4.1. Who develops standards?

Short instruction

Many actors develop standards, influence their development, or contribute to the global world of standardisation. Organizations for standardisation provide a platform for representatives of different actors (e.g., companies, universities, research institutes, representatives of consumers, etc.) to join their efforts to develop standards. In standardisation, representatives of organizations who need to have expert knowledge are called experts. The people who work in organizations for standardisation are often called standardisation professionals. Standardisation professionals do not participate in developing solutions, but they provide the framework for experts to work following rules, and they manage the standards development processes. From a general point of view, all organizations that develop standards can be classified as formal and informal. The political or governmental body recognizes formal organizations as international, regional, and national organizations for standardisation. Formal standardisation is often called voluntary consensus-based standardisation meaning that standards are developed and used voluntarily within a consensus-based process which means that the process is open and accessible for all parties interested, and all interests are attempted to be met through agreement. Informal organizations for standardisation are all other organizations for standardisation except international, regional, or national organizations that are appointed or recognized by the governments. However, this point might be blurred because many professional or industrial associations (e.g., IEEE, ASTM, ASME, etc.) are considered informal even though their predecessors participated in establishing international organizations for standardisation. Organizations that develop standards create a dynamic and complex network. Formal and informal organizations for standardisations collaborate. The case of GS1 standards shows that it takes many organizations to agree upon one solution to become international standards. In this case, market acceptance of simple but unique solutions (bar codes) and technologies for machine identification was substantial when the solution became an international standard.

The ILOs examples

K6.1., K7.1.

Recommended Teaching Case studies/Serious games/Оther

1. Case Study

Case Study: GS1 System of Standards

Good practice

Educators teaching students about who develops standards usually explore the roles of key players, including international organizations for standardisation (ISO/IEC/ITU), European organizations for standardisation (CEN/CENELEC/ETSI), National Standards Bodies (e.g., BSI, DIN, AFNOR, etc.,), but also other organizations, such as professional associations, industry associations, business associations, consortia, and fora, including but not limited to IEEE, ASTM, ASME, API, OASIS, Wi-Fi Alliance, W3C, Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), etc. They use examples to explore how formal and informal organizations for standardisation may collaborate but also use case studies to explore how standards developed by various organizations may lead to standard battles. They may also use serious games to simulate the standards development process thus emphasizing how standards development fosters inclusive decision-making, thus balancing diverse interests.

Recommended sources

If you are new to the topic, the basics can be found at:
 

  • https://hsbooster.eu/training-academy/who-develops-standards 
  • Abdelkafi, N., Bekkers, R., Bolla, R., Rodriguez-Ascaso, A., & Wetterwald, M. (2021). Understanding ICT Standardisation: Principles and Practice, ETSI 2021, URL: https://www.etsi.org/images/files/Education/Textbook_Understanding_ICT_Standardisation.pdf, 2nd Edition, Chapters 3 and Chapter 4.  

Other sources on standards development:
 

  • Balzarova, M. A., & Castka, P. (2012). Stakeholders’ influence and contribution to social standards development: The case of multiple stakeholder approach to ISO 26000 development. Journal of business ethics, 111, pp. 265-279.
  • Beeler, G. W. (1998). HL7 Version 3—An object-oriented methodology for collaborative standards development. International journal of medical informatics, 48(1-3), 151-161.
  • Bijlmakers, S. (2021). No ISO-fix for Human Rights: A Critical Perspective on ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility. In: Marx, A., Van Calster, G., Wouters, J., Otteburn, K. & Lica D. Research Handbook on Global Governance, Business and Human Rights. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788979832.
  • Clapp, J. (1998). The Privatization of Global Environmental Governance. ISO 14000 and the Developing World. Global Governance, 4(3), 295-316, https://www-jstor-org.tilburguniversity.idm.oclc.org/stable/27800201?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
  • Hallström, K.T. (2004). Organizing international standardisation: ISO and the IASC in the quest of authority. In Organizing International Standardisation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Haufler, V. (1999). Negotiating International Standards for Environmental Management System: the ISO 14000 standards. UN Vision Project on Global Public Policy Networks. New York. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237466208_Negotiating_International_Standards_for_Environmental_Management_Systems_The_ISO_14000_Standards. 
  • Hoel, T., & Mason, J. (2018). Standards for smart education – towards a development framework. Smart Learning Environments, 5(1), 1-25.
  • Maisonneuve, J., Deschanel, M., Heiles, J., Li, W., Liu, H., Sharpe, R., & Wu, Y. (2009). An overview of IPTV standards development. IEEE Transactions on broadcasting, 55(2), 315-328.
  • Morikawa M. & Morrison J. (2004). Who Develops ISO Standards? A Survey of Participation in ISO’s International Standards Development Process. Pacific Institute. https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/iso_participation_study2.pdf. 
  • Mikulich. (2023). ISO 14000-14001, The Developing World’s Perspective. Tulane Environmental Law Journal 17(1), 117-162.
  • Volpato, A. & Eliantonio, M. (2024). The participation of civil society in ETSI from the perspective of throughput legitimacy. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2024.2321852 
  • Waguespack, D. M., & Fleming, L. (2009). Scanning the common Evidence on the benefits to startups participating in open standards development. Management Science, 55(2), 210-223.
  • Weiss, M., & Cargill, C. (1992). Consortia in the standards development process. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 43, No. 8 (1992): 559-565.
  • Wiegmann, P. M., de Vries, H. J., & Blind, K. (2017). Multi-Mode Standardisation: A critical review and a research agenda. Research Policy, 46(8), 1370–1386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.06.002. 
  • Wiegmann, P.M. (2019). Becoming the industry standard when standardisation is not standardized. https://www.rsm.nl/discovery/2019/industry-standard/.

