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Global Standardization Activities

Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 63–67, Sept. 2025. https://doi.org/10.53829/ntr202509gls

Report on the 37th APT Standardization Program Forum (ASTAP-37)

Kazuhide Nakajima

Abstract

The 37th Asia-Pacific Telecommunity Standardization Program (ASTAP-37) was held 21－25 April 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand in-person format (hybrid participation was prepared for industry workshop and opening/closing plenary). One hundred thirty-seven experts from 19 countries, including 35 online participants, participated in ASTAP-37. The industry workshop was also held to share emerging topics. This article reports the outline of ASTAP-37.

Keywords: international standard, ASTAP, ITU-T

1. Outline of ASTAP and structure of the meeting

Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) was established in 1979 to promote and develop information and communication technology (ICT) in the Asia-Pacific region. Thirty-eight countries/regions are affiliates [1]. The APT Standardization Program (ASTAP) was established in 1998 as a standardization sector in APT. ASTAP meetings have been held yearly for the main tasks of constructing the collaborative standardization body in the Asia-Pacific region and reflecting the opinions and policies in the region to international standards [2].

Table 1 summarizes the structure of ASTAP, which is composed of Working Groups (WGs) and Expert Groups (EGs).

Table 1. Structure of ASTAP.

1.1 WG Policy and Strategic Coordination

WG Policy and Strategic Coordination (PSC) investigates and shares the policy and strategy for the telecommunication technology among the affiliate countries. It contains four EGs: (i) EG ITU-T Issues considers topics related to the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), (ii) EG Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) supports developing countries in spreading ICT for bridging the standardization gap, (iii) EG Policies and Regulations (P&R) discusses policies and regulation matters with respect to ICT, and (iv) EG Green ICT and EMF Exposure (GICT&EMF) considers the technology related to green ICT and electro-magnetic-field exposure.

1.2 WG Network and System

WG Network and System (NS) contains three EGs: (i) EG Future Network and Next Generation Networks (FN&NGN) discusses ICT for future networks and next-generation networks, (ii) EG Disaster Risk Management and Relief System (DRMRS) considers disaster-risk management and relief systems with ICT, and (iii) EG Seamless Access Communication Systems (SACS) investigates ICT for developing seamless access communication systems.

1.3 WG Service and Application

WG Service and Application (SA) contains four EGs: (i) EG Internet of Things Application/Services (IOT) discusses the services and applications of Internet of things (IoT), (ii) EG Information Security (IS) handles information security, (iii) EG Multimedia Application (MA) investigates ICT for multimedia applications, and (iv) EG Accessibility and Usability (AU) discusses the accessibility and usability of information.

Following the industry workshop, described later, opening plenary, individual WG and EG meetings, and the closing plenary were held over the four days.

2. Major outcomes of ASTAP-37 and study items for ASTAP-38

Table 2 summarizes the major outcomes of ASTAP-37. WG PSC agreed to send out a questionnaire on “green data centre practices and climate resilience in the Asia-Pacific region” and a reply to the liaison statement from ITU-T Study Group 3 on “collaboration with ASTAP in standardization work.” Its three EGs made small modifications to their terms of references (ToRs).

Table 2. Major outcomes of ASTAP-37.

WG NS established three new APT Reports on “problems and requirements to future network services in 6G (6th-generation mobile communication systems) and beyond,” “local-area resilient information sharing and communication systems,” and “cascaded free space optical and millimeter-wave communication system for small-cell access networks.”

WG SA established two new APT Reports and one new APT Guideline on “problems and requirements on CDN (content delivery network) services in Asia-Pacific region in COVID-19,” “Current status of the APT countries’ relay services for accessible emergency communication,” and “Guideline for IoT security (for manager),” respectively. Two questionnaires on “use cases of generative AI (artificial intelligence) in Asia-Pacific region” and “to survey the technical challenges of data sharing and its environment” were also approved and sent out to the affiliate countries.

Table 3 summarizes the major study items that will be discussed toward ASTAP-38. Twenty-five APT Reports or Guidelines will be discussed, which contain 7 new objectives, e.g., “non-terrestrial network (NTN) for resilient communications.” Fifteen APT Reports or Guidelines are planned for approval in the upcoming ASTAP-38.

Table 3. Study items for ASTAP-38.

During ASTAP-37, some experts proposed restructuring ASTAP to harmonize with the current structure of ITU-T. Introduction of the terms of office for a chair and vice-chair were also proposed and discussed during the meeting. However, the experts could not make consensus during ASTAP-37, and it was agreed to discuss these topics continuously toward ASTAP-38.

3. Industry workshop

The industry workshop was also held prior to ASTAP-37. Table 4 summarizes the program of the workshop. Two sessions were arranged for discussing the technology and standardization of AI and metaverse. Ongoing initiatives in Korea, China, and Japan were introduced in each session.

Table 4. Program of industry workshop.

4. Future plan

ASTAP-38 will be held in 2026, and the date and venue will be decided in the coming months.

References

[1]	APT, https://www.apt.int/APT-Introduction
[2]	ASTAP, https://www.apt.int/APTASTAP

Kazuhide Nakajima: NTT Fellow, NTT Access Network Service Systems Laboratories.
He received an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Nihon University, Chiba, in 1994 and 2005. In 1994, he joined NTT Access Network Service Systems Laboratories, where he has been engaged in research on optical-fiber design and related measurement techniques. He has been acting as a rapporteur of Question 5 of ITU-T SG15 since 2009. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Optica, the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), and the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP).

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