Motor Show;
2)      Summer in Asia;
3)      Late fall in the Americas.
The CITS meetings are informative, provide remote participation capabilities,
and open to all. Meeting documentation is freely accessible by anyone. The CITS
webpage is: http://itu.int/go/ITScomms

Results of the recent CITS meeting

During the recent meeting of The Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards
(CITS), which took place in Geneva on 9 March 2018, back-to-back to the
ITU/UNECE Symposium on The Future Networked Car (FNC-2018), the CITS agreed to
submit a liaison statement to various standards bodies and other stakeholders
to inform them on the recent update of its terms of reference (ToR).

Please find in ANNEX below the updated ToR.

According to the clause 5 of the updated ToR, the CITS Management comprises a
chair and one or more vice-chairs. –       ITU-T and ITU-R Study Groups may
each appoint a vice-chair. –       National, regional, and international SDOs
are also encouraged to appoint a vice-chair. –       The various SDOs as well
as other interested Stakeholders and organizations may also appoint liaison
officers and representatives. The participation to the various meetings is
appreciated but not mandatory. As CITS meetings are held in various regions of
the world, the vice-chairs as well as liaison officers and representatives may
join physically or remotely when they so desire. –       The term of office of
the chair and the vice-chairs is two years.  Renewal of appointment is
acceptable.

Action:
–       We would appreciate if the various SDOs and stakeholders appoint a
vice-chair or a liaison representative who attends the CITS meetings on a
voluntary basis. At the recent meeting, 23 input documents were submitted by
various SDOs and stakeholders. The meeting report, which includes pointers to
the various progress reports, was posted as Doc 24 after the meeting.

All related meeting documents are openly accessible by everyone at the CITS
SharePoint site:
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/extcoop/cits/Documents/Meeting-20180309-Geneva For
more information on the CITS, please see: http://itu.int/go/ITScomms

We look forward to hearing from you and to a fruitful collaboration.

     ANNEX
  Terms of Reference
  Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards (CITS)
 (Last updated on 9 March 2018)

1.      Scope
These Terms of Reference (ToR) apply to the operation of the Collaboration on
ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) Communication Standards organised by ITU. 
Herein, the Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards is the “Collaboration”.

2.      Intent
The intent of the Collaboration is:

1.      to provide a global forum for the creation of an internationally
accepted, globally harmonized ITS communication standards of the highest
quality in the most expeditious manner possible; by: a.      promoting and
cross-referencing existing standards where appropriate, b.      supporting
modifying and extending existing standards where indicated, by the organization
in charge of these standards, and c.      identify areas within ITU to develop
new standards where necessary, to enable the rapid deployment of fully
interoperable ITS communication-related products and services in the global
marketplace,

2.      to respect the strengths and existing charters of ITU and other
participating organizations (SDOs) so as to: a.      minimize any negative
impact on past and current development efforts within each organization, and b.
     to avoid any unnecessary duplication in future development efforts, and

3.      to minimize the procedural and negative budgetary impact of any actions
for the benefit of all participants. The Collaboration recognizes the value and
importance of: –       pooling/sharing resources to create technically sound,
globally harmonized ITS communication standards, –       identifying and having
filled gaps in the set of ITS communication standards currently available, and
–       bringing together communication standards bodies and other pertinent
organizations, in achieving the ultimate goal of enabling rapid deployment of
fully interoperable ITS communication-related products and services in the
global marketplace.  In particular, the Collaboration supports ITU Study Groups
in creating ITU Recommendations  in the field of ITS communications that are
technically aligned and fully interoperable with each other. Any interpretation
of the policies and procedures set forth herein shall be in accordance with the
intent specified in this Section.

3.      Collaboration participants
Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) are welcome to participate in the
Collaboration.  Any SDO interested in participating in the Collaboration should
contact the Collaboration Management.  All participants in and all
contributions to the Collaboration shall have equal status in the technical
work and shall be considered on equal terms. Collaboration Participation is
open to: –       representatives of ITU Member States , Sector Members,
Associates and Academia, and any individual from a country which is a member of
ITU who wishes to contribute to the work, –       any individual from a
national, regional, or international SDO who wishes to contribute to the work.

4.      Collaboration structure
The Collaboration is comprised of Collaboration Participants and the
Collaboration Management (see Section ‎5). The Collaboration itself shall
operate as a consensus-based group under the established procedures of the ITU.
 In the event of a conflict arising from differences between policies and
procedures of ITU not covered by these ToR, the Collaboration Chair shall
consult with Collaboration Management to propose a resolution, then seek
approval thereof from ITU.  The Collaboration Management shall create its
procedures in published form.

