U.S. – China Symposium on Active Industry Participation in Standardization U.S. EXPERIENCES WITH INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP IN CONSORTIA Andrew Updegrove Gesmer Updegrove LLP

What exactly are consortia?

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? A parallel standard setting system that began to evolve in the late 1980s Principally active in the Information and Communications Technology (ITC) sectors Usually (but not always) formed by multi-national vendors Usually (but not always) open to other types of members, such as universities, end-users, government agencies, etc. Usually (but not always) global in membership (some are national or regional)

WHAT DO THEY DO ? May be narrow (a single standard) or very broad in focus (with up to a hundred active working groups) May exist for the life of a single standard, or become institutionalized (e.g., W3C, OASIS) May focus only on standards development, or may engage in many other types of activities –Promotion (joint marketing, white papers, etc.) –Certification test development and testing –Public advocacy

HOW DO THEY OPERATE? Consortia have complete flexibility in their processes and procedures: –May operate on consensus, or by majority –May be completely open, or may be more closed to a small group of key stakeholders –Intellectual property rights rules may vary widely (from royalty-free to RAND)

HOW MANY ARE THERE (and why are there so many)? Between 500 and 1,000 More are formed every month Some are disbanded or merge every year Tend to be formed when new areas of technology mature to the point where they can be commercialized Tend to be formed when a group of vendors wants to move as quickly as possible

How do they fit into the global standard setting infrastructure?

DOMAINS The majority of Information Technology standards are now set in consortia A smaller percentage of Communications Technology standards are set in consortia Consortia are beginning to be formed in some other areas as well (e.g., bioscience) Why? In each case, these are areas where products become obsolete rapidly or where the flexibility offered by consortia brings benefits to companies

RECOGNITION Most consortium standards are used directly by companies around the world. Some consortia offer their standards to ISO or IEC through the “Publicly Available Specification” (PAS) Process and other available routes

What has the American experience been with consortia?

AN AMERICAN PHENOMENON The US has a “bottom up” standards structure US-headquartered vendors have been most active in forming and joining consortia The vendors that have formed them, however, are almost always multi-national, or at least looking to the global, and not the national marketplace Vendors (and governments) from Europe, China and other major markets have also been active Those that form consortia have the opportunity to set the strategic direction of the new organization

BENEFITS Thousands of crucial ICT standards have been created by consortia The founders and members of the hundreds of consortia that created them have had: –The greatest impact on which standards were developed –The greatest influence on how they turned out –An early look at the standards, allowing them to begin implementation and promotional activities earlier

What are the lessons to be learned?

LESSONS FROM THE US EXPERIENCE 1. Being effective in the ICT space requires participation in consortia as well as SDOs 2. Consortia are particularly useful to companies pursuing multinational markets 3.As a result, consortia want to attract members from around the globe 4.Consortia are flexible 5. Consortia can be set up quickly to achieve a specific goal 6. Consortia work best when they are most open

FURTHER INFORMATION Visit ConsortiumInfo.org –Essential Guide to Standard Setting Organizations and Standards: –Consortium Standards Bulletin: –Standards MetaLibrary: –News portal: –Standards Blog: