The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has signed an agreement with key Asian standards developers that will mean new technologies come to market quicker and at lower cost. ARIB (Japan), CCSA (China), TTA (Korea) and TTC (Japan) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ITU recognizing it as the pre-eminent global ICT standards body. The agreement seeks to smooth the way for regional standards, developed in these four key regional bodies, to be internationally recognized.
The MoU will build on the good relationship ITU has built with all four bodies over many years, increase transparency between the organizations, avoid duplication of work and increase efficiency in the publication of standards. All of this means that product manufacturers will be able to more efficiently incorporate globally standardized solutions in their products, leading to greater economies of scale and lower costs to consumers.
The agreement will bring better access for ARIB, CCSA, TTA and TTC to international standards-making activities, allowing all partners to profit from information sharing on the standardization aspects of nascent technologies. The MoU will also encourage the identification of topics for joint work programmes in order to avoid duplication.
Dr. Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, said, "China, Japan and Korea have been at the forefront of the development of many of the technologies that underpin the information society. At the same time, all three countries have shown a commitment to the development of the international standards that provide the interoperability needed to seamlessly connect the world. This agreement cements the relationship between ITU and four premier standards organizations in the region."