International Telecommunication Union ITU-T TELECOMMUNICATION STANDARDIZATION SECTOR OF ITU BRIDGING THE STANDARDIZATION GAP ITU-T Research Project: Measuring and Reducing the Standards Gap 4 December 2009 FOREWORD This report has benefitted from the support of the Korea Communication Commission (KCC) and the Telecommunication Technology Association (TTA); with the principal contribution by Dr. Laura DeNardis, Executive Director, Yale Information Society Project and Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School; and contributions and comments by Arthur Levin. The opinions expressed in this report are those of its contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Telecommunication Union or its membership. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency in the field of telecommunications and information and communication technologies (ICTs). The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is a permanent organ of ITU. ITU-T is responsible for studying technical, operating and tariff questions and issuing Recommendations on them with a view to standardizing telecommunications on a worldwide basis. ITU 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. 2 CONTENTS Bridging the Standardization Gap Program.................................................................................... 5 Program Objectives .................................................................................................................. 5 History of the BSG Program ..................................................................................................... 5 Current Project Phase……….................................................................................................... 9 Fiji Workshop ………………………………………………..………………........................10 The Role of Standards in Developing Countries ...........................................................................12 Effective Government Services ………………………………………………………….......12 Public Interest Effects ………………………………………………………………………. 12 Innovation Policy and National Competitiveness ………………………………………...... 13 Global Access to Knowledge ……………………………………………………………….. 13 Consequences of Lack of Standards Participation ……………………………….................. 13 Some Parameters for Assessing Standards Capability …..............................................................16 Qualitative and Quantitative Metrics ……………………………………………………...... 16 Multifunctionality of Standardization...................................................................................... 16 Multistakeholder Nature of Standardization ………………………………....…………….. 16 Not Limited to International Standards………………..……………….…………………….17 Not Limited to ITU Standards………………..………………….……………………...........17 Scope Limited to ICT Standards ………………………………….………………………… 17 The Tool for Assessing Standards Capability .............................................................................. 18 Standards Development Capacity ........................................................................................... 18 Standardization Human Resources ........................................................................................ 18 Government Standards Policy …............................................................................................18 National Standards Use and Adoption .................................................................................... 19 Additional Questions .............................................................................................................. 19 Standardization Capability Index (SCI) ………………………………………….................. 19 National Standards Assessment Case Studies ...............................................................................21 China …………………………….…………………………………………………………. 21 Czech Republic………………………….………………………………......................... 22 Lebanon ………………………………..……………………………………........................ 23 Mali …………………………………………………………................................................. 23 Mongolia ………………………………………………………………………………........ 24 Papua New Guinea .................................................................................................................. 25 Thailand ...................................................................................................................................25 Zambia ……………………………………………….…………………………………….. 26 National Standards Capability Scale ............................................................................................. 28 Level 1: Low Standards Capability .........................................................................................28 Level 2: Basic Standards Capability ....................................................................................... 29 Level 3: Intermediate Standards Capability ............................................................................30 Level 4: Advanced Standards Capability ................................................................................30 3 Primary Standards Gaps in the Developing World ....................................................................... 31 Lack of Understanding of the National Importance of Standards .......................................... 31 Relatively Less Private Industry Involvement ........................................................................ 31 Inadequate Funding of Standardization .................................................................................. 32 Insufficient Standardization Human Resources ...................................................................... 33 Insufficient Involvement in International Standards Development Processes ……………... 33 Inadequate Technical Infrastructure for Standards Participation ............................................ 34 Best Practices for Maximizing National Standards Capability .................................................... 36 National ICT Standards Strategy ............................................................................................ 36 National Standards Advisory Council .................................................................................... 37 National Standards Body ........................................................................................................ 37 International Standards Participation ...................................................................................... 38 Regional Collaboration .......................................................................................................... 39 National Framework for Standards Adoption and Use ........................................................... 40 Standards Education Strategy ................................................................................................. 40 Recommended Priorities for ITU-T Action .................................................................................. 41 Annexes: Tool for Assessing Standards Capability Presentation of Report Findings and Conclusions 4 BRIDGING THE STANDARDIZATION GAP PROGRAM The International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU- T) remains at the forefront of efforts to improve the capacity of developing countries to fully participate in the development and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) standards. Inequality in national standards capability continues to be a contributive factor to the persistence of the digital divide between the developed and developing worlds and to diminished opportunities for economic development and technological innovation. ITU’s Constitution provides that ITU-T’s work should always take into account the concerns of developing countries.1 ITU has a longstanding commitment to improving opportunities for developing countries to develop and implement ICT standards and is seeking to identify remaining standardization disparities and recommend actionable measures that can help to ameliorate these disparities. To this end, ITU-T has embarked upon an ambitious effort called Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) between developing and developed countries. This report describes a recent research project on BSG and related activities. Bridging the Standardization Gap Program Objectives The overarching goal of the Bridging the Standardization Gap program is to facilitate increased participation of developing countries in standardization, to ensure that developing countries experience the economic benefits of associated technological development, and to better reflect the requirements and interests of developing countries in the standards-development process. One specific objective of this project is to understand the primary gaps that must be overcome to improve the standards development, implementation, and usage capacities of developing countries. This report will introduce the ITU-T's current research project on building standards capacity in the developing world; will present case studies of national standards capability; will identify the primary standards gaps between developing and developed countries based on these case studies; will recommend what a national profile of standards readiness would look like; and will propose a set of indicators, best practices and actionable steps for improving national standards capacity in the developing world. This report encompasses work being done to measure the standards