Other sources on Standards Development Organizations (SDOs):

  • Abdelkafi, N., Bekkers, R., Bolla, R., Rodriguez-Ascaso, A., & Wetterwald, M. (2021). Understanding ICT Standardisation: Principles and Practice, ETSI 2021, URL: https://www.etsi.org/images/files/Education/Textbook_Understanding_ICT_Standardisation.pdf, 2nd Edition, Chapters 3 and Chapter 4.
  • Baron, J., Contreras, J. L., Husovec, M., Larouche, P., & Thumm, N. (2019). Making the rules: The governance of standard development organizations and their policies on intellectual property rights. JRC Science for Policy Report, EUR, 29655.
  • Baron, J., Contreras, J. L., & Larouche, P. (2021). Balance requirements for standards development organizations: A historical, legal and institutional assessment. University of Utah College of Law Research Paper, (430).
  • Baron, J. & Kanevskaia, O. (2023). Global Rivalry Over the Leadership in ICT Standardisation: SDO Governance Amid Changing Patterns of Participation. In Delimatsis, P. Bijlmakers S. & Borowicz, M. The Evolution of Transnational Rule-makers through Crises. Cambridge University Press. Contreras, J. L. (2019). Understanding 'Balance' Requirements for Standards Development Organizations. CPI Antitrust Chronicle, (2).
  • Delimatsis, P., Kanevskaia, O., & Verghese, Z. (2021). Strategic behavior in standards development organizations in times of crisis. Tex. Intell. Prop. LJ, 29, 127.
  • Kanevskaia, O. (2017). Governance within standards development organizations: WHO owns the game. In 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope: Challenges for a Data-Driven Society (ITU K) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
  • Murphy, C., & Yates, J. (2013). The International Organization for Standardisation: Global Governance through Voluntary Consensus. Business Regulation and Non-State Actors: Whose Standards Whose Development, 81–94. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203126929-15.
  • Tsilikas, H. (2022). Applying Antitrust to Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) – A Two-Sided Market Framework for Assessing SDO Governance. Available at SSRN 4072541.

Other sources on Standards Setting Organizations (SSOs):
 

  • Baron, J., & Spulber, D. F. (2018). Technology Standards and Standard Setting Organizations: Introduction to the Searle Center Database. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 27(3), 462–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12257.
  • Blind, K., Lorenz, A., & Rauber, J. (2020). Drivers for companies’ entry into standard-setting organizations. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 68(1), 33-44.
  • Fiedler, C., Larrain, M., & Prüfer, J. (2023). Membership, governance, and lobbying in standard-setting organizations. Research Policy, 52(6), 104761.
  • Harcourt, A., Christou, G., & Simpson, S. (2020). Global standard setting in internet governance. Oxford University Press
  • Spulber, D. F. (2019). Standard setting organizations and standard essential patents: Voting and markets. The Economic Journal, 129(619), 1477-1509.
  • Valticos, N. (1996). Fifty years of standard-setting activities by the international labour organization. Int'l Lab. Rev., 135, 393.
  • Wiegmann, P. M., Eggers, F., de Vries, H. J., & Blind, K. (2022). Competing Standard-Setting Organizations: A Choice Experiment. Research Policy, 51(2), 104427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104427.

Other sources on National Standards Bodies (NSBs):

  • Aletta, F., Xiao, J., & Kang, J. (2024). Identifying barriers to engage with soundscape standards: Insights from national standards bodies and experts. JASA Express Letters, 4(4).
  • De Vries, H. J., Manders, B., & Veurink, J. (2014). Cooperation between national standards bodies and universities. Rotterdam: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
  • Gabriel, L. C. (2022). Supporting National Standards.
  • Gabriel, L. C., de Vries, H. J., & Cleeland, B. (2022). Stimulating Education about Standardisation –Activities and perspectives of National Standards Bodies. Journal of Standardisation, 1.
  • Song, Z., & Wang, X. (2018, October). Study on the Internationalization of Standards Bodies: Based on the Strategy Evolution of BSI. In 2018 9th International Conference on Information Technology in Medicine and Education (ITME) (pp. 1037-1043). IEEE.
  • Wakke, P. (2010). Explanatory Factors for Service Standardisation at National Standards Bodies: Empirical Evidence at Sector Level. In Paper for the EURAS Conference.
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