Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 123 pages
- Published by: RAND Corporation June 25, 2000
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0833028588
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0833028587
-
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
- Weighs: 8 ounces
Product Description
Although much of the growing digital economy rests on the Internet and World Wide Web, which in turn rest on information technology standards, it is unclear how much longer the current momentum can be sustained absent new standards. To discover whether today's standards processes are adequate, where they are taking the industry, and whether government intervention will be required to address systemic failures in their development, RAND undertook five case studies. So far, it seems, the current standards process remains basically healthy, with various consortia taking up the reins of the process, and the rise of open-source
software has also aided vendor-neutral standardization. Nevertheless, the prospects for semantic standards to fulfill XML's promise are uncertain. Can the federal government help? Its policy on
software patents clearly merits revisiting.
Publisher Description
This work is RAND's response to a request made in FY 1999 by theOffice of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to investigate thecurrent standards development process to assess its adequacy andrecommend public policies that may be warranted by the need tokeep it healthy.The resulting report aims to enhance the reader's sophisticationabout the standards process and its central issues. It is discursive butcannot claim to have discovered eternal principles. Why? The stan-dardsfield is complex and nuanced and, like many an organic entity,looks more complicated as one draws closer. It is easier to explainwhat does not work (complex top-down specifications) than to guar-anteethat any alternative approach will, in fact, succeed-particu-larlywhen the market is molting as rapidly and repeatedly as it does.More so, the text is a snapshot in time. Judgments about the odds ofthis or that approach reflect the state of knowledge circa the summerof 1999 (and, of course, not the many twists and turns of the marketsince then). Thus, although this work can inform standards strategyin general, it cannot form the basis for a strategy for any specificstandard.The content should be of interest to members of the technology pol-icycommunity and those curious about how information technologymarkets work. Readers are assumed to be generally knowledgeableabout the industry's structure and products but not necessarilyabout information technology standards per se.Originally created by Congress in 1991 as the Critical TechnologiesInstitute and renamed in 1998, the Science and Technology PolicyInstitute is a federally funded research and development centersponsored by the National Science Foundation and managed byRAND. The institute's mission is to help improve public policy byconducting objective, independent research and analysis on policyissues that involve science and technology. To this end, the institute Supports the Office of Science and Technology Policy and otherExecutive Branch agencies, offices, and councils Helps science and technology decisionmakers understand thelikely consequences of their decisions and choose among alter-nativepolicies Helps improve understanding in both the public and privatesectors of the ways in which science and technology can betterserve national objectives.Science and Technology Policy Institute research focuses on prob-lemsof science and technology policy that involve multiple agencies.In carrying out its mission, the institute consults broadly with repre-sentativesfrom private industry, institutions of higher education,and other nonprofit institutions.Inquiries regarding the Science and Technology Policy Institute maybe directed to the addresses below.
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