The U.S. Department of Commerce will hold a breakfast seminar October 17 on ways to take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to increase export sales. The combined markets of the two trade agreements include more than 188 million people and $2.2 trillion in GDP, representing a significant opportunity for companies looking to expand their market share.

The seminar will be held Wednesday, October 17, from 8:30 a.m. until noon at the Northern Virginia U.S. Export Assistance Center, 1100 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 1500, Arlington, Va. U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of State officials will speak on the following topics: The NAFTA: A Policy Perspective on the Effects on U.S. Trade; NAFTA Certificate of Origin: Qualifying for NAFTA Benefits; The DR- CAFTA: Introduction to Our Newest Free Trade Agreement; Making the DR-CAFTA-DR Work for You: Qualifying Your Products.

The seminar costs $40. Spaces are filling fast so please register now.

For more information on the seminar, please contact April Redmon at the Department of Commerce at +1.703.235.0329 or april.redmon@mail.doc.gov.

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More than 120 participants from over 20 countries will gather in Qingdao, China, October 15-19, for the 30th meeting of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 204 for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS); ISO/TC204. ISO/TC204 is the premier organization for international ITS standardization, and the weeklong series of meetings will focus on diverse set of emerging ITS standards in such fields as architecture, database technologies, automotive vehicle and equipment identification, fee and toll collection, general fleet management and commercial/freight, public transport/emergency, integrated transport information, management and control, traveler information systems, vehicle/roadway warning and control systems, dedicated short range communications, and wide area communications/protocols and interfaces.

The five-day series of meetings will cover the entire committee program of work, including the introduction of new work items. Anticipated highlights and new work items will include:

• Lawful Interception in ITS and Communications Access for Land Mobiles (CALM)
• Data retention for law enforcement in ITS and CALM
• A discussion of the succesful new project ballot: ISO/AWI 10992: The use of nomadic devices to support ITS service and multimedia  provision in vehicles, and the possible formation of Working Group 17 (nomadic devices) for future standardization in this field. 

As both the International Secretariat of ISO/TC204 and the administrator of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to TC204, TIA plays a critical role in steering the overall strategic direction of the committee, as well as providing overall administrative and technical support. 

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This November, Tel Aviv, Israel, will host the 13th annual World Electronics Forum (WEF), a congress of global electronics association leaders.  TIA President Grant Seiffert will join his colleagues from around the world to work toward WEF's goal of discussing "major topics of common interest to the various associations," and using the opportunity to "exchange information on services and recent data within the electronics industries worldwide... [and] strengthen relations between associations for the benefit of our industries."

This year's WEF agenda includes the election of a new Secretariat, a report on the WEF 2006 meeting, reports on green manufacturing and waste management, international standards and technical regulations, venture capital in our industries, and a tour of key Israeli electronics industry players around the country. 

For questions or comments about the WEF, please contact Ian Martinez at +1.703.907.7723 or imartinez@tiaonline.org.

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The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) will host a major event focusing on information and communications technologies (ICT) in motor vehicles. This event, The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008, will be held March 5-7, 2008, during the 78th Geneva International Motor Show in Palexpo, Geneva.

Topics to be covered at The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008 can be found at  http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200803/.

The ITU has issued a call for abstracts for the workshop, including demonstrations of ICT in automobiles.  Potential presenters should submit a half-page abstract, including the title of the paper and the author’s full name, short biography, address, telephone and e-mail, to tsbcar@itu.int by Friday, November 16, 2007.  Presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by Friday, December 14, 2007, and should respond with presentations no later than Tuesday, January 29, 2008.

For information on the 2005 Workshop go to http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200503/index.html ; for information on the 2007 Workshop please go to http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200703/index.html. 

For more information on The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008, please contact Tyler Messa at +1.703.907.7743 or tmessa@tiaonline.org.

TIA CTO Dan Bart was among the winners when the America National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced the recipients of its 2007 Leadership and Service Awards last month. According to ANSI, recipients are recognized for their "significant contributions to national and international standardization activities, as well as an ongoing commitment to their industry, their nation, and the enhancement of the global voluntary consensus standards system." 

Bart will receive the Howard Coonley Medal, which recognizes an executive "[who] has benefited the national economy through voluntary standardization and conformity assessment and has given outstanding support to standardization as a management tool."  ANSI cited Bart's active promotion of standardization programs and partnerships for the industry and his long careers with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and TIA.  This is Bart's second ANSI award; he won ANSI's Meritorious Service Award in 2004.

ANSI will honor Bart and 13 other recipients during an October 17 ceremony held in conjunction with the U.S. celebration of World Standards Week 2007.

For questions or comments about the award, please contact Ian Martinez at +1.703.907.7723 or imartinez@tiaonline.org.

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The Corporate Council on Africa will host the second annual U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference in Washington, D.C., October 8-10, 2007. The conference has obvious interest for TIA members, as Africa is an emerging market with much room for broadband and wireless development.

According to its mission statement, the Corporate Council on Africa is "a member organization dedicated to the increase and enhancement of investment and trade in Africa."  The conference will focus on investment and trade opportunities in key African growth sectors such as air, sea, road and rail transportation; urban development; water and sanitation; energy; maritime and food security; and information and communications technology.

Key infrastructure-related sponsors of the conference include GE, Raytheon and DynCorp International.

For more information on the conference, please visit http://www.africacncl.org/Events/Infrastructure_Conference_2007.asp.

For question or comments, please contact Adina Ellis of the Corporate Council at aellis@africacncl.org.

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