5.      Collaboration management
The “Collaboration Management” comprises a chair and one or more vice-chairs.
The ITU TSB Director appoints the chair.
ITU-T and ITU-R Study Groups may each appoint a vice-chair.  National,
regional, and international SDOs are also encouraged to appoint a vice-chair.
The various SDOs as well as other interested Stakeholders and organizations may
also appoint liaison officers and representatives. The participation to the
various meetings is appreciated but not mandatory. As CITS meetings are held in
various regions of the world, the vice-chairs as well as liaison officers and
representatives may join physically or remotely when they so desire. The term
of office of the chair and the vice-chairs is two years.  Renewal of
appointment is acceptable.

6.      Revision of ToR
Any member of the Collaboration Management may propose a revision of this ToR. 
The Collaboration Management shall, in consultation with the revision
proposer(s), propose the draft revised ToR, and seek consensus of the
Collaboration Management. The revised ToR becomes effective after the approval
of ITU-T, ITU-R and all the participating SDOs.

7.      Meetings
The remit of the Collaboration is to:
–       investigate issues related to standards for communications required for
ITS applications –       accelerate the development of globally harmonized,
interoperable standards for ITS communications

The Collaboration meetings are opportunities to also exchange information and
keep experts updated on ITS standardization.  The representatives of involved
SDOs are invited to submit to the Collaboration meetings status reports on ITS
standardization ongoing in their respective organizations.  The Chair will
allocate time in the agenda of the Collaboration meetings to present and
discuss any issue related to these status reports.

In addition, the Collaboration Management will try to organize workshops and
events on ITS back to back with the Collaboration meetings to maximize
resources and foster participation in the Collaboration

Collaboration meeting venue and dates shall be proposed by the Collaboration
Chair and consensus shall be sought among Collaboration Participants. To the
extent practical, meeting dates and locations will be co-ordinated with other
ITU, or ITS related meetings to maximize expert participation.

The host will make an effort to allow for remote participation.

All decisions concerning venue and meeting dates shall be in accordance with
the intent of Section ‎2.

8.      Documents and contributions
The Collaboration shall maintain a document registry and electronic
distribution archive (e.g., an e-mail reflector for circulation of all
documents and discussion) using ITU’s electronic infrastructure.  The registry
and archive shall be linked to the ITU web sites, as well as to the web sites
of Participating SDOs in the Collaboration.  The ITU Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau (TSB) will assist the Collaboration Management with
secretarial tasks.

Participants intending to submit a document for discussion at a particular
meeting should make that document available to all meeting participants at
least seven calendar days before the meeting through the use of electronic
document handling.  A registration deadline several days in advance of the
start of the meeting shall be announced for each meeting.  A “late or
unannounced” document shall be accepted only with the consensus of the meeting
participants, or otherwise deferred to a subsequent meeting.  This policy shall
be stated in the invitation letter that is provided for every meeting to all
participants.

All Collaboration documents and contributions shall be available to
Collaboration Participants in electronic form.  Participating SDOs may make the
documents and contributions available to their membership.

9.      Working methods – general policies and procedures
Each Collaboration meeting will determine by consensus any action needed to
advise on any work item and/or other standardization initiatives, subject of
the Collaboration review.

10.     Patent and copyright issues
The “Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC”  and the related “Guidelines
for Implementation of the Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC”  apply.
ITU will jointly hold copyright with the Participating SDO of the texts
developed jointly by the Collaboration.

11.     Liaison statements
The Collaboration shall conduct liaison communications.  All incoming liaison
statements (LSs) received by the ITU groups that have relevance to the
Collaboration work shall be forwarded to the Collaboration.  SDOs participating
in the Collaboration are encouraged to also forward relevant LSs they receive
to the Collaboration.  Collaboration outgoing liaison statements are approved
by consensus of the Collaboration participants and dispatched by the
Collaboration Secretariat.

12.     Promotion and public relations activities
Any public relations or promotional activities initiated by the Collaboration
shall be approved by the Collaboration Management.

13.     Reporting
A meeting report shall be provided by the Collaboration Chair within 14 days
after the conclusion of each meeting and made available electronically to
Collaboration Participants.

14.     Dissolution
The Collaboration may be dissolved by consensus of the Collaboration Management.