As UKTIN extends its innovation agenda to include a working group for telecoms standards, a call for members to apply to join and/or chair the standards leadership group opens today.
It’s widely recognised that the telecoms supply chain has become vulnerable to commercial and geo-political shocks. Diversifying the supply chain to increase its resilience is part of the UK Government’s response. Diversification, of course, implies greater involvement for the SME sector, a recognised engine of growth for most industries. The UKTIN Standards Working Group is being established to support SMEs looking to innovate within the supply chain, and to help crystallise the economic value of that innovation in intellectual property as related to telecoms standards.
To achieve this, our Standards Working Group will comprise both a leadership group - who will bring their experience in the standards space to drive the activities of the group - and a client group - primarily SMEs who are new to the world of standards but curious to learn more.
Specifically, the leadership group, with the support of UKTIN’s Standards Champion and consortium partners, will guide the delivering of the working group’s four major activities:
- Standards Development Organisation (SDO) monitoring
- A Workshop Series aimed at upskilling UK SMEs in the standards making process
- IPR Advice Seminars
- Events, Publicity and Dissemination
We are now looking to recruit 10-15 individuals to form this leadership group. Successful applicants will be drawn from UK-based organisations with experience in telecoms standards making and hold, or have recently held, senior roles in their host organisations' standards participation. It’s intended that the group should cover a wide range of telecoms technologies, in line with the UKTIN remit including fixed, mobile, non-terrestrial, licensed and unlicensed spectrum and so on.
Specifically we are looking for individuals who can provide not only demonstrable expertise, but also strategic thinking and a collaborative ethos.
The leadership group will meet quarterly so members must be able to sign up to that time commitment in addition to, on an ad hoc basis, attending relevant open calls and participating in workshop activities by agreement.
More about the Standards Working Group agenda
The Standards Working Group agenda comprises the four major activities noted above.
The Workshop Series is intended to run in synchrony with the SDO Monitoring function and provide a forum for UK SMEs to learn about the nuts and bolts of standards participation, where they can find space for common cause in their approach to standardisation, and begin to attend SDO meetings with a view to getting their IPR adopted. In doing so, we are following an industry association model where companies can support each other in the process, find common ground and form the necessary alliances. The group will select, in collaboration with UKTIN, the SDOs to be monitored and workshop meetings will be organised accordingly.
The Advice Seminars, given by industry professionals, will upskill SMEs in the strategy and practice of identifying protectable and valuable Intellectual Property, defending against patent trolls, the differences between essential and commercial IP, the importance of FRAND and so on. The detailed content of these seminars will be guided by the leadership group.
Members of the standards group will therefore have the unique opportunity, as recognised experts within their fields, to input into discussions that will shape UK wide approaches to benefit the wider ecosystem.
UKTIN will provide a full secretariat function, ensuring the smooth operational running of group meetings, working with members and the chair to coordinate meetings, set and summarise discussion points.
How To Apply
Please submit your CV or a link to your LinkedIn profile along with 300 words outlining your suitability to enquiries@uktin.net.
Please be sure to:
- Use “Standards Working Group Recruitment” in the subject line;
- Let us know if you would like to be considered as Chair of the Group.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm 30th September 2023.
We are committed to providing equality and fairness for all and not to discriminate on grounds of gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, mental health, or age.
We want to ensure diversity across our Working Groups and are keen to understand what you will bring from your own background and experience (beyond your professional knowledge and skills).
All applicants will be reviewed against a standard criteria by a panel made up of members of the UKTIN team.
