Foreword ix
Laurent ROMARY

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Abbreviations and Acronyms xxi

Introduction xxxi

Chapter 1 The Forerunners of Standardization 1

1.1 Standardization in Antiquity: writing, knowledge and metrology 2

1.2 The stages of the standardization of text before printing 9

1.3 The pecia: de jure standardization of a manuscript 12

1.4 Printing and engraving: tools of standardization 13

1.4.1 The Grecs du Roy and the standardization of the typographic point 15

1.4.2 A revolution in perspective: standardizing a point of view 17

1.4.3 Engraving and the standardization of technical presentations 19

1.5 Metrological uniqueness, the engine of metrological prosperity 21

1.6 Measuring the Earth: metrology's scientific quest 24

1.7 Turgot, standardizer of metallurgy and metrology 26

Chapter 2 The 19th Century: The Establishment of Institutions 29

2.1 The French Revolution: metric system and telegraph 31

2.1.1 The decimal metric system at the heart of the Revolution 32

2.1.2 The Republican Calendar and decimality under the Terror 35

2.1.3 The metric system before the standardized body in Sèvres 39

2.1.4 Chappe's technological and institutional innovations 40

2.2 Disparities in European technologies and standardization 42

2.2.1 Technological advances in Britain 43

2.2.2 Monge: descriptive geometry and industrial design 45

2.2.3 The new media: photography, cinema 46

2.3 The post-1850 move toward international technical regulation 47

2.4 The exemplary case of Standard Oil 47

2.5 The Great Exhibitions - incubators for the ITU, BIPM and IEC 48

2.6 The invention and founding of standardization organizations 50

2.6.1 The 19th century: an era of networks 53

2.6.2 Undersea cables: an absolute need for standardization 56

2.6.3 The need for uniformity across electric telegraphy 57

2.6.4 The Germanic origins of a telegraphic union 60

2.7 1865, the founding of the ITU following the Paris Convention 63

2.7.1 The delayed inclusion of the telephone by the ITU 65

2.7.2 The ITU and radiotelegraphy 66

2.7.3 The ITU, procedural standards and not technical standards 67

2.8 Paris 1875: the Metre Convention and the creation of the BIPM at Sèvres 70

2.9 The founding of the IEC 76

Chapter 3 The IEC, Inventor of Standards 77

3.1 Metrological consensus at the Congress of Electricians in 1881 80

3.2 The impossibility of giving the BIPM the electrical units 85

3.3 The stages in the founding of the IEC: 1881, 1904, 1906, 1908 85

3.3.1 The key personalities involved in founding the IEC 86

3.3.2 The final steps in the creation of the IEC 90

3.4 New York, 1926: decentralization of the IEC and creation of the ISA 92

3.4.1 The IEC's first technical committees 95

3.4.2 Eugen Wüster's contributions and nomenclature 96

3.4.3 The creation of mixed committees within the IEC 99

3.4.4 The increase in the number of TCs and the requirement for SCs 100

3.5 IEC diplomacy in the decade from 1940 to 1950 100

Chapter 4 From the ISA to the ISO 103

4.1 Generalist national standardization bodies 104

4.1.1 Preference for NBs to be independent of States 107

4.1.2 The founding of the ISA and its contributions: 1927-1939 108

4.2 Standardization before and after the Second World War 112

4.2.1 1945, founding of the ISO by the Allies, continuing the work with the ISA 113

4.2.2 The ISO and social and technical changes 116

4.2.3 DEVCO, CASCO and COPOLCO 118

4.3 The ISO and IEC: a shared model of governance and unique methodology 120

4.3.1 The Technical Management Board, a convergence regulator 122

4.3.2 Integration of TCs and SCs: the example of ISO/TC 37 123

4.3.3 The steps involved in manufacturing standards 126

Chapter 5 JTC 1: Convergence Catalyst 129

5.1 1960-1987: the predecessors and establishment of JTC 1 131

5.1.1 Technical committees that led to JTC 1 136

5.1.2 The first round of SC creation began with JTC 1/SC 2 140

5.2 The first round of SCs created in JTC 1: 1964-1991 147

5.3 JTC 1/SC 29: JPEG and MPEG 154

5.4 The second round of SCs created in JTC 1: 1996-2002 158

5.5 JTC 1/SC 36: information technology for learning, education and training 161

5.6 The third round of SCs created within JTC 1: 2009-2013 168

5.7 The fourth round of SCs created within JTC 1: 2017-2025 171

5.8 Working groups attached directly to JTC 1 174

Chapter 6 Consortium Standards and Standardization 177

6.1 Unicode: standardization of writing systems from around the world 180

6.2 Partnerships and organization of projects within Unicode 181

6.2.1 Members and their role 182

6.2.2 The technical organization of work 183

6.2.3 Deontology 184

6.3 The Internet: an ideal digital commons at our fingertips 185

6.3.1 The founding of the IETF, IESG, and ISOC 188

6.3.2 The W3C and its multiplier effect on the Internet 189

6.3.3 Bringing together the W3C, the Internet and data theft by design 190

6.4 Academic consortium standards 193

6.5 TEI and MEI: Text Encoding Initiative and Music Encoding Initiative 195

6.6 Standardizers and GAFAM+ 199

6.7 End of 2025: creation of ISO/IEC JTC 4 dedicated to smart cities 202

6.7.1 History and objective in an emerging field of standardization: smart and sustainable cities and communities 204

Conclusion 207

References 227

Index 241

The Institutional Standards Factory

Precursors, Foundation, Methods, Future and Technical Promise