Has the time come to discuss technical affordances of standards?

Abstract

Formal standardization communities are searching for ways to improve their approach. Process improvement is often the primary focus for this discussion. This paper explores the possibilities to put more emphasis on the technical affordances of standards. A case study is presented of a proposal to reform European standardization practice. Technical quality issues are now put forward as important metrics. However, the technical quality criteria are still vague and more research is needed to come up with the dimensions for a quality discourse on technical aspects of standardisation.