A number of important issues form the basis of this book: How can the Information Technology (IT) standardization process, leading to unified products which are needed on the market, be made more efficient? Which current IT standards are of high quality, what factors have led to that high quality, and can those factors be re-created for other IT standards? What improvements to the quality of IT standards are needed? Which organizations should be involved? What permanent changes in the IT standardization scene are necessary? At what point in the evolution of a technology is it appropriate to produce standards? Is strategic planning feasible in the current standardization approach? Diverse disciplines contributed to the findings in this book: computer scientists, standardization leaders and professionals, users and vendors, economists, auditors, software implementors, and communication specialists.

In light of the emerging global information infrastructure, information technology standards are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, however, the standards setting process has been criticized as being slow, inefficient and out of touch with market needs. What can be done to resolve this situation?To provide a basis for an answer to this question, Information Technology Standards and Standardization: A Global Perspective paints as full a picture as possible of the varied and diverse aspects surrounding standards and standardization. This book will serve as a foundation for research, discussion and practice as it addresses trends, problems and solutions for and by numerous disciplines, such as economics, social sciences, management studies, politics, computer science and, particularly, users.

Um am Markt erfolgreich zu sein, muß ein Standard die Anforderungen seiner potentiellen Nutzer erfüllen. Leider ist dies im schnellebigen Bereich der Informationstechnik häufig nicht der Fall. Das Buch zeigt, was getan werden kann, um dauerhaft gute und marktfähige Standards zu entwickeln. Erstaunliches Resultat des Buches ist, dass die populäre Forderung nach mehr Benutzern in den Standardisierungsgremien zu kurz greift. Die Analysen zeigen, warum das so ist und worauf es letztlich ankommt.

"This book studies the nature, relevance, and quality of standards with ICTs and the impact they have on businesses"--Provided by publisher.

Although there are many competing visions of information infrastructure, there is universal agreement that standards will play a critical role. The history of OSI, the Internet, and industry consortia shows that standards development has become a rich, multifaceted process, critically linked to market strategy and major issues of public policy. The thirty-three contributions to this book present a comprehensive picture of the state of the art in standards development for information technology and the options for federal policy. The book includes both independent analysis and the perspectives of major stakeholders and other interested parties--such as AT&T, the American National Standards Institute, the European Commission, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. A Publication of the Information Infrastructure Project at Harvard University