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

Prepared by the Task Committee on Recommendations for Standards in Hydraulics of the Hydraulics Division of ASCE. This report investigates whether standards or guides are useful to hydraulic engineers and whether additional standards or guides should be prepared. The results of a questionnaire indicate that most hydraulic engineers are not familiar with the procedures used to develop standards or with existing national or international standards. However, responses to the questionnaire show that hydraulic engineers welcome guides or standards as long as some flexibility to use engineering judgment for site specific conditions is allowed. The report recommends that guidelines or consensus standards be developed in the following areas: application of one-dimensional surface water computer programs of the HEC-2 type; prediction of scour at bridge piers; design of pump intakes and sumps; and calculations of friction and form losses in closed conduits. Annotated lists of standards and guidelines produced in the United States and abroad are included.