This is Part 6 in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird presents and in-depth analysis of the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which is released on a bi-weekly basis. For previous instalments see here: Part 4, Part 5 – Editor

PART 6: The Well Developed Range of Standards, both Proprietary and Open, Reflect a Sophisticated Standards-Setting Ecosystem

Previously I described the several forums and market characteristics that can develop an IT standard: SDOs, patent pools, market driven de facto standards and consortia. As further evidence of the sophistication of the IT standards-setting marketplace, there are numerous and highly differentiated types of standards that can achieve interoperability

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This is Part 5 in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird presents and in-depth analysis of the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which is released on a bi-weekly basis. For previous instalments see here: Part 3, Part 4 – Editor

PART 5 – Not Hot, nor Cold, but Just Right… (or “Not Formal, Not Informal, but Drawing on the Best of What Came Before”): Consortia

I have been discussing the sophistication of the IT industry in setting standards as evidenced by the industry’s long history and considerable use of formal (SDO) and informal means such as patent pools. In between SDOs and patent pools resides a more recent concept commonly used by the IT industry, a truly flexible approach to standards development – where the relevant industries or businesses develop and support a standard by mutual agreement through a consortium.

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This is Part 4 in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird presents and in-depth analysis of the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which is released on a bi-weekly basis. For previous instalments see here: Part 2, Part 3 – Editor

PART 4: The Least Formal IT Standard Setting: Patent Pools and De Facto Standards
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This is the third in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird presents and in-depth analysis of the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which is released on a bi-weekly basis. For previous instalments see here: Part 1, Part 2 – Editor

PART 3: There are Many Ways in Which the IT Develops Standards: The Most Formal Forums for Standard Setting

The IT industry’s capacity to create interoperability standards is well supported by the fact that there is a veritable alphabet soup of formal forums in which IT and related standards are developed and an equally exhaustive use of the alphabet in IT standards nomenclature. The traditional course for standards development is gaining adoption in voluntary consensus forums most commonly described as national standards bodies (NSBs) and standards development organizations (SDOs). I am not going to go into detail as to the formal processes, suffice it to say they have well established consensus processes and most have an extremely long history of success in setting a wide range of industrial standards.

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The BBC has published an article about the long, slow birth of DAB radio which can be summarized as follows:

• Currently, the British government is pushing hard for listeners to switch to Digital radio and specifically the DAB standard. While DAB is heralded as the ‘technology of the future’, few know that it is really ‘the technology of the past’ since it is about 30 years old. While the first development began in 1981, the first receivers were available only in 1999 and it is only ten years after that (2010) that there is some real commercial interest in DAB.

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I will start first by saying in what role I make this contribution, which is in a personal capacity. I handle ICT standardisation and technology issues for the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) – the ministry responsible for standardisation policy for the UK. As part of this I am a board member of ETSI and DVB. I am also a member of the Commission ICT standards steering group, and the steering group for the Commission IPR in standards study. These roles inform what I outline below, but are not statements on behalf of any of these organisations or groups.

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This is the second in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird presents and in-depth analysis of the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which is posted on a bi-weekly basis. The first in the series can be seen here – Editor

PART 2: There are Good Reasons for Government to be Reluctant to Mandate IT Standards

To start with the end: Government should be reluctant to mandate an IT standard. Before regulating an industry, policy makers have to look at a few things: the sophistication of the industry with regard to what is being considered for regulation; the capacity of industry to address a perceived problem without government regulation; whether regulation would be contrary to or in support of good public policy; and finally, whether the risk of “government failure” outstrips the risk of market failure. It is incontrovertable that when it comes to standards, the IT industries are sophisticated.

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This is the first in a series of articles in which contributor Stacy Baird will analyse the role of governments in standards setting initiatives which will be posted on a bi-weekly basis – Editor

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In June, Talkstandards.com hosted an open forum which discussed the standards system in the People’s Republic of China. A series of articles were posted by contributors which covered a range of issues related to China’s involvement and cooperation with standards setting in the EU, US and abroad.

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This article is co-authored by Anne Layne-Farrar and Vanessa Yanhua Zhang (bio Here)

In the past decade, Chinese companies have aggressively invested in R&D as a path toward meaningful participation in domestic and international standard setting. These efforts are aligned with broader Chinese ambitions to transform the domestic industry structure from “made-in-China” to “innovated-in-China”. This transformation will leverage China’s influence in the global economy community via the nation’s intellectual property rights (IPR) and standardisation strategy, which is part of its overall industrial policy.

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