ETSI standards creation process

The need to create a standard is identified by an ETSI member or group of members, who submit their proposal to the relevant technical committee. It is referred to as a 'work item' and a 'new work item form' is filled in for approval by the technical committee and the ETSI membership.

New Work Item Form Adoption

Among other criteria, the new work item form defines:

• ETSI deliverable type
• title, scope and schedule of the work item
• the person responsible for drafting the standard, referred to as a 'rapporteur'
• ETSI full members who actively support the work.

Once the work item has been adopted by the technical body, the information contained in the new work item form is entered into a database and made visible to all via the ETSI work programme application. It is flagged as 'new' for up to two months, enabling all ETSI members to check they agree with new work items.

If after this period of time there are no objections from ETSI members, the work item is considered adopted by the membership.

Drafting of the standard

Once the work item adoption phase is complete, drafting of the standard can begin. Drafting can take from one month to over a year depending on the scope, length and controversy of its content. The standard then enters into the appropriate approval process according to its delievrable type.