STANDARDS, INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVENESS: The Politics and Economics of Standards in Natural and Technical Environments

by Robin E. Mansell (Editor)

Standards and standardization policies increasingly influence innovation and competitiveness. As well as examining how standards are developed and applied, this important new book considers whether technical standards function as effective public policy instruments and components in the processes of industrial globalization. Much of the existing literature in the field makes reference either to information and communication technologies or to the protection and management of the natural environment. In Standards, Innovation and Competitiveness there is a recognition of how closely integrated both sectors have become over questions of process, the role of scientific assessment, and the 'network' effects that accompany standardization. The contributors shift the research and policy focus away from narrowly defined sectoral concerns, towards a more generic view of standards and standards-setting, and their roles as instruments of public policy. With nineteen papers by authors from seven countries, the blend of approaches ranges from formal economic analysis, through political, sociological, and historical analysis, to pragmatic discussions by standards makers themselves. The subjects discussed include issue definition, methodological approaches, political articulation of public and private sector agendas, organizational and decision-making processes, the role of technology users in standardization, and the relationship between standardization and innovation.

Hardcover

Published March 1, 1995

About the author

Robin Elizabeth Mansell is Professor of New Media and the Internet in the Department of Media and Communications at London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2018–19 she directs the double degree MSc/MA Global Media and Communications (LSE and UCT). She has training in several social science disciplines including psychology, social psychology, politics and economics and is a strong advocate of interdisciplinary research when it builds on the strengths of disciplinary inquiry.

Her research and teaching focus on media and communications regulation and policy, internet governance, privacy and surveillance, digital platforms, the socio-technical features of data and information systems, and the social, political and economic impacts of innovation in digital networks and applications. Her current research focuses on the political economy of ‘platformisation’ and ‘datafication’ and its social consequences for society and on the challenges of designing and implementing regulatory norms, rules and processes through institutions in diverse contexts around the world.

She has been involved in many aspects of LSE life and served as Head of the Media and Communications Department in 2006-09 and in 2017-18 as well as LSE interim Deputy Director and Provost 2015-16 and academic Governor 2005-10. She is a Standing Selection Committee member of Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Canada, board member of TPRC (Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy), member of the Scientific Advisory Council of LIRNEAsia, Sri Lanka, and Chairs the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Clearinghouse for Public Statements, having served as IAMCR President 2004-08. She was Trustee of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex 1999-2009 and serves as a Trustee of the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund.