Goverment and ICT Standards: An Electronic Voting Case Study

Jason Kitcat, SPRU, The Freeman Centre, University of Sussex,

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2004)

This paper examines and illustrates the process of setting technical intercommunication standards through a case-study taken from the electronic voting industry. It begins by addressing the large number of types of standards and the many ways in which they are created. The tensions between the speed to market, stakeholder involvement, the mode of production and the legitimacy of a standard are explored. The modes of standards production are then presented in a linear model. The preceding discussion sets the context for a case which presents attempts to standardise the large number of competing electronic voting solutions. The importance of which actors back and influence a standard's development up to successful adoption is exposed. The vital role government can play in preventing a standards market failure is raised and recommendations are offered on how governments can improve their contributions to standardisation.