Ecma recognition and Fellow award policy (December 2025)

The Ecma recognition and Fellow awards were established to recognize contributions by individuals to the development of standards and the benefit of the ICT and consumer electronics industries.

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Art. 1

Purpose

The Ecma recognition and Fellow award policy describes the award criteria and nomination process to recognize individuals for their contributions and service to Ecma.

The Ecma recognition award recognizes individuals who made major contributions and/or served in active technical or leadership roles.

The Ecma Fellow is an award program that recognizes selected individuals who have served Ecma for a long time in an exceptionally outstanding fashion. Ecma grants those individuals the status of “Ecma Fellow” who, if they choose to, would be able at no cost to continue to participate in Ecma work as Emeritus members.

Art. 2

Procedure

2.1
Any individual representing or having previously represented an Ecma member may be nominated as a candidate for an award. To start the nomination process, a nomination proposal is submitted for review by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee then proposes the candidate(s) for approval by the General Assembly (GA).

2.2
The nomination proposal should contain a list of significant contributions and achievements of the candidate with dates and other relevant details. Nominations are typically submitted by Technical Committees, Executive Committee members and officers.

The nomination should be as specific, accurate, and complete as possible and convey the true merits of the candidate.

2.3
The list of Ecma recognition and Fellow award recipients shall appear in the award section of the Ecma website.

Art. 3

Eligibility for recognition awards

3.1
The Ecma recognition award is given to individuals who made major contributions and/or served in active technical or leadership roles, such as officers, committee chairs and standard editors.

3.2
The recognition award is granted to experts who made major contributions or served in a leadership role for at least a few years. Normally, an individual shall receive only one recognition award in recognition of a given achievement, unless the significance of the achievement is such as to merit subsequently another recognition award. The significance of the achievement should serve as a guiding principle.

3.3
The Ecma GA has the right to withdraw a recognition award in the event of a severe violation of the Ecma policies.

Art. 4

Eligibility for Ecma Fellow awards

4.1
The Ecma fellowship award is a rare and prestigious distinction given to exceptional technologists, futurists, whose contributions shape both Ecma and our Industry as a whole.

4.2
An Ecma Fellow award is granted for life. The Ecma GA has the right to withdraw a Fellow award in the event of a severe violation of the Ecma policies.

4.3
The Ecma fellowship is granted to experts who have made outstanding technical contributions over several years.

Art. 5

Emeritus membership

5.1
The Ecma Fellow award includes an Emeritus membership (without voting rights) in the TC that submitted the nomination of the candidate (or its successor) for a duration of 10 years.

5.2
The TC can submit a request to the GA to renew the Emeritus membership for another period of 10 years.

5.3
If the Ecma Fellow, in an Emeritus member capacity, chooses to participate and contribute to a standardization project in a TC, then the Ecma Fellow shall commit to license all relevant essential patents they own related to that project of the TC on a RF basis.

5.4
The Emeritus member irrevocably grants Ecma International the right to use the Emeritus member’s contributions, in part or whole, whether adapted or not, that are submitted to Ecma International, for Ecma International’s purposes of standardization, while retaining all the rights that the Emeritus member may have on those contributions.

5.5
An Emeritus member cannot represent the interest of an organization when participating in the work of a TC. An Emeritus member shall disclose any employment or other affiliation to an organisation if these exist. In case of a conflict of interest, the GA may suspend the participation of the Emeritus member in a TC.

Art. 6

Emeritus member participation in a TC

6.1
The Emeritus member shall fill in a form (available on the Ecma website and annexed to this policy) if the Emeritus member intends to participate and contribute in the standardization work of an Ecma TC.

6.2
If the Emeritus member form has not been filled in and signed by the Ecma Fellow/Emeritus member, the Ecma Fellow/Emeritus member will not be able to participate and contribute in the standardization work of an Ecma TC.

Annex – Emeritus member form for participating in the work of an Ecma TC

(this form is to be filled by an Emeritus member only if they intend to attend or take part and contribute in the standardization work of an Ecma TC – you can download a PDF version)

Place, date

I, ………………………….(full name), an Ecma Fellow, accept to participate in the work of TC.. (TC number) as an Emeritus member.
I confirm that I have personal knowledge of the By-laws, Rules and the Code of Conduct in Patent Matters of Ecma International and that I will comply with them.
If – in my Emeritus member capacity – I choose to participate and contribute to a standardization project of an Ecma TC, I accept that I shall commit to license all my relevant essential patents related to the standardization project I contribute to on a RF basis.
I irrevocably grant Ecma International the right to use my contributions, in part or whole, whether adapted or not, that I submit to Ecma International, for Ecma International’s purposes of standardisation, while I retain all the rights that I may have on those contributions.
I understand that I will participate in the work of Ecma International without voting rights.
I understand that my Emeritus membership is granted for 10 years and it is possible for TCxx (TC number) to request that membership to be renewed. My compliance with the Code of Conduct in Patent Matters remains active without time limitation even after the expiration of my Emeritus membership.
I understand that, in my Emeritus member capacity, I cannot represent the interest of an organization and that I shall inform the Ecma Secretariat if there is any conflict of interest or if my situation changes.

Yours faithfully,

Signature: ………………………….