JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3009
L2/05-293

BUSINESS PLAN FOR JTC 1/SC 2

PREPARED: 2005-10-04

PERIOD COVERED: September 2004 - September 2005

SUBMITTED BY: Tatsuo L. KOBAYASHI, Chair of JTC 1/SC 2

1. MANAGEMENT SUMMARY:

1.1 JTC 1/ SC 2 STATEMENT OF SCOPE

Title: Coded Character Sets

Scope: Standardization of graphic character sets and their characteristics, including string ordering, associated control functions, their coded representation for information interchange and code extension techniques. Excluded: audio and picture coding.

 

1.2 PROJECT REPORT

Total Number of Projects: 55 (including subprojects)

New subproject: 2

-          ISO/IEC 14651/Amd 3, International string ordering and comparison -- Method for comparing character strings and description of the common template tailorable ordering -- Amendment 3

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 3, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) -- Amendment 3: Lepcha, Ol Chiki, Vai, Saurashtra, and other characters

New revision work: None

Withdrawn project: None


1.3 COOPERATION AND COMPETITION

SC 2 is the key organization in the area of coded character set standardization, and has official liaisons with the following organizations.

Internal Liaison

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22

Programming Languages, their Environments and System Software Interfaces

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31

Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32

Data Management and Interchange

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35

User Interface

ISO/TC 37/SC 2

Terminography and Lexicography

ISO/TC 46/SC 4

Information and documentation – Technical interoperability

ISO/TC 211

Geographic information/Geomatics

External Liaison

CCSDS

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems 

B

CEC

Commission of European Communities 

A

CEN/TC 304 (Dormant)

European Localization Requirements

 

HK ITF

Hong Kong Information Technology Federation 

C

IETF/ISOC

Internet Society

A

ITU-T

International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector 

A

TCA

Taipei Computer Association 

C

UNCTAD

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

A

UNICODE

The Unicode Consortium 

C

UNU/IIST 

United Nations University International Institute for Software Technologies

C

UN-ECE

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

A

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium

C

WIPO

World Intellectual Property Organization 

B

WMO

World Meteorological Organization 

B

Among those SCs and organizations, SC 2 has close relationship with JTC 1/SC 22, JTC 1/SC 35 and ISO TC 46.

SC 2 has IRG (Ideographic Rapporteur Group) under its WG 2. This Rapporteur group focuses its work to Eastern Asia’s ideographic characters, i.e. Han-characters. The participants are not limited to P-member NBs but other related countries and areas are also actively participating as liaison members or observers; TCA (Taiwan) and HKITF (Hong Kong) are C-Liaisons and Macao is an observer. TCA and HKITF have provided important contributions.

Recently, IRG began preliminary research work for encoding of Old Hanzi characters. In this activity, several experts from universities and academic institutes such as Beijing Normal University, East China Normal University, Kyoto University, Waseda University, Hualien Teachers College, are involved.

Besides these official relationships, SC 2 has active and close relationships with UNESCO and several academic institutions, such as UC Berkeley, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and so on, to develop particular minority and historic scripts such as Balinese, N’Ko, and Cuneiform.

In consideration of important relationship, SC 2 has a plan to establish a new official liaison with UNESCO.

2.0 PERIOD REVIEW

2.1 MARKET REQUIREMENTS

Coded character sets and their orderings are basic infrastructure for all information and communication technologies.

Lately, because of the rapid spread of information technologies, especially Internet technologies, UCS is widely used throughout the entire world. The importance of universal coded character set is acknowledged among governmental sectors, industrial sectors and open source communities.

The number of standards which refer to UCS and actual implementations based on UCS are increasing rapidly. In these circumstances, requests to keep consistencies between UCS and referring standards are increasing.

On the other hand, potential requests from user groups of minority and historic scripts are still strong. In these days, almost all scripts for currently used major and national languages are already encoded. However, there are huge number of dialects and minority languages. Some of them are in danger of extinction. Moreover, the user groups of these languages are mostly poor and have few chances to claim their requirements.

