Ten Commandments for Effective Standards

Karen Bartleson has written a nice easy to read little book (98 pages of text) called "The ten commandments for effective standards: practical insights for creating technical standards" (Synopsys Press 2010). Most of her examples are from the arcane world of electronic design automation (EDA) of computer chips, but her ten commandments are are very relevant to health information and interoperability standards:

(1) Cooperate on standards, compete on products. This is the Golden Rule of technical standards. The essence of standardization is to provide interfaces for multiple products to work together well, while encouraging suppliers to develop the best products possible.

(2) Use caution when mixing patents (IP) and standards. Perhaps the biggest challenge faced in creating technical standards is making them available for everyone to use without restrictions while protecting the intellectual property of invention.

(3) Know when to stop. Not every standards project should be completed. Not every standards project should be started. Not everyone wants to join. Timing is important, as is having the right participants.

(4) Be truly open. The word "open" has many definitions. When it comes to standards, open means available for everyone to participate and to use, without discrimination or conditions.

(5) Realise that there is no neutral party. Everyone participating in a standards project has a reason for being there, whether it is obvious or not. Technical standards can be political.

(6) Leverage existing organizations and proven processes. Reinventing the wheel isn't necessary. It's more effective to work within experienced standards-development and standards-setting organizations.

(7) Think relevance. Technical standards can be expensive to produce, so it's important that they address a real need or solve a real problem.

(8) Recognise that there is more than one way to create a standard. Formal standards committees are just one way to create technical standards for an industry. Different methods have pros and cons.

(9) Start with contributions, not from scratch. Producing standards from technology that has already been developed can speed up the standardization process and increase the quality of the resulting standard.

(10) Know that standards have technical and business aspects. Getting the technical details right for a standard is necessary, and so is understanding the commercial implications.