Standards can be either proactive or reactive. Proactive standards (like Internet enabling standards) can create new markets. Conversely, reactive standards that enhance the user experience are developed after the value of a market has been proven. Tracking the launch of reactive standards efforts can therefore provide clues on where industry players are placing their bets for future growth.
Ecommerce and email usage are growing rapidly - and so are Spam, phishing, spoofing, and identity theft. A squadron of new consortia with a wide range of tactics has recently been launched in response, each by a different constituency that is threatened by the rise in cyber security abuse.
Last year, we reported on a new bill that would amend the National Cooperative Research and Production Act to allow traditional SDOs to better protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits. Now it's about to be signed into law, and it appears that consortia will suffer as a result.
As we become more reliant on the Web to obtain information, we become more limited by what someone decides to put - and keep - there. In 2020, will you be able to find your past?