Agreement on STEP Conformance Testing & Certification

It provides standardized built-in capabilities for Conformance Testing, including:

• Conformance testing meth-odologies for Application Protocol implementations;
• Standards requirements on laboratories for the perform-ance of tests;
• Abstract test specifications and acceptance criteria for each Application Protocol.

Considerable efforts have been deployed in the recent years to develop testing tools and Abstract Test Suites, and to set up Conformance Testing Laboratories and Certification Committees. There are now two industryled National STEP certification schemes in France and in the United States. The first software system has successfully completed testing for conformance to AP203.
With the market for the STEP standard and its implementations being a global market, conformance certificates have to be accepted worldwide. Existing laboratories have been working closely to harmonize their procedures. Certification Boards are investigating the possibility of merging their activities into a unique international certification committee, with the aim of being able to deliver an international conformance certificate that will be accepted by industry worldwide.
Four organizations have signed the agreement - PDES, Inc (USA), GOSET (France), JSTEP (Japan) and C-STEP (China). These organizations recognize that Conformance Testing and Certification are ways to:

• Improve quality, interoperability and capabilities of the commercial STEP implementations;
• Reduce end users' expenses supporting in-house testing activities;
• Formalize vendor implementation agreements;
• Gain higher confidence of the users in the commercial implementations of the STEP standards; and
• Facilitate the pervasive use of STEP in industry world-wide.