Section I: Introduction

Quite frequently, a distinction is made in the literature between “ICT infrastructure” and “applications”. Yet, some definitions of the former also include applications (and even human resources). Moreover, applications increasingly rely on an underlying infrastructure that provides the necessary (quality of) services. Thus, this Section argues that any such distinction is artificial, and should be abandoned.

Chapter I: An Integrated View of e-Business and the Underlying ICT Infrastructure

This chapter puts forward the view that ICT infrastructure and the applications using it – such as e-business – need to be considered together. It provides examples of the impact an ICT infrastructure may have on e-business applications.

Section II: E-Business Standards and Business Models

This Section represents part of the outcome of the No-Rest project (Networked Organisation – REsearch into STandardisation). This project was co-funded by the European Commission and, among others, develop tools for the assessment of the impact they have on networked organisations. This Section provides insights into the links that exit between standards and companies’ business models.

Chapter II: The Demand for E-Government Standards

This chapter structures the overall need for standards in the e-government sector along several dimensions. It also discusses various relevant national initiatives. The complex organisational structure of governmental organisations is identified the most important driving force for developing common standards

Chapter III: A Taxonomy of Service Standards and a Modification for E-Business

Based on a survey of a set of European service companies, this chapter identifies a taxonomy comprising five clusters of service standards. A closer look at companies active in e-commerce reveals that this taxonomy does not reflect their needs particularly well. This is primarily due to special needs that result from the geographic distance between firm and customers.

Chapter IV: Business Models and the Dynamics of Supply and Demand for Standards

The relation of different stakeholder groups to standardisation is discussed in this chapter. It first examines their relations in ICT standardisation, focussing on the equity – or rather, the lack of it – of different stakeholders. It goes on to develop stakeholder-centred scenarios for how demand for standards is generated. Based on these scenarios the chapter then uses business models to re-assess the nature of standards demand that is expressed in terms of the complex vendor-applier-user relations, and to describe the emergence of standards demand.

Section III: Successful Standards Development

The chapters of this Section are also direct results of the No-Rest project. Against the background of the complexity of the Web of today’s standards setting bodies in the ICT sector, they discuss how companies that either wish to either implement, or to pro-actively contribute to the development of (one of set of competing) standards should act to make efficient use of their – typically limited – financial and human resources.

Chapter V: Emergence of Standardisation Processes: Linkage With Users

The chapter observes that the users (of RFID technology) are typically under-represented in the relevant standards setting processes. It then discusses the role that RFID standards play in shaping the adoption of RFID systems in the automotive supply chain.

Chapter VI: Perceived Relation between ICT Standards’ Sources and Their Success in the Market

The question on how potential standards setters can select the best platform for their planned activities is discussed in this chapter. It proposes an attribute-based way to describe SSBs. This, in turn, will enable companies to map their requirements onto potentially suitable SSBs’ characteristics.

Chapter VII: How to Select the Best Platform for ICT Standards Development

This chapter briefly outlines the outcome of a study that looked at potential links between ICT / e-business standards’ origins and their subsequent success in the market (or lack thereof). It suggests that companies are not that much interested in the origin of a standard in the sense of “consortium vs SDO”. Rather, considerable importance is assigned to the processes adopted by an SSB. Here, an SSB’s characteristics need to be compatible with the company’s strategy and its business model.

Section IV: Case Studies

The case studies presented in this part discuss various aspects relating to the supply of, and demand for, standards. They do so for various industries, for different technologies, and from different perspectives. Yet, they all show how closely supply and demand are interlinked in ICT standardisation.

Chapter VIII: The Shaping of the IEEE 802.11 Standard – The Role of the Innovating Firm in the Case of Wi-Fi

This chapter describes the evolution of the 802.11 family of standards. Specifically, it looks at the role NCR played during this process, and why and how the idea of an open standard was pursued. How subsequently this standard was turned into a market success is also addressed.

Chapter IX: The Evolution of e.Business – Can Technology Supply Meet the Full Business Demand?

For a change, this chapter adopts an industry perspective. Following a description of the evolution of e-business, it finds that today’s standards still fail to meet many fundamental business needs, including cost-effectiveness and adequate security. Therefore, some proposals for improvements are also made.

Chapter X: China’s Practice of Implementing a 3G Mobile Telecommunications Standard: A Transaction Costs Perspective

The Chinese government’s 3G policy is the focus of this chapter. The country promotes its indigenous TD-SCDMA standard despite the strong market incumbents, WCDMA and CDMA2000. North’s transaction cost theory is used to analyse this case study of ideology-driven interactive game of economics and politics.

Chapter XI: International Framework for Collaboration Between European and Japanese Standard Consortia ¯ The Case of the Automotive LAN Protocol

This chapter provides insights into the standardisation activities in the context of the FlexRay protocol designed for in-car use. It focuses on the division of labour between the two consortia FRC and JasPar. The Consumption Decision Model is used to analyse the reasons behind JasPar’s decision to draft very narrow specifications.

Chapter XII: Between Supply and Demand: Coping With the Impact of Standards Change

Despite expectations to the contrary, standards do change. In some instances, such change may be inevitable; in others, it is not. Some such changes are innovation-related, others stem from the standardisation process itself. This chapter develops a conceptual framework to determine under which circumstances, and how, standards change is avoidable. It also identifies means to reduce the negative impact of change.

Section V: Policy Issues

Adopting a more high-level perspective, this Section discusses the (future) role of governments in the ICT standardisation process. Not least because of public procurement policies and of government-initiated standardisation activities (at least in Europe) governments’ views of (open) standards are of particular relevance.

Chapter XIII: The Open Standards and Government Policy

Standards, especially open standards, are becoming increasingly important for policy makers. This holds particularly for policies relating to national/regional information infrastructures, therefore, this chapter predicts that governments will seek more active role in standardisation. It identifies general directions for future developments of the trend towards open standards, as well as some associated critical issues.

Section VI: Additional Readings

This Section offers some additional chapters. They are not directly related to the specific topic of the book, but should furnish the reader with a better idea about what ICT standards research is all about.

Chapter XIV: Developing Measures and Standards for the European Electronic Signatures Market

The chapter discusses the policy measures and standard necessary to implement the European “Electronic Signatures Directive”.

Chapter XV: Quality Standardization Patterns in ICT Offshore

This chapter illustrates the importance of quality standards for the internationalisation of the ICT sector in general, and for offshoring in particular.

Chapter XVI: An Overview of Models and Standards of Processes in the SE, SwE, and IS Disciplines

The chapter discusses the rationale for having models of, and standards for, processes in SE, SwE and IS, review their main characteristics, and discusses their implications for the IS discipline.

Chapter XVII: E-Business Standardization in the Automotive Sector – Role and Situation of SMEs

This chapter has a closer look at the situation of SMEs in two different expressions of standards setting. Despite the important role they should play, it turns out that SMEs are largely marginalised in both processes.