About a century ago, scientists began to investigate standardization, a phenomenon that has characterized civilizations since ancient times. Throughout history, individuals and organizations needed to develop common technical specifications and use them repeatedly to achieve coordination across a wide range of contexts. Early examples of standards include common units of measurement and the specification of exchange currencies. Their reach grew dramatically with the standardization of assembly lines in factories during the first industrial revolution, and today standards permeate our lives, from standardized paper sizes to freight containers, from test methods for product safety to physical and digital standardized interfaces for our computers.
The development of standardization research underwent three main stages. First, standardization research formed a standalone academic discipline, mostly connected to management and engineering. Later, it evolved into a multidisciplinary scientific field, especially with the surge of environmental, sociological, and legal investigations on standards. Nowadays, standardization can be considered in all effects an interdisciplinary scientific field. The progressive use of interdisciplinary approaches (i.e., combining elements of two or more disciplines in the same studies) is uncovering a set of common theories (which science philosopher Imre Lakatos called “protective belts”) about the process of standardization, from the development of standards to their adoption and impact.
However, the development of standardization research is not linear, since the divergence of approaches and terminologies employed by the different research communities is undermining the consistency of the field. This dissertation aims to bring order to this “interdisciplinary” stage of this development. It does so through a twofold research objective: first, it aims to explore the extent to which research on standardization is interdisciplinary; second, it aims to illustrate possible avenues for interdisciplinary research. For this purpose, the dissertation adopts a multi-method approach that spans from literature-based research (both bibliometric and conceptual) to quantitative and qualitative research... ... Read more

Standards are ubiquitous in contemporary society and play a clear role in technological development, organizational functioning, and business success. Standards are very diverse and often boundary crossing in terms of stakeholders and impact, but are such diversity and range reflected by academic studies? We take stock of standardization research over the past decade, considering the full interdisciplinary breadth of this growing field. We use bibliometrics and network analysis to map emergent trends, and conduct an in-depth review of the literature. In doing so, we find that management science, along with economics, is at the core of work on standardization, bridging academic disciplines, and leading theoretical development. Technical disciplines, such as engineering and computer science, supply the largest body of literature, but rarely cross disciplinary boundaries and remain rather isolated. Building on our review, we discuss current debates and controversies and distill four interpretative perspectives on the recent and current developments of standardization research. Finally, we propose a research agenda for standardization research and practice for the years to come. ... Read more

Working conditions of gig workers on platforms such as Uber, Lyft, and Deliveroo raise concerns due to lack of labor protections, low pay, and precarious working arrangements. The recent Directive proposal by the European Commission on Platform Work (Directive 2021/880) aims to address such concerns. However, it provides guidelines for afterwards repair rather than for the anticipation of recurring problems related to platforms. Network effects, inherent to platform companies, lead to winner-takes-all situations and, next, the disadvantages of monopolistic behavior. Moreover, the profit-driven business models of the platform companies lead to societal disadvantages such as poor labor conditions. Then the network effects and resulting monopolistic situation multiply these negative side effects. While the European Directive represents a step forward, it does not prevent new cases of misbehavior. In this blog we argue that policy makers willing to mitigate negative effects of platforms may learn lessons from the field of standardization — a comprehensive multi-stakeholder approach may anticipate dominance of new platforms and promote a fairer and more transparent economy. To achieve this, a concerted effort from policymakers, academics, industry, and civil society is needed, to ensure that platforms operate in a way that promotes social dialogue between all stakeholders. ... Read more

This special issue presents peer-reviewed papers from the 2023 EURAS/SIIT conference on 'Responsible Standardisation for Smart Systems'. The event, held in Aachen, Germany, featured 18 papers across seven sessions, along with panels, keynotes, and workshops. The special issue includes a report of the conference and three peer-reviewed papers. Topics covered are the historical functions of standards, the relationship between certificates for minimum quality and patent applications at the country level, and the importance of reference implementations in ICT standards for open source software, among others. These papers offer insights into various aspects of standardisation, such as its history, its impact on innovation, and the importance of a flexible standardisation process. ... Read more

As the European Union announced the final rollout of the second-generation satellite for their Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System by 2021, stakeholders from comparable systems contemplate the potentially disrupting effects such rollout could cause. This paper explores the battle for standards that facilitate Global Navigation Satellite Systems, with the focus on GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo. The paper shows that although GPS is still in the lead, Galileo is closing in. It appears that GLONASS is trailing behind. Four factors for standard dominance were most important: brand reputation and credibility, operational supremacy, technological superiority, and compatibility. ... Read more