Administrative Procedures for Creating an IEEE Standard
A Guide to SESC Working Groups
Prepared by the IEEE Software Engineering Standards Committee
Dedicated to the memory of Fletcher J. Buckley
Release 2.0, July 14, 2003
Table of Contents
1. Overview 2
1.1. Scope 2
1.2. Purpose 2
1.3. Outline of Guide 2
2. References 3
2.1. IEEE Official Documents 3
2.2. SESC Documents Governing Standards Production 4
2.2.1. SESC Policies 4
2.2.2. SESC Procedures 4
2.3. Existing Standards 4
2.4. SESC Management Board 5
3. Definitions 5
3.1. Acronyms 5
4. Fundamental Principles of Standards Development 5
5. SESC Policies and Procedures 6
6. Standards Development Process 7
6.1. Creation of a Working Group 7
6.2. Preparation of the PAR 9
6.3. Project Plan 9
6.4. Creation of a Design Specification 10
6.5. Working Group / Management Board Liaison 10
6.6. Semi-Annual Reports 11
6.7. Readiness Review 11
6.8. Balloting 12
6.9. Ballot Comment Resolution 13
6.10. Process Completion 14
Annex A. Lessons Learned 15
Annex B. A Practical Guide for Developing IEEE Standards 18
B.1. Documentation 18
B.2. Balloting Groups 18
B.2.1 Negative Votes on Informative Clauses 19
B.3. Openness in the Standards Development Process 19
B.3.1 Proactive Contributors and People Who Prefer the Sidelines 20
B.3.2 Electronic Communication versus Face-to-Face Meetings 20
B.4. Guidance for Editing Standards Documents for Balloting 21
B.4.1 Introduction 21
B.4.2 Process Factors 21
B.4.3 Header (on each page) 21
B.4.4 Footer (on each page) 22
B.4.5 Statement to Appear Just before the Abstract 22
B.4.6 Technical Factors 22
B.4.7 Non-Textual Information in the Ballot Draft 23
B.4.8 Converting from Word to PDF 23
Annex C. Guidance for Preparation of IEEE Standards 24
C.2.1 Invitation Stage 24
C.2.2 Sponsor Ballot Stage 25
C.2.3 Ballot Resolution 25
C.2.4 Recirculation Ballot 26
C.2.5 Other Useful Links 26
Annex D. List of Changes from Version 1.0 27
1. Overview
1.1. Scope
This Guide applies to all Working Groups operating under the sponsorship of the Software Engineering Standards Committee (SESC). It does not apply to SESC Planning Groups or Study Groups, since the latter do not create IEEE standards.
1.2. Purpose
This Guide is intended to assist Working Groups in the conduct of business, in order to reduce the administrative problems that accompany the creation of a standard. The rules imposed by this Guide are derived from IEEE-SA Standards Board policies and procedures (P&P), and are meant to be compatible with them. SESC has adopted a set of policies and procedures that are consistent with the Standards Board policies and procedures. Both the IEEE P&P and the SESC P&P apply to all new and revision standards projects that SESC sponsors. All SESC Working Groups are expected to follow these policies and procedures. In the event of a conflict between the SESC P&P and the IEEE P&P, the IEEE P&P shall prevail.
1.3. Outline of Guide
This Guide consists of five main sections and three annexes. These are as follows:
· Section 2 lists various references that should be used by the Working Group while preparing the standard. There are a number of official IEEE documents that govern the preparation and balloting of standards; these are available on an IEEE Web site. SESC has prepared a number of additional policy and procedure documents that govern the software engineering standards development process; these are available on the SESC Web site. Some additional documents are also listed for guidance.
· Section 3 lists the acronyms used in the Guide.
· Section 4 describes several fundamental principles that govern the production of IEEE standards. The two most important principles are openness and consensus; both are discussed in this section.
· Section 5 describes the purpose of the SESC policies and procedures, and introduces the SESC Management Board, which oversees the actual production of software engineering standards.
· Section 6 describes in some detail the steps that must be used to create a new or revised standard. These steps are intended to ensure that both IEEE and SESC policies and procedures are followed, and to ensure the highest possible quality in software engineering standards.
