Users And Standardisation — Worlds Apart? The Example Of Electronic Mail

Kai Jakobs, University of Edinburgh, and Rob Proctor, University of Edinburgh

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 1996)

This paper reports and analyses the views of long-standing active members of standards setting working groups in the field of electronic communications. We focus in particular on their experiences of, and attitudes towards, user participation in standardisation. The results reveal attitudes that differ considerably from the official statements.To complement the views of standards professionals, we then explore the attitude of large corporate e-mail users towards standardisation in general, the impact standards have on their decisions regarding choice of corporate systems, and their apparent reluctance to play an active role in standardisation. This includes a closer look at the ways in which email has emerged in organisations, and on what corporate users actually expect email to offer. A typical pattern can be identified which in turn helps explain the reluctance of corporate users to actively participate in standards setting. Finally,we consider the implications of this and conclude with some recommendations how the current situation could be improved.