scope:

Purpose and Membership

The Purpose of Ecma International is:

• To develop, in co-operation with the appropriate national, European and international organizations as a scientific endeavour and in the general interest standards and technical reports in the fields of information and communications technologies.

• To encourage the correct use of standards by influencing the environment in which they are applied.

• To publish the Ecma Standards and Technical Reports - after their approval by at least two-thirds of all Ordinary Members - free of charge and freely copyable to all interested parties.

The Association shall consist of Company members (i.e., ordinary, associate, SME and SPC members), and not-for-profit (NFP) members.

Ordinary membership may be applied for by a company which has interest and experience in matters related to one or more Technical Committees of the Association, and which wishes to exert the right to vote at the Technical Committees and at the General Assembly and to exert other exclusive rights defined in the By-laws and Rules.to vote at the General Assembly and to exert other exclusive rights defined in the By-laws and Rules.

All other membership classes have the right to vote on the Technical Committee level only.

Associate membership may be applied for by a company which has interest and experience in matters related to one or more of the Technical Committees of the Association but without the right to vote in the General Assembly.

A company which has similar interests as an associate member and an annual, global turnover of less than one hundred million Swiss Francs, may be admitted as SME member (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise).

An organization - a company or other legal for-profit organization - which has similar interests as an associate member, an annual global turnover of less than five million Swiss Francs and no more than five employees, may be admitted as SPC member (Small Private Company).

NFP membership may be applied for by a non-profit-making organization. If an NFP is an organization with several organizations as members, then normally it can only become an NFP member in Ecma if its members do not qualify for Company membership in Ecma. NFPs may only participate in the work of no more than one Ecma Technical Committee.

The Association is a non-profit-making organization and does not devote itself in any commercial activity.