Q. Are the IEEE and the ISTO the same thing?
A. No. The IEEE (Eye-triple-E) is an acronym for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., which is a non-profit, technical professional association of more than 360,000 individual members in 150 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority in technical areas ranging from computer engineering, biomedical technology and telecommunications, to electric power, aerospace and consumer electronics, among others.

The ISTO is a separate not-for-profit corporation that is affiliated with, but legally separated from, the IEEE.

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Q. What is the difference between the ISTO and the IEEE-ISTO?
A. The IEEE-ISTO and the ISTO are one and the same. IEEE-ISTO is the formal name for the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO), a separate not-for-profit corporation that is affiliated with, but legally separated from, the IEEE. (See next question for more details.) ISTO (Eye-Ess-Tee-Oh) is the commonly used acronym for the organization.

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Q. What is the ISTO? And how is it related to the IEEE?
A. The IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO) was established in January 1999 as a global, not-for-profit corporation [501(c)(6)] designed to accelerate and extend standards development and adoption activities for technology industry consortia. Incorporated in Delaware, the IEEE was the founding member of the ISTO. The ISTO maintains an affiliation with the IEEE and the IEEE Standards Association through formal agreements. The ISTO provides an innovative legal umbrella for consortia and a flexible array of program management support. The ISTO is governed by its Board of Directors, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation.

The ISTO is headquartered in Piscataway, NJ, and maintains offices within the IEEE Operations Center. The ISTO leverages various facets of IEEE’s infrastructure, including facilities, human resources, controller’s office and IT.

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Q. What does "program of the IEEE-ISTO" mean?
A. The ISTO operates as an umbrella organization to provide the legal forum for industry groups to operate, without the need to incorporate as a legal entity. Programs of the ISTO enjoy the legal protections and insurance benefits of operating within an incorporated, fully insured, not-for-profit organization. This flexible structure also enables the ISTO to work with groups who are incorporated or wish to become incorporated.

The ISTO enables industry groups to define their unique rules and procedures (e.g., scope and nature of technical program, membership (dues, categories), voting, consensus requirements, and structure) to build a foundation tailored to the technology, the market, the participants, the required time-frame, and the financial and human resources available to achieve their goals.

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Q. How does the ISTO assist industry programs? What support does ISTO provide?
A. ISTO may provide the following support areas to industry programs:

• Legal umbrella and Insurance - ISTO provides the legal umbrella under which industry programs are formed, which obviates the need for incorporation. ISTO works with industry programs to establish a full suite of governance documents. ISTO also carries an array of insurance policies under which industry programs are covered, including general liability, directors and officers liability and errors and omissions liability.
• HQ office and identity - Industry programs will be headquarted in Piscataway, NJ. ISTO will provide dedicated phone and fax services for programs, as well as staff resources at that headquarters office.
• Strategic assistance - ISTO has managed many industry programs, and will provide the stakeholders of programs with advice and guidance based on past experiences.
• IT backbone - Programs can utilize ISTO’s IT infrastructure for mail list hosting, public website hosting, intranet area for collaboration, et al. ISTO ensures the security, backup and confidentiality of all program-related electronic data
• Financial administration - ISTO can handle all aspects of industry program finances, including all accounts receivable and accounts payable, reporting and budgeting.
• Membership administration - ISTO provides front-line support for industry program membership, including the processing of membership applications, collection of membership development, and the provision of membership materials. ISTO staff will also support program participants in membership drives and recruitment.
• Program management - ISTO ensures, from a vendor-neutral perspective, that all of the goals and objectives of the program are met on time and on budget. ISTO staff will work closely with program stakeholders to be certain that all initiatives are adequately resourced.

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Q. How does the ISTO help broaden industry representation of programs?
A. ISTO supports all of its industry programs by taking a vendor-neutral, industry independent approach to management and administration. ISTO staff relies upon the direction of program stakeholders to drive strategy and decision making. Thus, ISTO also relies upon internal program management to determine a membership strategy. Once a membership strategy in place, ISTO will provide resources and infrastructure to drive results.

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Q. Explain the legal structure of industry programs? Are they incorporated entities?
A. The ISTO enables industry groups to define their unique rules and procedures (e.g., scope and nature of technical program, membership, dues, categories, voting, consensus requirements, and structure) to build a foundation tailored to the technology, the market, the participants, the required time-frame, and the financial and human resources available to achieve their goals.

The ISTO provides an innovative legal umbrella for consortia The ISTO operates as an umbrella organization to provide the legal forum for industry groups to operate, without the need to incorporate as a legal entity. Programs of the ISTO enjoy the legal protections and insurance benefits of operating within an incorporated, fully insured, not-for-profit organization. This flexible structure also enables the ISTO to work with groups who are incorporated or wish to become incorporated.

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Q. Do industry programs turn to ISTO simply to offset anti-trust concerns?
A. Anti-trust concerns are a factor in the standards development environment – or any time groups of companies join forces to work toward a common goal. As a result, all programs of the ISTO are governed by a rigid set of Anti Trust Compliance Guidelines, to which all program participants (i.e., member companies) are required to comply. ISTO staff is charged with holding participants accountable to each organization’s anti trust policies.

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Q. Is ISTO responsible for recruiting new companies into industry programs?
A. Not directly, but the ISTO allocates resources to work with program participants to help build the program membership base. In its support of industry programs ISTO does not act independently, but rather as directed by its programs. Thus, ISTO relies on programs to set member recruitment goals and strategies, and ISTO will provide the appropriate resources and infrastructure to help programs reach target goals.

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Q. Is ISTO paid to support industry programs? What are the payment terms?
A. Yes, industry programs pay ISTO a monthly fee for support. Although ISTO is a not-for-profit corporation, it relies upon program fees to run its operations. The payment terms are confidential.

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Q. Is there a contract between an industry program and ISTO?
A. All programs of the ISTO enter into a Participant Program Agreement (PPA) with the ISTO, which serves as the binding agreement between the two entities.

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