12 - Revisiting the Legitimacy of ICT Standardization

Summary

This chapter attempts to understand whether and how the increased compliance with due process principles within standards development organizations (SDOs) affects legitimacy and effectiveness of ICT standards. In this regard, it also aims to reveal whether private standards bodies weaken the role of international standards bodies in the ICT sector, and whether the low degree of balance in private standards bodies undermines the legitimacy of modern global economic activity. It further suggests what should be the role of different stakeholders (e.g., SDOs, governments, and courts) in strengthening the different types of legitimacy in ICT standardization, underscoring the importance of feedback mechanisms for SDOs’ decision-making that is currently insufficient or absent from the SDOs’ operational frameworks.