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ICT Standards and Regulation

Israeli ICT Sector Perspectives

Daniel Rosenne, rosenned@netvision.net.il

Chairman, Central ICT Standardization Committee, Standards Institution of Israel

November 5th, 2007

2007 World Electronics Forum

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Israel’s ICT 2006

182,000 employees6.5% of total workforce

Sector GDP NIS 62.4 billion17% of business sector GDP

ICT sector exports $ 15.6 billion26% of total exports

NIS 16 billion R&D investmentSource: CBS, 2007

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Israel’s Trade 2006Export dominated by high-tech products to large markets

21%

36%

27%

18%13%

31%

37%

33%19%

15%

31%21%

14%7%

By Geographical RegionBy Technology Intensity

48%

28%

Israel Medium-high tech

Low tech

High tech

Medium-low tech

European Union

North America

Asia Israel

All other2006 totals (without diamonds):Exports: $29.3 billionImports: $34.7 billion

Source: CBS, 2007

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Standards Role - Promote Business

Standards as an enabler for networks and services development

Standards as a tool for market development

Conformity assessment as a barrier to trade

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Standards as an Enabler

Standards support trade and access to markets, shape technology and stimulate productivity and innovation

Standards promote development, especially in complex high-tech ICT environment

Compatibility / interoperability standards are key enablers for the ICT sector

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Standards as a Tool

Market fragmentation and decreased productivity caused by conflicting standards

Increased risk and uncertainty due to lack of standards

High costs of being on the wrong side in a “standards war”Large multinationals always win…

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Standards for Customer Empowerment

Standards are trusted by their users

Standards are important for ICT services customer satisfaction

Key standardization areas: Quality of services (QoS) and service level agreements

(SLAs) Truth in billing Interconnection and compatibility Customer portability (between service providers) Cyber security Local issues - language, common data formats, etc.

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Conformity Assessment as a Barrier to Trade

Significant proportion of products require conformity assessment in importing country Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) and

marking prove unsatisfactory

The concept of “one product, one test, accepted everywhere”, is wishful thinking

Israeli approach - mutual recognition: By conformity assessment bodies

By governments and regulators

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Israeli ICT Sector Viewpoint

Standards are an important productivity tool Israeli standardization priority - adoption of international standards

“Original” standardization is limited to unique local conditions (Hebrew language implementation, etc.)

Increased Israeli participation in international standardization efforts, in areas where Israel offers unique technology advantage

Technical regulation should be based on standards Deviation from international standards should be limited to special cases

National conformity assessment should be reduced to essential public safety requirements Mutual recognition among conformity assessment bodies, accepted by

regulatory bodies, is key for the reduction of trade barriers

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The EndThanks for your attention