Standard Setting Organization Participation Topics

What (and Why) is a Consortium?

Why have so many consortia been created? Look here for an explanation of what consortia are, why they are formed, and what they do. You will also find a description of why this site has been created, and what it hopes to accomplish......Read More

Participating in SSOs Part I: Propositions, Value Propositions and Strategies

There are hundreds of consortia to choose from, many of which develop and promote competing solutions for the same problem. Determining which consortia are central to your mission, and which ones are likely to succeed (and fail) is essential to achieving your strategic goals. Here we present a guide to understanding and evaluating whether a given consortium is the right one for you......Read More

Participating in SSOs Part II: Getting the Most from Your Membership

Consortium participation can be expensive in terms of cash and human resources. Some companies are passive, irregular participants in consortia, while others are power users that influence directions and reap maximum rewards. Here you will find a guide to gaining the greatest benefit from membership in consortia.....Read More

Intellectual Property Rights And Standard Setting

IPR policies vary widely, and are evolving rapidly. Today, they are the subject of urgent debate within consortia, close supervision by government regulators and even legal disputes. This area of the site provides a tutorial on creating an effective IPR policy that will help a consortium achieve its goals, and explains the reasons for (and against) various common policy terms......Read More

SSO Formation and Management Topics

Forming a Successful Consortium Part I: Business Considerations

There is as much art as science to forming a successful consortium. In this section, you will find an introduction to the business issues that the founders of a new organization should consider, including: defining the optimal scope for the new organization; determining the deliverables that it should create in order to achieve its mission; identifying and segmenting target membership groups whose participation will be needed to not only develop, but result in the adoption, of standards; creating attractive member value propositions for each of these target groups to ensure their participation; developing an adequate budget and determining appropriate dues structures to support that budge; designing a staffing model to serve the needs of the organization; and adopting key policies to support and add credibility to the organization's technical process.......Read More

Forming a Successful Consortium Part II: Legal Considerations

Forming a successful consortium also requires paying attention to a broad range of legal considerations, including: issues presented by specific types of activities; common legal structures and the relative virtues and shortcomings of each; optimal jurisdictions for formation; antitrust laws and their implications for operations; tax exemption criteria; the advantages and disadvantages of seeking exemption as a public charity as compared to a trade association;  how to evaluate the advisability of seeking that exemption; intellectual property rights policies and procedures; and issues associated with certification and branding......Read More

Certification Testing and Branding

In order for standards to have value, they must have credibility. Consortia use a variety of techniques to allow vendors to set accurate expectations in the marketplace, and to associate strong value with compliant products. In this section, we provide an in-depth guide to test suites, the certification process and brand building......Read More

Creating an SSO Technical Proces

At the core of every standard setting organization (SSO) is a technical process, and the success of an SSO is in no small part a result of how effective, efficient, and appropriate a technical process it designs, implements and maintains. This article provides an overview of the technical process, and how to design a process that is best suited to the goals and realities of an SSO. It discusses different types of process and the base requirements of all technical programs; extrinsic factors that impact the type of process that is most appropriate for a given organization (e.g., the need to seek formal accreditation for its standards, relevance of government procurement, applicability of international treaties, and antitrust considerations); intrinsic factors (e.g., how broad or narrow is the mission of the SSO, how great are its resources, how many standards it will need to develop, how quickly it needs to operate, and what types of intellectual property rights may be impacted); structural and practical elements of a successful process; process steps and public access expectations and requirements; documentation and legal arrangements; and the process related to ongoing maintenance of adopted standards......Read More

Law and Policy Topics

Government Issues & Policy

Governments worldwide are taking an increasingly active interest in standard setting and adoption. In the United States, support of standards and their use by the government itself is on the ascendant. This section compiles provides an introduction tot he role of government in standard setting, and provides to relevant laws and other resources......Read More

Laws, Cases & Regulations

Standard setting is both encouraged and regulated under prevailing antitrust and other laws. From time to time, disputes and government enforcement actions do arise. Here you will find summaries of the laws, regulations and cases applicable to standard setting, with links to all of the primary sources......Read More