Project Newsletter 4

Vol. 4; No. 4; September 2005
For more up-to-date information:
http://www.no-rest.org

Content:

• Second Project Review
• Deliverables
• 2nd NO-REST Workshop
• Ongoing Work
• Workshops
• Publications
• SIIT 2005

The months since the previous Newsletter have been busy for project members; thus the slight delay of this newsletter. In addition to the normal progress of project work, we have been occupied with the revision of a major deliverable, the organisation of a second project work, and the preparation of a further project review.

The time-frame of the project has now been extended three months in order to accommodate difficulties in finalising the surveys which form the basis of the work on impact assessment. The project will now end on Nov 30, 2005. This newsletter provides an update of the project's activities.

Second project Review

An interim project review was conducted in Brussels on August 4. This time attention specifically addressed deliverables 5 - 8. Overall, this was a helpful meeting with some interesting discussions.

One result was that the revised version of the integrated deliverable 5/6, "Report on demand factors and on the supply side for standards for networked organisations", was accepted. Deliverable D07, "Report on the supply side of standards" was provisionally accepted pending some additions, and revisions were requested for D08, "Report on the dynamics of standards and their implementations".

Deliverables

The project deliverables 1 - 6 have finally been accepted by the Commission. Nos. 1 - 3, 5, and 6 are public.

• D01: Draft version of guidelines for tools for an a-posteriori performance evaluation of standards for networked organisations.
  
  
• D02: Draft version of guidelines for tools for an integrated a-priori impact assessment of standards for networked organisations

During the course of the project work, the distinction between an a-posteriori performance evaluation and an a-priori impact assessment increasingly became artificial. Thus deliverables D01 and D02 were submitted as an integrated document. The integrated deliverable develops a general standard impact assessment framework.

First, the problems of impact assessment in the dynamic standardisation environment are identified. Subsequently, the different impact dimensions and the relevant scientific disciplinary approaches are identified. The deliverable starts from the premise that technology foresight provides an apt basis on which to derive an overall impact assessment. It then adapts a foresight framework to the frame of standardisation activities.

This innovative step then allows us to develop a comprehensive impact assessment which covers a range of different phases. These include auditing of specific contexts, modelling of relevant information, the performance of empirical analysis. In addition it can encompass scenario-building exercises and can indicate the direction of future standardisation processes. The NO-REST project presents this idealised framework, leaving the application of its specific stages to subsequent work outside the project.

Finally, an overview and assessment of impact assessment methodologies is presented, illustrated by a selection of relevant examples. These methodologies are compared according to a set of criteria to illustrate that specific methodologies should only be applied in specific contexts and for specific impact dimensions, which cover mainly the economic area. The applicability of the different methods for ex-post and ex-ante impact assessments are distinguished. This further justifies the integration of the two originally separate deliverables into one comprehensive overview and guideline on standards impact assessment in general.

• D03: First project review report
  This report summarises the work done by the project during the first reporting period March - October 2004.
  
  
• D05: Report on demand factors for standards for networked organisations./D06: Report on the supply side of standards.

Looking at the demand side of standards for e-business and e-government, we find that the situation is somewhat similar: standardisation for B2B, or inter-administration standards, are comparably well developed, whereas standards for customer relation management and for the communication with citizens, respectively, are lagging behind.

Business models are then identified to link between supply and demand. They also make up a useful device to characterise the complexity of the standardisation environment. Accordingly, a business modelling framework is developed and applied to the case of 'broadband service platforms. The framework serves to demonstrate that the originally static roles of the different groups of stakeholders are becoming increasingly dynamic and that each group potentially takes on the other roles.

On the supply side, an adaptable description of standards setting bodies was introduced. It can easily be mapped onto the needs of the different types of users which are classified by their respective level of interest in a standards setting activity, thus also linking the supply side with the demand side. Potential policy implications of the different types of deliverables are also discussed.

Finally, a study on the perceived 'credibility' of SSBs is presented. Its outcome supports the notion (also discussed) that the dichotomy 'SDO' - 'industry consortium' should be revisited, as the boundaries between them are increasingly blurred. Rather, respondents indicated that decisions to implement a particular standard, and even more so active participation in a particular standards setting body, is a case-by-case decision largely depending on the individual characteristics of the SSB in question rather than its 'status'.

2nd NO-REST Workshop

The Workshop entitled 'Impacts of Standards?! - New Insights' was held on May 27, 2005, at ETSI's premises in Sophia Antipolis.

The workshop featured three invited presentations by recognised experts and four reports by project members on their latest findings. Some 30 people showed up during the morning session. Mysteriously, though, a number of them disappeared after the lunch break.

The first presentation, "Digital Businesses, Integration and Challenges", by Bernard Barani of DG INFSO, looked at the increasing complexity of ICT systems, from the early start with e-mail systems to future digital ecosystems, and how EU policies are addressing this issue. On the more technical side, specifically the various IST clusters are working towards solutions to adequately support networks businesses with the necessary systems.

ETSI's view on the path "From research to the user via standardisation", was presented by Jørgen Friis.

He described ETSI's contribution to the link between standardisation and innovation, focusing on how research can contribute to standardisation. The latter is the goal of the COPRAS project.

"Trends and Challenges in Impact Assessment", by Jordi Molas-Gallart, SPRU. Jordi argued that despite the seemingly simple foundations of impact assessment it faces numerous difficulties in a context of political accountability. The desire for easily interpretable results is at odds with the necessarily long-term nature of impact assessment, and the complexity and variety of influencing factors. Easy solutions should not be expected here.

