During the November meeting, JTC 1 members voted unanimously to create a Study Group on Smart Cities, in response to significant and growing interest in standardization activities in this area. The study group is expected to: establish a definition of Smart Cities, outline related terminology and describe key Smart cities concepts; investigate Smart Cities-related societal, market, and technological needs for ICT standardization; examine current technologies in use in connection with Smart Cities activities; develop a proposal for how JTC 1 should address ICT standardization needs in connection with Smart Cities; and deliver a report with recommendations on these subjects at the 2014 JTC 1 Plenary meeting. China's Yuan Yuan was chosen to serve as the Study Group's Convenor and a call for participation is underway, with JTC 1 National Bodies and Liaisons, invited standards setting organizations, and other groups among the expected participants.
JTC 1 voted to establish a new Subcommittee focused on IT service management and IT governance. ISO/IEC JTC 1 Subcommittee (SC) 40, IT Service Management and IT Governance, replaced JTC 1 Working Group (WG) 8, Governance of IT, and JTC 1 SC 7, Software and systems engineering, WGs 25, IT Service management, and 27, IT enabled services/BPO (ITES/BPO), as of December 1, 2013. The new Subcommittee is expected to develop standards and other documents connected to digital forensics, audits, risk management, governance, and service maintenance, among other related IT topics. As part of its work, SC 40 will maintain liaison relationships established by the JTC 1 groups it replaces and will establish liaison relationships with a number of other JTC 1 subcommittees, ISO committees, and other outside groups. Australia was selected to hold the Subcommittee's Secretariat and Australia's John Sheridan will serve as its first Chair.
In addition, JTC 1 members unanimously voted to create a Study Group on Big Data, where collections of data are so large and complicated that special organizational tools and approaches are required for their effective management. The new group will look at relevant standards and other documents from ISO, IEC, JTC 1, and other standards developing bodies in connection with big data. It is also expected to assess current standardization requirements for big data, define related definitions and key terms, and submit a report containing recommendations in these areas at the 2014 JTC 1 plenary meeting. The U.S.'s Wo Chang, digital data advisor for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Information Technology Library, will serve as the study group's convenor.
JTC 1 also approved a new document, JTC 1 N11798, About ISO/IEC JTC 1, to replace three existing documents providing information about JTC 1's mission, operating principles, and the value of its activities. The new document will be posted on JTC 1's website and is expected to be widely disseminated by JTC 1 members and other related entities as part of an effort to improve awareness about JTC 1 and its important work.
A full list of the resolutions approved at the November plenary meeting is available online. The next JTC 1 Plenary meeting will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on November 15-20, 2014.