Why do we need standards?
Standards can be found throughout our daily lives but why do we need them?
Rather than asking why we need standards, we might usefully ask ourselves what the world would be like without standards.
Products might not work as expected. They may be of inferior quality and incompatible with other equipment, in fact they may not even connect with them, and in extreme cases; non-standardized products may even be dangerous.
Standardized products and services are valuable User 'confidence builders', being perceived as:
- safe
- healthy
- secure
- high quality
- flexible
As a result, standardized goods and services are widely accepted, commonly trusted and highly valued.
Standards provide the foundation for many of the innovative communication features and options we have come to take for granted, and they contribute to the enhancement of our daily lives - often invisibly.
We need look no further for evidence than the GSM™ standard which facilitates mobile communication the world over between (for example):
- friends and relations
- hospitals
- business
- schools
- industry
- emergency services
- airports
- governments
ICT standards are vital for efficient manufacturing:
- contribute to better regulation
- enable multi-market access
- create active markets
- encourage innovation
- improve communication
Standardization brings important benefits to business including a solid foundation upon which to develop new technologies and an opportunity to share and enhance existing practices.
Standardization also plays a pivotal role in assisting Governments, Administrations, Regulators and the legal profession as legislation, regulation and policy initiatives are all supported by standardization.