Technology, Innovation and the Challenge of the Missing Standards

“These are worthy and important goals. Like the other
commendable promises the president-elect has made, they will be
difficult to realize, for reasons both obvious and subtle. The
obvious challenges include a crowded and ambitious agenda, the
difficulties of achieving political consensus, and above all, the
overarching urgency of addressing a global economic meltdown that
demands attention above all else.

“But there are subtle hurdles that are equally daunting, if less
visible. They include the need to develop a multitude of new
information and communications technology (ICT) standards in record
time, utilizing a standards creation process that is at best
loosely coordinated, frequently contentious, and almost completely
independent of government influence or control. Moreover, the
current standards development infrastructure was never designed to
create the suites of closely integrated standards that will be
needed to solve the types of complex problems embedded in the Obama
technology and innovation agenda. But while the challenge of
creating standards-based solutions may be uninteresting from a
policy perspective, an inability to perform in this pursuit may
present as serious an impediment to success as any failure to
secure requisite funding or garner sufficient Congressional
support.”

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