Consortia And The Evolution Of Information Technology Standardization

Carl Cargill, Director of Standardization, Sun Microsystems

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2000)

This paper examines - from the viewpoint of an empowered, embedded, and usually neutral observe - the struggle between consortia and Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) for hegemony in the standardization arena. The paper traces the events that framed the conflict and the roots of the claims that both sides have made. The key elements that are brought out are the activities of the major funding sources for the Information Technology (IT) industry's participation in standardization - and how this participation has mutated over the past decade. The paper posits that the struggle has been overtaken by events - and that basically, the market no longer really cares where a standard comes from as long as there is a standard.