 Have you ever been set back when trying to undo the entangled wires of computers, printers or projectors at your work place? Do you sometimes feel like controlling your TV set by pushing the buttons on the cell phone in your hand when you can't find the TV remote co ntrol?
Well those problems will be easily solved - with the help of IGRS.
Michael Ding is Vice Director General of the Secretariat of the Beijing-based IGRS Information Industry Association.
"IGRS standard was formally established in July 2003 - originally founded by five companies, Lenovo, TCL, Konka, Hisense and Great Wall. The main purpose is to develop a standard that allows the 3C devices to be able to seamlessly work together and to allow consumers to enjoy seamless interconnection of their devices and to provide additional service and applications to their existing devices."
The IGRS is application-level software. When active, it prompts digital devices to identify each others' presence and determine which resources they can share, such as hard disc drive space or applications.
In mid 2005, the Ministry of Information Industry formally adopted the IGRS standard as a national 3C convergence industry standard, rolling the country's own indoor networking specification.
Now the IGRS Association aims to make it international. And such moves are regarded as crucial for an economy involved in international competition.
Nobel Prize winner, Professor Joseph Stiglitz, explains.
"If you have a global standard, you then have a bargaining chip in the global debate that says 'OK, maybe we won't use our standards. But if you don't accept a lower fee, we'll go to our standard. This is part of the globalization today and it's only by having independent innovation, will you be able to enter into this global bargaining game on the basis of some degree of equality."
Last August, the IGRS standard was accepted by the International Organization of Standardization, known as ISO, as a New Work Item Proposal, starting the first of many steps needed before it can finally become an ISO standard.
According to Michael Ding from the IGRS association, a handful of domestic companies are embedding it in their devices¡ªmostly TVs and PCs.
But that is considered far from enough for it to become international, since consumer awareness for the IGRS standard is still relatively low - even in the domestic market.
Li Zhishang is a salesman at a computer store located in one of Beijing's most bustling areas, Zhongguancun, also known as China's Silicon Valley.
"As far as I know, it's been some one year since Lenovo began to install IGRS in its computers, mainly laptops. But there has been little promotion of IGRS products. If a customer is good at using computers, he might know what to do with IGRS. Otherwise, he may have no idea of what IGRS is. And that could be a waste."
And Michael Ding acknowledges it will take a while before IGRS becomes a commonly known concept.
For a further look at the IGRS standard, Biz China's Tu Yun talked to Michael Ding. She started by asking him whether IGRS is ready to become an international standard.
(Photo source:CRIENGLISH/Michael Ding ,Vice Director General of the Secretariat of the Beijing-based IGRS Information Industry Association. ) |
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