On 2 December 2024 from 18:00 to 19:30 CET, the StandICT.eu Standards Training Academy hosted a webinar on the Geopolitics of ICT Standardisation, with a focus on the USA. This was the fourth and final webinar of this series, building on the momentum of previous engaging discussions centered around China and India. The webinar, organised and moderated by Knut Blind, Chair of the StandICT.eu Standards Training Academy and project partner of StandICT.eu from Fraunhofer ISI, aimed to elevate knowledge surrounding the ICT standardisation of activities and efforts of the USA.
Background on StandICT.eu and the Standards Training Academy
StandICT.eu 2026 is the third edition of the project, building on the previous success of StandICT.eu 2018 and StandICT.eu 2023, with the objective of providing financial support and resources to European ICT standardisation experts to strengthen Europe’s role as a leader in the ICT standards development ecosystem.
The Standards Training Academy provides training modules and educational resources to standardisation professionals across various backgrounds, including SMEs, research and academia and government representatives, to enhance their knowledge of standardisation practices and principles to ultimately support their standardisation goals.
Standardisation Landscape of the USA
Maria P. Knake, Acting Team Lead, Standards and Conformity Assessment at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), alongside Jayne Morrow from Montana State University -Bozeman, initiated the hour and a half discussion by introducing the role and capacity of NIST to implement the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET), which takes a comprehensive landscape scan of critical and emerging technologies (CET) and the public-private standards development system in the USA. Maria disclosed NIST’s roadmap for strategy implementation with key findings. A key emphasis, which became a common theme throughout the day, was the importance diverse stakeholder input as a core function for implementation planning and engaging with a range of stakeholder bodies involved in the standards development process to be successful in the face of the rapidly changing technological environment.
Mary Saunders, Senior VP for Government Relations and Public Policy at the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), continued the conversation from the lens of ANSI in her presentation. Mary took the time to address a key difference between the CET standardisation landscapes of Europe and the USA, highlighting how the USA has not yet taken a regulatory approach to AI and development like Europe has done.
Mary emphasised how, “standards should not be used as a compete tool, but a support tool”, alluding to the idea that standards exist to inform policy, not replace policy. Additionally, Mary identified the non-monolithic structure of the standards environment related to decision-making and membership, meaning that welcoming and engaging new stakeholder groups is fundamental to achieve greater technical outcomes, especially considering that standards take on alternate definitions and interpretations as they travel across borders and are internalised by different standardisation bodies.
Finally, Justus Baron from Northwestern University Center on Law, Business, and Economics, provided a snapshot of the USA standardisation landscape from an academic perspective, expanding on the motivations and objectives of the privately led standardisation system of the country, especially as it pertains to the evolving technological competition with China and the ultimate push for global leadership and influence. Justus compares how the USA subscribes to a much different standardisation structure than the EU, focusing more on industrial and private development versus societal impact or social interests. Moreover, the USA implements standards with national security top of mind, in a system that is deficient of any US standards bodies possessing a clearly defined regulatory role.
Q&A Session and Key Takeaways
After the presentations, the experts responded to attendee questions and engaged in a productive discourse related to various aspects of the USA standards system, including:
- Overcoming real and perceived barriers, especially where to go to find standards and existing financial burdens, to increase access to contributions and create a more inclusive community of engagement.
- The inefficient system of metrics for the standards system at large, specifically related to leadership and global influence.
- How it is too early to project a clear image of the impact the new presidential regime will have on the standards development landscape in the country.
Head to the event page on the StanICT.eu website to watch a recording of the webinar and download the presentation slides.
Role of Trust-IT
Trust-IT leads the third edition of StandICT.eu as the project coordinator, leveraging specialised research analysis & ICT communication expertise, as well as innovative web development and implementation capabilities, to effectively deliver the fundamental objectives of the project and continue to maximise StandICT.eu's influential position as a facilitator for ICT standards in Europe and globally. Organising forums for collaboration and interaction among standards experts is essential to maximise the efforts of standardisation activities and provide educational avenues that ensure European efforts are given proper visibility to advance global goals.
