The Importance of and a Comparison of Standards Development Organizations in the Ubiquitous Society

The growth of the number of places where technology standardization takes place, and the complex relationships among them, pose challenges for participating actors such as companies and governments. Additionally, it takes considerable resources and capabilities to participate in all Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). Some SDOs have been more effective and efficient in standardizing technologies than others. For this reason, actors need to evaluate and analyze different SDOs to select the appropriate SDO(s) for them and to strategically position themselves in standardizing technologies, so that they can gain more competitive positions in the ubiquitous market. However, it is surprising that there have been relatively few studies analyzing different SDOs. Thus, this study aims to gain insight into the differences and similarities between the methods used at four important international SDOs - IEEE, IETF, OMA, and ETSI - and how these methods are judged by participants. These insights can help governments and companies to develop policies and strategies for SDOs in this changing environment.