The report looks at existing general-purpose standards for information security and quality management in the context of AI, and notes that, as a starting point, ‘what is applicable to software could be applicable to AI’. At the same time, it calls for further guidance to help the user community benefit from the existing standards on A, recommends resorting to a standardised AI terminology for cybersecurity, and encourages strengthened cooperation and coordination across standards organisations’ technical committees on cybersecurity and AI.
Lastly, the report argues that standardisation can support the implementation of the cybersecurity aspects embedded in the proposed EU AI Act.
Three key international standards developing organisations (SDOs) – the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – have issued a response to the open letter in which Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Yuval Harari, and others asked for a pause in ‘giant AI experiments’. In their response, the three SDOs make reference to their work in developing international standards for AI and highlight the role of such standards in underpinning regulatory frameworks and providing ‘appropriate guardrails for responsible, safe, and trustworthy AI development’. They further note that standards ‘can help mitigate the risks associated with AI systems and ensure that they are aligned with societal values and expectations’. The response ends with an invitation for interested stakeholders to join the work of developing consensus-based standards and encourage their adoption.
The overall goal is to translate NATO’s 2021 Principles of Responsible Use of AI into ‘concrete checks and balances, notably in terms of governability, traceability, and reusability’. The standard, to be finalised by the end of the 2023, is expected to help build trust among the innovation community, operational end users, and the general public.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have published a new standard providing guidance on risk management in artificial intelligence (AI). Titled ISO/IEC 23894:2023 Information technology – Artificial intelligence – Guidance on risk management, the standard offers guidance to organisations that develop, produce, deploy, or use products, systems, and services that use AI on how to manage AI-related risks.
With the goal of assisting organisations in integrating risk management into their AI-related activities, the standard also describes processes for the effective implementation and integration of AI risk management. In this context, risk management processes are described as involving the systematic application of policies, procedures, and practices to the activities of communicating and consulting, establishing the context, and assessing, treating, monitoring, reviewing, recording, and reporting risk.
The standard is the result of work carried out within the Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC oninformation technology – Subcommittee SC 42 on AI.
On 15 February 2023, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) will hold a consultation on human rights and technical standard-setting processes for new and emerging digital technologies.
The consultation will inform the report on the relationship between human rights and technical standards that the OHCHR will present to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) at its 53rd session in June 2023. The report was required by the HRC it is July 2021 resolution on new and emerging digital technologies and human rights.
The event will take place in Geneva, at the Palais des Nations, and online. Registration is open until 14 February 2023.
More details, including an agenda and list of speakers, will be made available on the dedicated OHCHR webpage.
The Wireless Power Consortium announced that it is working on a new wireless charging standard, Qi2, ‘to unify the industry under one global standard and provide enhanced convenience and efficiency for mobile devices and wearables’. Aimed to serve as a global standard for wireless chargers, Qi2 will ‘assure consumers that their devices are safe, efficient, and interoperable with other brands’, notes Paul Struhsaker, executive director of the Wireless Power Consortium.
The foundation elements for Qi2 were provided by Apple, building on the company MagSafe technology. At the core of the standard is a new Magnetic Power Profile, which will ensure that phones and other rechargeable battery-powered mobile devices are aligned with charging devices. This, in turn, will enable faster charging and improve energy efficiency.
Qi2 Certified mobile phones and chargers are expected to be available towards the end of 2023.
A Focus Group on Metaverse was established at the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) with the goal of supporting pre-standardisation activities for the metaverse.
Aspects to be considered as part of the group’s work include, among others: working definitions and terminology, concepts, vision, use cases, and ecosystem; technical requirements; technical frameworks and characteristics, including identification of fundamental underlying technologies; aspects related to security and the protection of personally identifiable information; networking infrastructure and connectivity; and interoperability.
A new Industry Specification Group (ISG) on Terahertz was launched in the framework of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to define the target scenarios and the concrete frequency bands of interest on terahertz (THz) communications. THz is a candidate technology for 6G networks.
As explained by Thomas Kürner, Chair of ISG THz, the group ‘provides an opportunity for ETSI members to coordinate their pre-standards research efforts on THz technology across various European collaborative projects, extended with relevant global initiatives, a move towards paving the way for future standardisation of the technology’.
The ISG will initially focus on two major categories of use cases for THz: (a) mobile applications with high data rate requirements, such as augmented and virtual reality, in-flight and in-train entertainment applications, as well as vehicular and satellite communications; and (b) applications requiring both communication and sensing capabilities, such as holographic telepresence and interactive and cooperative robotics.
The US senate has passed the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act to strengthen national security by preparing the federal government’s defences against quantum-computing-enabled data breaches.
The Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act asks for:
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prioritise the acquisition and migration of federal agencies’ information technology to post-quantum cryptography.
OMB to create guidance for federal agencies to assess critical systems following the publication of post-quantum cryptography standards by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST);
Direct OMB to send an annual report to Congress that includes a strategy on how to address post-quantum cryptography risks.
Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA have issued a Joint statement on telecommunications supplier diversity. The statement highlights the four countries’ commitment ‘to ensuring the security and resilience of [their] telecommunications networks, including by fostering a diverse supply chain and influencing the development of future telecommunications technologies such as 6G’. The countries also note the role of open and interoperable networks in creating ‘a more open, diverse, and innovative market’.
To achieve telecommunications suuplier diversity, the countries will:
Share information on their policy approaches to telecom suupliers diversity;
Take a complementary and cooperative approach to telecom research and development;
Proactively address security concerns as open and interoperable architectures develop;
Work together to encourage transparency in industry-led standards-setting processes;
Encourage industry to avoid market fragmentation;
Coordinate efforts when engaging with international stakeholders and fora, share and implement best practices, and work together to tackle shared policy challenges.
Furthermore, Australia, Canada, and the USA have endorsed the Open RAN Principles published by the UK in 2022: open disaggregation, standards-based compliance, demonstrated interoperability, and implementation neutrality.
The initiatives are expected to help open up the global market to new competitors and increase efforts to lessen the world’s dependence on a limited number of telecommunications corporations to build and operate 5G and future networks.
