Approved by the Standing Committee on Information Technologies at its sixth Plenary session on January 26, 2001
- Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT)
- IT Projects Working Group (ITPWG)
- Standards and Documentation Working Group (SDWG)
- Project Task Initiation
- Meeting Documentation
- Working Methods:
1. Subject to the following Special Rules of Procedure, the General Rules of Procedure of WIPO shall apply to the Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT).
2. The SCIT shall consist of a plenary session of the SCIT itself (hereinafter referred to as the “SCIT Plenary”) and certain working groups. The SCIT Plenary may establish or dissolve working groups, as appropriate, keeping the number of the working groups to a minimum.
3. All WIPO Member States as well as member States of the Paris Union or Berne Union that are not Member States of WIPO shall be members of the SCIT (i.e., the SCIT Plenary and its Working Groups). In addition, the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the European Patent Organization (EPO), the Benelux Trademark Office (BBM) and the Benelux Designs Office (BBDM), the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), and the European Communities (on account of its responsibilities in respect of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)) shall be members of the SCIT, provided that they shall not have the right to vote.
4. The Director General of WIPO may and, if so requested by the SCIT Plenary, shall invite, as observers, interested intergovernmental organizations (other than member organizations mentioned above) and interested international and national non-governmental organizations, as well as organizations providing information services in the field of intellectual property information, which are not accredited with observer status at WIPO meetings.
5. The SCIT Plenary shall have a Chair and two Vice-Chairs and shall elect them for a term of one year. Each Working Group shall have a Chair and two Vice-Chairs and shall elect them for a term of one year.
6. The reporting structure of the SCIT and its relationship with other WIPO organs is shown diagrammatically below:
Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT)
7. The mandate of the SCIT will be to give policy guidance and technical advice on the overall IT strategy of WIPO, including WIPO standards and the documentation aspects of intellectual property, and the coordination and steering of all SCIT working groups and/or task forces.
8. The SCIT will meet once a year in ordinary session and will receive annual progress reports from the Working Groups on Information Technology Projects (ITPWG) and Standards and Documentation (SDWG). Recommendations from the Standing Committee may be passed either to the WIPO General Assembly, Program and Budget Committee, or directly to the Director General, as necessary. The SCIT is able to create working groups and/or task forces, as required.
9. The SCIT will be able to establish a mechanism of decision–making by electronic means, which may be delegated to its working groups, as required.
IT Projects Working Group (ITPWG)
10. The mandate of the IT Projects Working Group (ITPWG) will be to advise, within the framework of the guidance given to it by the SCIT, on the design and planning phases of IT project activities, monitor the implementation of IT projects, to make recommendations to the SCIT on the initiation of new activities and to advise the SCIT on issues of priority setting for projects.
11. The ITPWG will meet no more than twice a year and will be open to all WIPO Member States and observers. Emphasis will be placed on the use of electronic working methods. Notices of convocation of meetings will include annotated agendas giving an indication of the preferred professional/technical competencies needed by delegates. The Secretariat will make available to the Working Group, in electronic form, four-monthly progress reports on all major activities, as well as a work plan for the current biennium and a medium-term plan covering a four-year period. Other documentation, such as resource plans, would be made available on an as-needed basis.
12. The ITPWG will be able to establish Task Forces to carry out short-term, focused activities. Emphasis will be placed on working by electronic means but physical meetings may be held, as necessary.
Standards and Documentation Working Group (SDWG)
13. The mandate of the Standards and Documentation Working Group (SDWG) will be to provide a forum to adopt new or revised WIPO standards, policies, recommendations and statements of principle relating to intellectual property data, global information system-related matters, information services on the global system, data dissemination and documentation, which may be promulgated on the authority of the SCIT or referred to the WIPO General Assembly, via the SCIT, for approval.
14. As with the ITPWG, the SDWG would be open to all WIPO Member States and observers and would meet no more than twice a year. Notices of convocation of meetings will include annotated agendas giving an indication of the preferred professional/technical competencies needed by delegates. The Working Group would also be able to create Task Forces on an as needed basis that would work electronically with physical meetings being held, as necessary.
Project Task Initiation
15. For the process of task initiation, the following steps will be followed:
(i) Consideration of a new subject or activity may be initiated by any Member State, observer or by the International Bureau by submission of a written project brief to the Secretariat, to include:
- a clear indication of the problem or specific need to be addressed;
- how the need was determined;
- the objectives of the task;
- options for solution;
- expected benefits.
(ii) The Secretariat will then work, using electronic means, with either the ITPWG or the SDWG to produce a feasibility report to include:
- cost estimates;
- risks;
- resource requirements;
- success factors;
- the implications of the task on the existing IT Work Plan for the biennium.
- cost estimates;
- risks;
- resource requirements;
- success factors;
- the implications of the task on the existing IT Work Plan for the biennium.
(iii) The Secretariat will include the feasibility report in the draft agenda of the first available session of the SCIT for consideration.
Meeting Documentation
16. Meeting documentation will be transmitted electronically with the exception of the letter of invitation and the agenda. The invitation will indicate the meeting documents available on the WIPO web site and an address to contact should paper copies be required.
Working Methods
Working Groups
17. If agreement is reached on the need for a working group it should be constituted on the following basis:
(i) a request for the creation of a working group could be initiated either by the Secretariat or a Member State;
(ii) a clear mandate for the group must be agreed by the parent committee in advance of its first meeting; such a document would include an “expiry or review” clause covering the continued existence of the working group and an indication of the professional/technical competencies needed by delegates attending the working group meeting;
(iii) invitations to attend the working group meeting would include references to the target delegates (as indicated in paragraph (ii), above);
(iv) no working group meeting would be held in conjunction with a meeting of the convening committee;
(v) the competence of the convening committee would be to endorse (with minor amendments, if necessary) the recommendations of a working group, if the committee is unable to approve a proposal it would be returned directly to the working group for further consideration; and
(vi) emphasis will be placed on working by electronic means. Provision of paper documents will be phased out following installation of the WIPOnet connection, and then, paper documentation will only be sent to those Member States with no recognized Internet.
Task Forces
18. To allow for consideration of a specific issue in a dynamic environment a task force could be constituted on the following basis:
(i) a request for the creation of a task force could be initiated either by the Secretariat or a Member State;
(ii) a clear mandate for the task force must be agreed by the convening body (be it the parent committee or a working group) in advance of its first meeting; such a document would include an “expiry or review” clause covering the continued existence of the task force and an indication of the professional/technical competencies needed by delegates attending the task force meeting;
(iii) invitations to participate in the work of the task force would include references to the target delegates (as indicated in paragraph (ii), above);
(iv) the competence of the convening body would be only to endorse (with minor amendments, if necessary) the recommendations of a task force; if the convening body is unable to approve a proposal it would be returned directly to the task force for further consideration; and
(v) emphasis must be placed on working by electronic means (please see paragraph 17(vi), above).