Standards Policy for Information Infrastructure: (Information Infrastructure Project at Harvard University)

Although there are many competing visions of information infrastructure, there is universal agreement that standards will play a critical role. The history of OSI, the Internet and industry consortia shows that standards development has become a rich, multifaceted process, critically linked to market strategy and major issues of public policy. The 33 contributions to this book present a comprehensive picture of the state of the art in standards development for information technology and the options for federal policy. The book includes both independent analysis and the perspectives of major stakeholders and other interested parties - such as AT&T, the American National Standards Institute, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Overview: standards processes and objectives for the national information infrastructure, Lewis M. Branscomb and Brian Kahin. Part 2 The standards problem: standards - the rough road to the common bye, Martin C. Libicki; a five-segment model for standardization, Carl F. Cargill; information infrastructure meta-architecture and cross-industry standardization, Jim Isaak. Part 3 Current practice: compatibility infrastructure standards in heterogeneous sectors - lessons from the worldwide air cargo community, Paul W. Forster and John Leslie King; open systems standards in manufacturing - implications for the national information infrastructure, Caroline Wagner et al; standards development for information technology - best practices for the United States, Jonathan A. Morell and S.L. Stewart; improving the standardization process - working with bulldogs and turtles, Michael B. Spring et al. Part 4 The role of government: when are standards too much of a good thing? will they provide interoperability for the national information infrastructure?, Robert J. Aiken and John S. Cavallini; the government's role in the HDTV standards process - model or aberration?, Suzanne Neil et al; financing the standards development process, Michael B. Spring and Martin B.H. Weiss; consortia and the role of the government in standard setting, Andrew Updegrove. Part 5 Interoperability and intellectual property: competing definitions of "openness" on the NII, Jonathan Band; arguments for weaker intellectual property protection in network industries, Joseph Farrell; telecommunications standardization and intellectual property rights - a fundamental dilemma?, Mark Shurmer and Gary Lea. Part 6 Position papers: interoperability and intellectual property, Frede Ask; the standards development process and the NII - a view from the trenches, S.N. Baron; the current debate on IT standardization policy in the European Union, Paola Bucciarelli; excerpts from "Realizing the Information Future - The Internet and Beyond", Computer Science and Telecommunication Board, National Research Council; multimedia standards development issues, Philip V.W. Dodds; intellectual property rights and high technology standards, William Ellis; information technology standardization and users - international challenges move the process forward, Georges Ferne; the global standards process - a balance of the old and the new, Richard B. Gibson; standards and the information infrastructure, William F. Hanrahan; standards for the information infrastructure - barriers and obstacles, Jerry L. Johnson; the role of ANSI in standards development for the information infrastructure, Sergio Mazza; the role of standards in the defense information infrastructure, D. Burton Newlin, Jr.; standardization and conformity assessment in telecommunications and information technology, Stephen P. Oksala. (Part contents).

About the Author :
Brian Kahin is Senior Fellow at the Computer & Communications Industry Association in Washington, DC. He is also Research Investigator and Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and a special advisor to the Provost's Office. He is a coeditor of Transforming Enterprise (MIT Press, 2004) and many other books. Janet Abbate is Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech and the author of Inventing the Internet (MIT Press, 1999). Brian Kahin is Senior Fellow at the Computer & Communications Industry Association in Washington, DC. He is also Research Investigator and Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and a special advisor to the Provost's Office. He is a coeditor of Transforming Enterprise (MIT Press, 2004) and many other books.