INSTAR: ICT Standardisation Landscape

Executive summary

The report ICT Standardisation Landscape explains how the ICT standards ecosystem is organised. It sets out the main types of standards bodies, the difference between formal and de facto standards, and the links between national, regional and international standardisation systems.

The report presents standardisation as a complex field. This complexity stems from the number of standards development organisations, their varying mandates, and the types of documents they produce. The report aims to give readers basic concepts for understanding this ecosystem.

A central distinction is made between formal standards and de facto standards. Formal standards are produced through defined processes. These processes are usually open to interested stakeholders and are based on consensus. They are influenced by WTO Technical Barriers to Trade principles, including transparency, openness, impartiality, coherence, and relevance.

The report stresses that standards are not the same as regulations. Standards are voluntary from a legal perspective. Regulations are compulsory. However, standards can be referenced in law or used to support regulatory implementation. This makes standards important for policy, public procurement, market access and compliance.

The report also explains what a good standard should do. It should define minimum requirements for a product, service, process or system. It should be clear, unambiguous and testable. It should separate mandatory requirements from informative guidance. It should avoid unnecessary detail and should respond to real needs.

The report maps several types of standards organisations. Some are officially recognised by regulatory systems. In the EU, Regulation 1025/2012 recognises CEN, CENELEC and ETSI as European Standardisation Organisations. Other important organisations, such as W3C, IETF, OASIS, IEEE and OMG, are not formally recognised in the same way but have established procedures and produce widely used standards.

The report highlights the role of de facto standards. These are practices or technologies that become dominant through market adoption or public acceptance. Examples include PDF, HTML and Microsoft Windows. Some de facto standards may later become formal standards, such as PDF through ISO and HTML through ISO/IEC.

The report describes ICT standardisation as geographically layered. International bodies include ISO, IEC and ITU. European bodies include CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. National standards bodies operate at country level and often adopt international or regional standards. The report also refers to regional organisations such as ARSO and PASC.

Coordination between standards bodies is a major theme. The report explains that cooperation helps avoid duplication, improves transparency and supports the efficient use of resources. It notes that international standards often take precedence over regional standards, which in turn take precedence over national standards.

The report gives several examples of formal cooperation. These include the Vienna Agreement between ISO and CEN, the Frankfurt Agreement between IEC and CENELEC, ISO/IEC JTC 1, cooperation between ITU-T and ISO/IEC JTC 1, and the 3GPP model for mobile communications standards. These mechanisms allow standards to be developed, adopted and transposed across different levels.