Ideally, these change requests (CRs) are subject to communication, dissemination, consultation and gathering of feedback from the global Standards community, before the final decision is made to adopt, or reject it.

Historically, this process has been organised using email, which has made it difficult to reach everyone in the community that might have an interest.

We strongly believe that this initiative will provide a more structured communication, will ensure greater community participation and will improve collaboration amongst stakeholders.

Stephen Lindsay, Head of Standards, SWIFT

Both SWIFT and the user community recognise that information-sharing and feedback process would be improved by using a central, common, collaborative platform.

In response, SWIFT is pleased to announce the ‘Change Request Forum’ as a new, free of charge, feature of MyStandards.

The Change Request Forum will allow the publication and seamless dissemination of CRs throughout the community, allow users to add comments, and to endorse comments that have been made by others.

Change Request Forum will be inclusive:

Any registered user of www.swift.com will qualify as a ‘community member’ and can apply for a free MyStandards license
Registered MyStandards users whose account is linked to a Business Identifier Code (BIC) or Partner Identifier Code (PIC) will be able to view CRs as well as post comments
MyStandards users that are not affiliated to a BIC or PIC will be able to view the CRs and the comments, but cannot post comments
All comments will be recorded with date and time information, and the details of the user, including full name and the institution and country represented

This Change Request Forum functionality will be rolled out to be ready for the start of the Standards Release SR2017 CR review, in July 2016.

This provides the community with a central platform where they can indicate likely impacts, suggest changes, or just ask for clarifications. The fact that it extends to countries beyond the traditional Maintenance Working Groups ensures that all voices can be heard.

Karin Deridder, Head of Standards Development, SWIFT