Institutional Dilemma in ICT Standardisation: Co-ordinating the Diffusion of Technology?

Tineke M Egyedi, Department of ICT, Delft University of Technology

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2000)

Repeatedly, formal standardisation has been criticised for issuing standards that are not up-to-date and difficult to implement. The institutional set-up is blamed. This chapter examines the claim and explores how different standards settings affect technology development. An institutional analysis is made. The standardisation rationale of the formal standards bodies is process-oriented. Despite procedural changes in response to 'Fortress Europe' and grey standardisation, the rationale essentially remains the same. A comparison between formal, grey and de facto standardisation shows that an evaluation of the effects of institutional characteristics on technology development depends, for example, on whether one centres on the standards process, standards or standards implementations. I conclude that the above critique comprises an institutional dilemma, namely one between 'standardisation as a setting of technological innovation? and 'standardisation as an ex ante market mechanism'. Prioritising the latter would mean that the role and rationale of the formal standards bodies need to be adapted towards co-ordinating technology diffusion.