· Annex A lists some “lessons learned” over the years that can help reduce the number of negative votes on ballots. If these are followed, there should be few (if any) negative ballots for non-technical reasons. The purpose is to encourage balloters to concentrate on the technical substance of the new or revised standard, not on stylistic problems.
· Annex B provides a “Practical Guide for Developing IEEE Standards,” prepared by Norman F. Schneidewind based on his 20 years’ experience developing IEEE standards. Dr. Schneidewind’s suggestions, if properly followed, will greatly simplify the standards preparation and balloting process
· Annex D lists the changes that have made to this Guide since the previous version, Release 1.0, published April 7, 2000.
2. References
2.1. IEEE Official Documents
The following documents are included in this Guide by reference. Working Groups must adhere to these documents. Dates are for the latest editions as of the date this Guide was written; if later editions exist, they should be used. These documents can be found on the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Web Page, at http://standards.ieee.org/resources/index.html#guides.
- IEEE Standards Style Manual, April 2002. From a practical viewpoint, this document has the most effect on the actual drafting of a standard. A Working Group must follow its prescriptions.
- IEEE-SA Standards Association Operations Manual, July 2002.
- IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws, January 2002.
- IEEE Standards Companion, January 2003.
2.2. SESC Documents Governing Standards Production
In addition to the official IEEE-SA documents, the following SESC documents are included in this Guide by reference. Working Groups are strongly urged to become familiar with the documents, since they must be followed. These documents may be found on the SESC Web Page, at http://standards.computer.org/sesc/.
2.2.1. SESC Policies
SESC has adopted a set of policies that are used to set directions for standards development. See the SESC web page for the current set of policies.
2.2.2. SESC Procedures
The following procedures are used by the SESC to manage the effort of creating a new or revised standard.
SESC-02 Milestone Definition
SESC-03 Working Group Progress Reports
SESC-04 Project Plan Preparation
SESC-05 PAR Criteria
SESC-06 Project Plan Review
SESC-07 Design Specification Preparation
SESC-08 Design Specification Review
SESC-09 Project Readiness Review
SESC-15 Project Decision Log
SESC-16 SESC Ballot Formation
SESC-17 SESC Ballot Management
SESC-19 Direct Balloting
2.3. Existing Standards
It may happen that your standard is closely related to other existing standards. Indeed, this is likely to be the case – only a few SESC standards cover isolated topics. The Working Group should acquire any related standards; the Management Board Representative will help you identify them. Most existing SESC standards were printed as a single collection, Collection 1999, in early 1999, and this would be an effective way to learn about existing standards. (NOTE: THE 2003 Collection on CD-ROM should be available by mid-August.) In addition, SESC has sponsored a book by James Moore, Software Engineering Standards: A User's Road Map, IEEE Computer Society Press (1998). This describes the fundamental philosophy and organization that underlies the technical standards, and the working group is strongly advised to obtain a copy.
2.4. SESC Management Board
Your most valuable resource may be the person on the SESC Management Board that is responsible for your project. Every standards project undertaken by SESC has a representative on the Management Board that is responsible for overseeing the successful completion of the project. You should feel free to ask this person for help and advice. Creating or revising a standard is a fairly complex process, subject to many rules, and there are many places where the project can stray.
Management Board members are elected for two-year terms. Each term begins in July. Half the Board is elected in odd-numbered years, and half in even-numbered years. Current members can be found on the SESC Web Site.
3. Definitions
3.1. Acronyms
· EIA – Electronics Industry Alliance
· Ex Com – SESC Executive Committee
· IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
· MB – SESC Management Board
· P&P – Policies and Procedures
· PAR – Project Authorization Request
· SA – IEEE Standards Association
· SB – IEEE-SA Standards Board
· SE – Software engineering
· SES – Software engineering standard
· SESC – Software Engineering Standards Committee
· WG – Working Group
4. Fundamental Principles of Standards Development
The development of a new or revised standard has a defined life cycle, analogous to the one used to develop software. A number of organizations get involved in the development process along the way: the Working Group (WG), the SESC Management Board (MB), the SESC Executive Committee (Ex Com), the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), the IEEE-SA Standards Board (SB), and (perhaps the most important group) the Ballot Group. Each of these organizations has a defined role in the development of the standard.
