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Please note that these materials are provided for historical purposes only. The information presented is out of date and may be neither accurate nor useful. External hyperlinks may no longer be valid. For current court technology information, please see the new Court Technology Bulletin.


Summer 2000 Volume 12 Number 3


COSCA/NACM JTC Proposed
Formal Tech Standards Process


 Editor's Note:  In the last issue, we published an article by Kenneth R. Palmer II, "Overview of Standards."  This excerpt on the proposed standard and the excerpt on page 2 on XML are intended to make readers more familiar with the Joint6 Technology Committee's work and process on standards.  The original text of these documents appears on The National Center for State Courts Web site at http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Tech/Standards/.  Interested readers should visit the Web site for full, unedited versions of the documents.
A proposal to formalize the
process for Reviewing and
Approving Technology Standards
The COSCA Board of Directors has asked that the committee formally define its standards approval process. The co-chairs propose the following:  

  1. Development of "proposed standard." A "proposing entity" (the Consortium, a Joint Technology Committee subcommittee, or some other entity approved by the Joint Technology Committee for developing a technology standard) will pursue a process to develop a standard for submission to the Joint Technology Committee. That process should be as open as possible, and include as much input from affected and interested parties as possible. The proposing entity will then submit its product to the Joint Technology Committee.

  2. Approval by the Joint Technology Committee for dissemination of the product as a "proposed standard." The Joint Technology Committee will review the product submitted by the proposing entity and decide whether to disseminate the "proposed standard" for review and comment, or refer the "proposed standard" back to the proposing entity for further work. 

  3. Notice of "proposed standard" and opportunity for review.  If the Joint Technology Committee accepts a "proposed standard" for review and comment, the National Center will disseminate the "proposed standard" for review for a period of at least 60 days, longer where possible. Where appropriate, the Committee will also encourage pilot implementations of the "proposed standard." Comments will be addressed to the Joint Technology Committee, in care of the National Center for State Courts. Notice will be provided by posting on the National Center web page,  to all members of COSCA through the COSCA listserve (with a reference to the National Center web page), by posting on the COSCA web page, and in writing, with a request that COSCA members obtain input from trial courts in their states , to all members of the IT Forum through its listserve (with a reference to the National Center web page),  to all members of the Forum for the Advancement of Court Technology through its listserve (with a reference to the National Center webpage) and to all other private sector service providers on the National Center for State Courts' mailing list, by posting on the NACM web page,by inclusion of notice in the NACM Court Communiqué and the National Center for State Courts Court Technology Bulletin when time permits, by letter to other interested organizations (including a written copy of the "proposed standard") including the following:  the Conference of Chief Justices, the COSCA Court Statistics Committee, the American Bar Association, the American Judges Association,   the American Judicature Society, the Justice Management Institute, the National Association of State Judicial Educators,  the National Judicial College, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,  the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks, the Administrative Office of United States Courts, any other organizations requesting notice of "proposed standards," and any additional organizations or entities as directed by the Joint Technology Committee in light of the subject matter of the "proposed standard."    

  4. Review of comments by proposing entity. The Joint Technology Committee staff will forward all comments received to the proposing entity for its consideration. The proposing entity will then provide to the Joint Technology Committee a suggested "recommended standard" for its consideration, together with copies of all comments received and the entity's response to the comments. 

  5. Action by the Joint Technology Committee. The Joint Technology Committee will decide whether to approve the proposing entity's recommendation as a "recommended standard," with or without modifications to the proposing entity's recommendation. It will refer the product to its parent organizations.

  6. Action by COSCA and NACM.. COSCA and NACM will take action, as they deem appropriate, on the "recommended standard." Such action may include referral to other entities or organizations for their consideration and approval.