Page 26 - 3GPP_Highlights_I4

A LOOK INSIDE

PROCEDURES

FOR THE NEW AGE

By Stephen Hayes, 3GPP Working Procedures
Group Chair

The 3GPP Working Procedures is the key foundational Getting the vote
document of 3GPP. They describe the roles of key groups such
as the Project Coordination Group, the Technical Specification Another item that required fixing was voting. Previously, voting
Groups and their Working Groups. They also describe the was always done at f2f meetings. You could vote by proxy, but
responsibilities of the 3GPP partners, chairs, vice-chairs, the vote had to be cast in person by the person carrying the
individual members, delegates, and the supporting staff in the proxy. The introduction of electronic voting made voting easier,
3GPP Mobile Competence Centre. but it still required attendance at a f2f meeting. The Working
Procedures were changed to allow voting during e-meetings.
There is a lot in the Working Procedures, right down to However, due to time zone issues, the time window for voting
the description of processes for voting, elections, project was extended to 18 hours. Proxy voting existed as a concept for
management, dispute resolution, etc. They do no less than f2f meetings since sometimes it was not possible to attend a f2f
codify the principles of fairness, openness, and compromise that meetings. For voting at e-meetings, proxies are not allowed.
have made 3GPP so effective as a standards body.
Making a commitment
But the Working Procedures are not a static document and as
the standardization environment changes, so do the Working A final significant fix was voting rights. The ability to vote was
Procedures. To ensure that they are well maintained, the based entirely on participation in f2f meetings. However, fixing
PCG has established a permanent subgroup “The Working the Working Procedures was not as simple as saying that an
Procedures Group” tasked with keeping them fit for use. e-meeting equals a physical meeting because one of the 3GPP
foundational principles was commitment. To gain voting rights
Covid-19 has provided the sternest test so far in a group you have to show commitment to a group.
When 3GPP was initially established it was based entirely With face-to-face meetings, Individual Members (IM) showed
on periodic face to face meetings. And although there were commitment by sending a delegate to participate in the
occasionally e-meetings held, all the formal processes defined group. With e-meetings, commitment was harder to quantify.
in the Working Procedures assumed physical attendance. Eventually a solution was developed that allowed voting rights
So essentially, the COVID-19 pandemic broke the Working to be obtained by participating in e-meetings. It was slightly
Procedures. harder to gain rights via e-meeting only participation and voting
The required fixes to the Working Procedures have been placed rights could be lost if an IM skipped all the f2f meetings and only
in a special annex (Annex I - Special procedures for exceptional attended e-meetings. Those changes were put into effect at the
situations restricting travel). It is expected that many of March 2022 Technical Specification Group meetings (TSGs#95-e).
these changes will be migrated into the body of the Working In addition, a pause on formal votes was initiated starting
Procedures, but the timeline for such a migration is not set. with the March 2022 meetings. This pause extends for the
first 2 meetings of each group (after the adoption of the new
rules) and is intended to allow those companies that were not
“With e-meetings, commitment was able to gain voting rights during the pandemic to gain rights
harder to quantify” and participate in any formal decision making. An additional
concept of voting rights hardship exemptions was established to
encourage f2f meetings whereby under certain circumstances
IMs that cannot attend a f2f meeting are not penalized for
One of the reasons for placing the changes into an annex is missing the meeting.
because these are fundamental changes to the way 3GPP has
worked for the last 20 years and it is desirable to trial these 3GPP came into existence in an environment where unrestricted
changes before making anything permanent. travel was the norm and developed a culture which maximized
the ability of delegates from around the world to work together.
One of the first items that needed to be fixed was the decision The f2f way of working and building consensus is enormously
making power of the e-meeting. 3GPP has two types of productive and has directly translated to the success of 3GPP.
meetings: ordinary and ad-hoc. Ordinary meetings have But as travel becomes more restricted and technological
decision power and are the primary types of meetings. Ad- alternatives to f2f meetings develop, 3GPP must adapt. The
hocs are special meetings called with a limited scope and have 3GPP Working Procedures Group is there to ensure that the
limited decision power. Any decisions they take are ratified at principles of fairness, openness, and compromise persist in a
a subsequent face-to-face (f2f) meeting. All e-meetings were changing environment.
originally considered ad-hocs. So, the first step was to give
e-meetings the ability to take decisions on their own. Within the The 3GPP Working Procedures are online at
Working Procedures, e-meetings can now be ordinary meetings https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Information/Working_Procedures
in their own right.
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26 3GP P Highlights ne w slet t er