ISO-IEC/JTC 1/SC 39 Sustainability, IT and data centres Plenary Highlights

ISO-IEC/JTC 1, SC 39 Sustainability, IT and data centres Plenary highlights 

On May 26^th, was the first face-to-face meeting of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 39 since 2019.

The JTC 1/SC 39 Plenary and working group meetings had the following focal points for the week:

1) Kick-off meeting of the newly formed Working Group 4 – Eco-design of digital services,
2) Further progression of the SC 39 standards projects,
3) Liaison activities and collaboration with the SC 39 community, and
4) Future work and priorities of SC 39.

The highlights and outcomes of the plenary included:

First day of the week kicked off with WG 4 holding its first meeting and discussion its first project ISO/IEC 20125 Digital Services Ecodesign. The project was approved in March 2023. The first meeting discussed the project plan for developing the standard, along with high-level topics to be covered in the outline and content of the Technical Specification. The next meeting of WG 4 will be on 04 July 2023.

The second day Working Group 1 met. They discussed the revision project for ISO/IEC 30134-2 Information technology - Data centres - Key performance indicators - Part 2: Power usage effectiveness (PUE) by reviewing the comments received by the WG 1 experts. WG 1 recommended to start a White Paper for providing information on the relationship between the different parts of ISO/IEC 30134 standards series. The White Paper will use a graphical representation of the metrics and key performance indicators from the ISO/IEC 30134 series and show where they apply to data centers. Also, they discussed how to collaborate closer with ETSI, as a few of the ETSI and SC 39 standards have a close relationship to each other.

The next two days Working Group 3 met to further process ISO/IEC 22237-2 Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 2: Building construction, ISO/IEC 22237-6 Information technology -Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 6: Security systems, and ISO/IEC TS 22237-31 Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 31: Key performance indicators for resilience. WG 3 discussed the comments that were received during their last rounds of ballots. In addition, the working group discussed changes and possible revision for ISO/IEC 22237-5 Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 5: Telecommunications cabling infrastructure.

The final and last day was the JTC 1/SC 39 Plenary session, which opened with a warm welcome and greetings by VDE and the Germany National Body. David Reiner, the Chair for JTC 1/SC 39, invited discussion on sustainable topics of interest, noting the JTC 1/SC 39 is currently only covering a small portion of its scope. It was agreed that SC 39 should do a call for contribution from its National Bodies members to see what areas of interest they have for standards on sustainability. The JTC 1/SC 39 did confirm the appointment of the Working Group 3 Convenor Jen Dittrich. It also approved the recommendation, by WG 1, to start a White Paper for providing information on the relationship between the different parts of ISO/IEC 30134 standards series. It is believed this will help to identify the areas and relations for the application of the ISO/IEC 30134 series of standards. Also, JTC 1/SC 39 did confirmed the status of ISO/IEC 30134-4:2017, Information technology — Data centres — Key performance indicators — Part 4: IT Equipment Energy Efficiency for servers (ITEEsv) and ISO/IEC 30134-5:2017, Information technology — Data centres — Key performance indicators — Part 5: IT Equipment Utilization for servers (ITEUsv), while noting the amendments may be needed to address some minor technical updates.

JTC 1/SC 39 closed the plenary with its appreciation to all the attendees and participants as the work produced by JTC 1/SC 39 is all due to its leaders and participants alike during its first face-to-face meeting in 4 years.

Next plenary is planned to take place between May 21-24, 2024 with the location to be determined.

The Technical Committee on IT and Data Center Sustainability, INCITS/ITS39, serves as the US TAG to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 39 on Sustainability for and by Information Technology.

The INCITS/IT and Data Center Sustainability area of work will address standardization in the areas assigned to SC 39 which include:

1. Standardization related to the intersection of resource efficiency and Information Technology which supports sustainable development, application, operation and management aspects.
2. Development of a data center energy efficiency taxonomy and vocabulary.
3. Development of a holistic suite of metrics supporting universally accepted standardized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
4. Development of a best practices for energy efficiency of data centers
5. Development of an energy management system standard specifically tailored for data centers.

Interested in becoming a participant and a member? Find out more information on membership in the INCITS Technical Committee on IT and Data Center Sustainability here.

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About INCITS: the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) – is the central U.S. forum dedicated to creating technology standards for the next generation of innovation.  INCITS members combine their expertise to create the building blocks for globally transformative technologies. From cloud computing to communications, from transportation to health care technologies, INCITS is the place where innovation begins. INCITS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is affiliated with ITI. Visit www.incits.org to learn more.