Zygmunt A Lozinski (Parley & IBM) discussed "Better technological and institutional 'gateways' for better standards". His presentation had to be given remotely via an audio channel, as, unfortunately, he could not attend the meeting in person (this worked pretty well, though). He focused on Parlays approach to move from concepts to standards to products, and how they manage key stakeholders and relationships. A key message that came across was that marketing is crucial for standards initiatives such as Parley.

A lively discussion concluded the workshop, despite the summery temperatures.

Ongoing Work

In addition to dissemination activities and the revision of deliverables the study on the impact assessment of standards is the major ongoing activity. This study has been extended to also cover members of ITU-T working groups (in addition to members of ETSI and CEN/ISSS).

Preliminary results of this exercise suggest little difference in the impact of formal standards compared to consortium standards (a result which is nicely in line with the findings of the 'credibility study', see above). The major distinction seems to be between 'open' and 'proprietary' standards, with a negative impact frequently associated with the latter.

Workshops etc

Two members of the NO-REST consortium organised a workshop at the 5th Triple Helix conference, which was held in Torino, Italy, on May 18-21. The workshop was entitled 'Promoting the Third Estate in ICT Standards Setting', and looked at issues surrounding the participation and role of SMEs, users, consumers etc. in ICT standardisation. The presentations:

• Creating a More Level Playing Field in ICT Standardisation.
  Kai Jakobs
  
  

• ICT Standardisation in the Automotive Industry: Mission Impossible for SMEs?
  Martina H. Gerst
  
  
• Transaction Costs Perspectives of OSS in the Evolution of the Computer Industry.
  Kai Reimers, Mingzhi Li
  
  
• Generification Work in the Production of Organizational Software Packages
  Neil Pollock, Robin Williams

The 10th 'EURAS Workshop on Standardisation and Networks' was held in Talinn, Estonia, on June 2-3. Several consortium members presented, and a number of other presentations were closely related to the topic of NO-REST. Further information may be found at www.euras.org.

Publications

Bunduchi, R.; Gerst, M.; Graham, I.; Williams, R.: Driving Grid Standardisation - the role of the business community. Proc. 10th EURAS Workshop, Mainz Scientific Publisher, 2005.

Chauvel, Y.: ETSI in a changing standardization landscape. Proc. 10th EURAS Workshop, Mainz Scientific Publisher, 2005.

Egyedi, T.M. & P. Heijnen (2005). 'First Steps in the Analysis of Standards Dynamics in JTC1', in: Tarek Khalil (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Management of Technology, CD, ISBN 0971296472.

Egyedi, T.M. & P. Heijnen (2005, forthcoming). 'Scale of Standards Dynamics: Change in formal, international IT standards', in S. Bolin (Ed.), The Standards Edge: Future Generation. Felton, CA: Bolin Communications.

Egyedi, T.M. & J. Vrancken (2005). 'Why are Standards' Implementations Incompatible?', in: Tarek Khalil (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Management of Technology, CD, ISBN 0971296472.

Egyedi, T.M. & J. Hudson (2005). 'A Standard's Integrity: Can it be Safeguarded?', IEEE Communications Magazine, 43/2, 151-155.

Egyedi, T.M. & J. Hudson (2005). 'Maintaining the Integrity of Standards: No Passage East of Java', EURAS Yearbook, Vol. 5/ Homo Oeconomicus, 22/1, pp.1-20, Muenchen, Germany: Accedo Verlag.

Egyedi, T.M. & Z. Verwater-Lukszo (2005). 'Which standards' characteristics increase system flexibility? Comparing ICT and Batch Processing Infrastructures', Technology in Society, 27/3, pp. 347-362.

Iversen, E.; Tee, R. Mobile communications and standards dynamics. To be published in: Proc. SIIT 2005, IEEE publishers, 2005.

Iversen, E.; Tee, R. Standards dynamics and industrial organization in the mobile telecom sector. In Pamberg, C & E. Bolin (eds.) Special Edition of INFO. Forthcoming 2005.

Jakobs, K.: Does an ICT Standards' Success Depend on Its Origin? (invited paper). Standards Engineering, vol. 57, no 3, 2005.

Jakobs, K.; Wallbaum, M.: Scores of Rule-Setters - Co-operation and Competition in ICT Standards Setting. To be published in: Proc. SCORE Conference, 2005.

Jakobs, K.: Installation of an IEEE 802.11 WLAN in a Large University Setting. To be published in: Proc. SIIT 2005, IEEE publishers, 2005

Jakobs, K.: Shaping User-side Innovation Through Standardisation - The Example of ICT. To be published in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol 73, no 3, 2006

Sherif, M.H., Egyedi, T.M. & K. Jakobs (2005). 'Standards of quality and quality of standards for Telecommunications and Information Technologies (ICTs)'. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Standardization and Innovation in Information Technology, September 21-23, 2005, ITU, Geneva, Switzerland, pp.221-230.

Wendel de Joode, R. van & T.M. Egyedi (2005, forthcoming). 'Handling variety in Java & Linux: Coordinating Mechanisms for the Future Generation?', in S. Bolin (Ed.), The Standards Edge: Future Generation. Felton, CA: Bolin Communications.

SIIT 2005

The 4th Int. Conference on Standardisation & Innovation in IT, SIIT 2005, will be held in Geneva, Sept 21 - 23. NO-REST will be extremely well represented at this event, with six presentations and two panel contributions directly coming out of project. For further information on this event please see www.siit2005.org.