Communication among the organizations takes place primarily through the transmission of information in the form of documents, which become official records of the development. Much of this is to ensure that IEEE P&P are followed, and to be able to demonstrate after the completion of a project that the P&P have been followed.
One fundamental principle behind the administrative procedures is that of openness – it is absolutely required that all interested persons have an opportunity to participate in the standards development process. The SB Bylaws require (Clause 5.2.1.1) that “all meetings involving standards shall be open to all interested parties.”
A second fundamental principle is that of consensus. This term is described in the SB Bylaws (Clause 2.1) as follows: “Consensus is established when, in the judgment of the IEEE-SA Standards Board, substantial agreement has been reached by directly and materially affected interest categories. Substantial agreement means much more than a simple majority, but not necessarily unanimity. Consensus requires that all views and objections be considered, and that a concerted effort be made toward their resolution.” Ultimately, consensus is measured by broad agreement to the standard by the Ballot Group.
One intent of the IEEE administrative procedures that the Working Group is expected to follow is to enable a demonstration that these two principles have been obeyed. Note that this is a legal requirement, and is necessary (among other things) to protect the IEEE, SESC and the Working Group members from restraint of trade legal action.
The SB delegates much of the responsibility for ensuring that its policies and procedures are followed to sponsor organizations. A sponsor is responsible for oversight of any of its assigned standards, including overseeing coordination and balloting (SB Bylaws Clause 5.2.2.2). SESC is a recognized sponsor of software engineering standards.
5. SESC Policies and Procedures
The SESC has established a series of policies and procedures designed to (1) ensure that software engineering standards development processes follow the SB rules, (2) ensure that the resulting standards are of high technical quality, and (3) ensure that the entire collection of software engineering standards is made up of mutually consistent and supporting standards. Most of the actual oversight of software engineering standards has been delegated by SESC to a seven-member elected Management Board. Each development project is assigned to one MB member, who has primary responsibility for assisting the Working Group in performing its technical work in a manner that meets the rules of the SB and SESC. The assigned Management Board representative will be available to guide the working group through the entire standards development process. Since the MB is not automatically open to “all interested parties,” it does not become directly involved in the technical work; its role is one of standards management, administrative oversight and overall direction. (The Ballot Group evaluates the technical work.)
In particular, the Management Board can implement the strategies of SESC by controlling the statements of scope and purpose in submitted PARs. (See Section 6.2 below.) The Management Board can then enforce the achievement of those statements in the actual standards. It can formulate mechanisms for integration and consistency and enforce those mechanisms.
6. Standards Development Process
Certain administrative steps occur during the development of a new or revised standard. These are discussed in this clause, and are illustrated in Figure 1. IEEE-SA provides a graphic summary of the process, called “Standards Process at a Glance,” with links to supporting forms and a Microsoft Word template for a standard. See: http://standards.ieee.org/resources/glance.html. A complete, step-by-step explanation of the standards development process is available at: http://standards.ieee.org/resources/development/index.html.
IEEE created a Standards Association in 1997, and has imposed two membership requirements that affect Working Groups. First, the Working Group “Official Reporter” must be a member of the Standards Association; in most cases this will be the Working Group Chair. Second, everyone in the ballot group for a standard must belong to the Standards Association. These two requirements are not negotiable.
6.1. Creation of a Working Group
A Working Group is created by SESC when, in the judgment of SESC, a new software engineering standard would be useful to the technical community, or when an existing software engineering standard needs to be revised. The initial impetus for a Working Group may come from some individual who champions the need for the new standard, or from SESC itself. In either case, the procedures are the same.
A Working Group consists of some number of members, with certain designated officers. The size may vary – from a few people for a small technical revision to hundreds for an important new standard project. Each Working Group must have a Chair, appointed by the SESC Chair, who is responsible for ensuring that the standard project succeeds and follows the P&P of the IEEE SB and SESC. The Chair must be a member of the IEEE Standards Association.[1] Additional officers are a secretary, responsible for correspondence, meeting minutes and similar matters, and an editor, responsible for the actual writing of the draft standard. It is permitted for one individual to serve as more than one officer – indeed, one person could serve all three roles. (This is reasonable, for example, for a small Working Group.) Note that these responsibilities are those delegated by SESC, which remains responsible to the IEEE SB for the draft standard.