I’m at an NSAI meeting today about the future of standards for wireless LAN. Basically, the issue is this. There are two proposals, one from the Chinese (called WAPI) and another from the West (802.11i, proposed by the UK). These have to be voted on at the relevant international standards body, and ICTSCC has to make a recommendation about how Ireland should vote.

The two proposals are basically similar in that they facilitate authentication and privacy of wireless users.

There are a lot of technicalities and we are getting presentations from Dell, Intel, HP and a delegation from China.

The big concern I have is that China is a really big country with a big population and it is important that its views are taken into account if possible. On the other hand, 802.11i has a lot of international support from industry.

ICTSCC (on which I sit on behalf of ICTSCC/SC4 will have to decide whether to vote for or against both standards.