 

2.2 ACHIEVEMENTS

Projects progressed to Publication stage:

 

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 1, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character set (UCS) -- Amendment 1:  Glagolitic, Coptic, Georgian and other characters

 

Projects progressed to FDAM:

 

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 2, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) -- Amendment 2: N’Ko, Phoenician, Cuneiform, Phags-pa scripts, and other characters

 

-  ISO/IEC 14651/Amd 2, International string ordering and comparison -- Method for comparing character strings and description of the common template tailorable ordering -- Amendment 2

 

Projects progressed to FPDAM:

 

-  ISO/IEC 14651: 2001/Amd 3, International string ordering and comparison -- Method for comparing character strings and description of the common template tailorable ordering -- Amendment 3

 

Projects to be progressed to a concurrent NP/PDAM ballot:

 

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 3, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) -- Amendment 3: Lepcha, Ol Chiki, Vai, Saurashtra, and other characters

 

2.3 RESOURCES

From the view point of the active work items, SC 2 has only five work items. AMD 1, AMD 2, AMD 3 of ISO/IEC 10646, and AMD 2 as well as AMD 3 of ISO/IEC 14651.

However, the number of P-members, O-members, and related organizations are quite a few. In this sense, SC2 is one of the largest and most active SCs in JTC 1. The number of current P-member National Bodies is 32 and O-member National Bodies is 14. There are not a few invited participants in WG meetings and plenary meetings from developing countries, which have no official membership but have script expertise.

SC 2 and its WG 2 have assigned officials, and all developing projects also have assigned officials. SC 2 has sufficient resources.

3.0 FOCUS FOR THIS PLANNING PERIOD

3.1 DELIVERABLES:

The following Amendments to ISO/IEC 10646 and ISO/IEC 14651 will be published.

-  ISO/IEC 14651: 2001/Amd 2, International string ordering and comparison -- Method for comparing character strings and description of the common template tailorable ordering -- Amendment 2

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 1, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character set (UCS) -- Amendment 1: Glagolitic, Coptic, Georgian and other characters

-  ISO/IEC 10646: 2003/Amd 2, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) -- Amendment 2: N’Ko, Phoenician, Cuneiform, Phags-pa scripts, and

3.2 STRATEGIES:

SC 2 should focus in the following six issues;

1) Quick and precise standardization of newly proposed characters and scripts, especially proposals from developing countries, user groups of minority and historic scripts.

Note: SC 2/WG 2 has its own guideline to accelerate standardization work and make the criteria of standardization clear to every experts and user communities as “Principles and Procedures for Allocation of New Characters and Scripts and handling of Defect Reports on Character Names” (SC 2/WG 2 N2952).

2) Synchronization of 14651 to 10646.

Note: 14651 has been developed and maintained by SC 2 directly. Practical editing work is being done by the editing group operated in accordance with JTC 1 directives as an OWG, called by the SC 2 secretariat and chaired by the project editor.

3) Maintaining consistency with countries' and areas' standards.

4) Maintaining consistency with related standards which refer SC 2’s standards.

5) Establish relationship with real user group of targeted scripts and characters.

6) Public availability of 14651 and 10646 to promote other standards, applications, systems conformed to 10646 and 14651.

 

3.2.1 RISKS

1) RISK: Possibility of standardization without feedback from the real user community.

SOLUTION: Effort to establish relationship with the real user community.

Note: On development of Balinese (A dialect of Indonesia), there have been strong supports from UNESCO and Department of Linguistics UC Berkeley. They also made great effort to contact the Indonesian national body for JTC 1 (National Standardization Agency, Indonesia). Consequently, the Indonesian NB sent a positive comment on Balinese standardization although it had not been P-member of SC 2, and it changed its status from O-member to P-member.

2) RISK: Delay of synchronization of other standards which closely refer UCS.

STRATEGY: Promote quick publication of standards, together with the information disclosure of newly standardized scripts and characters.

3) RISK: Contradictions between international standards and country standards when referencing each other.

SOLUTIONS:

-                   Close relationships between SC 2 and each national body.

-                   Public availability of international standards, free of charge as equivalent standards, such as The Unicode Standard is freely available on-line.

-                   Maintenance of the mapping information between international standards and local standards.

 

3.2.2 OPPORTUNITIES

1.              Expansion of usage in vast technical areas such as XML, Programming and Scripting Languages, Internet, e-Government etc and in a very broad global business application environment that positively impacts developed as well as developing countries such as the U.S., Japan, China, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and many others.

2.              Consolidation and harmonization of huge coded character sets.

3.              Infrastructure for improvement of information and communication technology in developing countries, areas and minority scripts users.

4.              Support as ICT environment for vast area of academic research.

 

3.3 WORK PROGRAM PRIORITIES

All working programs have been developed simultaneously, and ISO/IEC14651 should catch up the modification and additional repertoires of ISO/IEC 10646 as quickly as possible.