What is a standard
a widely agreed way of doing something
our tech world without standards would not work
Describe Defacto standards and examples of defacto that have been approved by SDO
Defacto standards are adopted widely by an industry and its customers and it arises when a critical mass simply likes them well enough to use them
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Describe SDO standards
SDO standards are made by standard development organizations whose purpose is to put in place well-designed and formal standards to guarantee a fair development process
What are the standards used while browsing the smartphone
- User equipment regarding hardware characteristics and taking into account safety issues
- Connectivity among user devices and wireless networks and the functionality of the same network
- Functionality of internet and the protocols that support it
What are the number of standards used in a laptop computer and what is the estimate.
250 is used and 500 is estimated. 80% is made by SDO and 20% is made by companies
What are the 3 standards used when switching on lights
IEC, CEN-CENELEC, CENELEC
What are 3 things that standards are NOT and why
- they are not regulations
- they are not set of thorough design rules
- they are not compulsory
- they can however inspire both regulations and design rules
What is formal standardization
- well-defined process open to individuals and organizations and are produced in consensus with all interested parties
- Inspired by international directives on standardization, most importantly principles produced by Tech barriers to trade committee TBT and WTO
- Process adopted by SDOs to produce standards
- SDOs put in formal standardization procedures to guarantee fair standard development process which is aimed at building consensus among involved stakeholders
Why are standards not regulations
- Conformity to standards are voluntary while conformity to regulations are compulsory. Eg. an item that does not fit into an area’s regulations is not allowed in that area but an item that is non-compliant to standards doesn’t limit by law the diffusion of an item
- standards are often partially or fully captured into regulations so as to speed up and simplify the regulatory work thanks to the directions of best practices defined in standards
Why are standards not a set of design rules
- Standards are aimed at defining a set of minimum requirements for an item in order for it to make certain well-defined objectives
- Many standard compliant implementations of this item is possible
How do standards benefit the economy
- Incentivizes investments - ensures stability of the technology in a reasonable time frame
- Enabling economy of scale
- Facilitating trade due to common
approaches in countries - Encouraging larger and fairer competition
- Consolidation of new tech and identifying evolution paths that are able to preserve past investments
- Increasing collaboration opportunities between companies especially for small and innovative enterprises
How do standards benefit the environment
- Support environmental sustainability
- Enhance safety of products
- Informing customers in a clear and unambiguous way, promoting the company and its image at the same time
How do standards benefit innovation
- Reduce development time, costs and risks by steering designer’s activity, which facilitates the uptake of innovation in the marketplace
- Improving quality, decreasing time to market, promoting interoperability of products, attract customers
What are the benefits of standards for industries
Innovation - ease new developments
Trade and competition - enlarge potential market
Safety and sustainability - fairer competition and less risk of non-compliance (widespread and shared basic requirements)
What are the benefits of standards for communities and individuals
Innovation - satisfaction of tangible and intangible needs
Trade and competition - best value for money
Safety and sustainability - safer environment
How do standards jeopardize innovation and how is it overcome
Standards may limit or delay intro of innovative solutions in market and introducing innovation into standards may take a long time
Overcome by managing standardization process by being open and responsive to market trends and to research impulses from the experts involved in standardization activities and establish open expert groups to explore innovation
How do standards jeopardize fair competition and how is it overcome
SDOs may be politicized or influenced by special interests
Overcome by enlarging contributor base and finding fair balance between effectiveness and fairness
How does varied standardization landscape carry inconsistencies and how is it overcome
Standards produced by different SDOs may be in competition or partially overlap and consistent production of inconsistent requirements may strongly jeopardize standardization benefits.
Risk of unfairness as some SDO may be misused for local or specific interests
Overcome by users and contributors must select the most appropriate SDO and SDO must promote liaison and collab between themselves
What are 3 ways SDOs may differ in
- Geographical coverage
- Technical scope of activities
- Level of recognition from political or regulatory orgs
DIfference between international and regional SDOs
international SDOs have members worldwide which sometimes includes national or regional standard bodies and their deliverables have worldwide coverage
regional SDOs have members from countries that usually share or are interested in promoting common practices and regulations
What are the main characteristics of a standard
- clear and unambiguous, include parts that are normative and informative and help readers understand what is essential to compliance
- written in clear language, short and simple sentences
- requirements consistent, not redundant ,testable, well-defined, and meet real needs
