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Ecma International

Ecma International
AbbreviationEcma
Formation1961
TypeStandards organization
Purpose/focusStandardization of Information and Communication Technology and Consumer Electronics
HeadquartersGeneva
Region servedWorldwide
Official languagesEnglish
President / Secretary GeneralMs. Josée Auber / Dr. Istvàn Sebestyén
Key peopleMr. K. Yamashita, Mr. D. Mc. Allister, Ms. I. Valet-Harper
Main organGeneral Assembly
Budgetby membership dues
Websitewww.ecma-international.org

Ecma International is an international, private (membership-based) non-profit standards organization for information and communication systems.[1] It acquired its current name in 1994, when the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) changed its name to reflect the organization's global reach and activities. As a consequence, the name is no longer considered an acronym and no longer uses full capitalization.

The organization was originally founded in 1961 to standardize computer systems in Europe. Membership is open to large and small companies worldwide that produce, market or develop computer or communication systems, and have interest and experience in the areas addressed by the group's technical bodies. It is located in Geneva.

Contents

Aims

Ecma aims to develop standards and technical reports to facilitate and standardize the use of information communication technology and consumer electronics; encourage the correct use of standards by influencing the environment in which they are applied; and publish these standards and reports in electronic and printed form. Ecma publications, including standards, can be freely copied by all interested parties without copyright restrictions. The development of standards and technical reports is done in co-operation with the appropriate national, European and international organisations.

Unlike national standardization bodies, Ecma is a membership-based organization. It takes pride in the resulting "business-like" approach to standards, claimed to lead to better standards in less time, thanks to a less bureaucratic process focused on achieving results by consensus.

For over 50 years Ecma has actively contributed to worldwide standardization in information technology and telecommunications. More than 400 Ecma Standards and 100 Technical Reports have been published, more than 2/3 of which have also been adopted as international standards and/or technical reports.

The memberlist of Ecma International is available here.[2]

Standards

Main article: List of Ecma standards

Ecma International is currently responsible for several standards, including the following:

Java programming language

Although Sun Microsystems submitted its Java programming language to Ecma, Sun subsequently withdrew the submission. Thus, Ecma is not responsible for the standardization of Java.[14]

Office Open XML formats

Ecma is involved in the standardization of the Ecma Office Open XML format based on the XML office document formats by Microsoft. The Ecma Office Open XML maintenance process is currently performed by technical committee 45 (TC45).

Eco Declaration

In Ecma International Standard 370, Ecma joined forces with the Scandinavian IT Eco Declaration organisation to put forward a guideline for informing consumers about the environmental practices of the manufacturers of ICT and consumer electronics products.

The IT Eco Declaration includes information on the environmental practices of the manufacturer as well as product features, such as environmentally conscious design, batteries, acoustic noise, electrical safety, energy consumption, chemical emissions, substances and materials included, and packaging. This makes it easy to compare different suppliers and their products, as they all present the environmental features of their products in the same way, through a common industry standard reporting form.

See also

  • List of Ecma standards
  • European Committee for Standardization

References

  1. ^ Ecma By-laws
  2. ^ Ecma Members
  3. ^ "Volume and File Structure of CDROM for Information Interchange". Ecma International. December 1987. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/Ecma-119.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  4. ^ "Standard ECMA-262, ECMAScript Language Specification". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/ecma-262.htm. Retrieved December 1999.
  5. ^ "Standard ECMA-334, C# Language Specification". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/ecma-334.htm. Retrieved June 2005.
  6. ^ "Standard ECMA-335, Common Language Infrastructure (CLI)". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/Ecma-335.htm. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
  7. ^ "Standard ECMA-341, Environmental design considerations for electronic products". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/Ecma-341.htm. Retrieved December 2004.
  8. ^ "Standard ECMA-363, Universal 3D File Format". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/Ecma-363.htm. Retrieved August 2005.
  9. ^ "Standard ECMA-367, Eiffel analysis, design and programming Language". Ecma International. http://www.ecma-international.org/pub lications/standards/Ecma-367.htm. Retrieved June 2005.
  10. ^ Standard ECMA-372
  11. ^ Standard ECMA-377
  12. ^ Standard ECMA-378
  13. ^ Standard ECMA-388
  14. ^ "Sun to retain grip on Java". Infoworld Electric. December 8, 1999. http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw -12-1999/jw-12-iw-standard2.html.

External links

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