Who We Are
The ICT Standards Advisory Council of Canada (ISACC) is a partnership between industry and government formed in 1991 by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), Industry Canada (IC) and the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC).
ISACC recommends strategies for domestic and international Information and Communication Technology (ICT) standards development, implementation and promotion, which will meet the needs of Canadian users, industry and government.
ISACC is one of the participating standards organizations in the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) initiative, which is comprised of the world's leading standards bodies.
What We Do
ISACC provides a forum that bridges the various components of the Canadian ICT industry, including standards stakeholders, government and users. It enables members to exchange information on standards topics, facilitates collaboration among members, builds awareness of the role of standards and gains commitment for standards development, to keep pace with rapidly evolving technological advances and market changes.
ISACC highlights emerging global ICT trends, initiatives and priorities that may impact standardization, reviewing them from a Canadian perspective and determining an appropriate Canadian standards strategy response.
ISACC provides a strategic focus for the development and implementation of Canadian ICT standards. ISACC also addresses standards-related developments of interest to Canada that are beyond the scope of individual domestic bodies.
How We Work
ISACC accomplishes its work in three ways:
- Semi-annual Plenary sessions: topical presentations are made on ICT standards issues, discussions are held on the progress of task groups and rapporteurs and new task groups are ratified by the membership.
- Special task groups: formed as needed to develop Canadian views on international ICT standards that may contain regulatory, legal, security and policy aspects. Exceptionally, there is one standing task group, which responds to issues raised by our GSC partners.
- Rapporteurs: selected to keep a listening watch on GSC, ITU, ISO or national issues that may affect work under way in ISACC. A Rapporteur may be called upon by the ISACC Chair to report on these issues at an ISACC Plenary.
Benefits of Joining ISACC
Standards Strategy Development
Participants have the opportunity to engage in open discussion on emerging ICT issues at
the semi-annual Plenary, to develop strategic views on ICT standards topics important to
Canada and to play a role in developing outputs that may include reports, whitepapers,
best practice guidelines or ISACC position statements.
Information Sharing
Participants may also wish to share new developments in areas of special interest to
the ISACC membership. ISACC Rapporteurs regularly brief participants on a range of
topics including e-Commerce, Cyber Security and Intellectual Property Rights.
International Relationships
ISACC provides a pan-Canadian perspective and acts as a focal point for international
cooperation with regional and global standards bodies. Participants have the opportunity
to bring forward contributions to the ISACC membership to promote innovation and
collaboration on important ICT standards topics within the Global Standards Collaboration
(GSC) initiative.
ISACC has also developed bi-lateral agreements with other national standards organizations.