U.S. Battle for Technology Standards
There’s much to like in the US standards strategy. In contrast to the Chinese approach, it emphasises transparent, market-driven and merit-based standards that protect individual liberties while promoting innovation and economic growth.
However, a key challenge for the US will be to balance enhanced government engagement in standards setting bodies without adopting the Chinese government approach it opposes. The strategy tries to strike this balance by prioritising funding allocations towards research and encouraging increased private sector and academic involvement, while limiting enhanced US government engagement when it comes to shaping standards relevant to national security, or where significant national interests are at stake.
Of course this will need to be managed carefully, but it’s good to see the US openly outline the circumstances in which increased government participation is warranted.
The US has a number of other challenges ahead. One of the primary hurdles is the sheer number of standards-setting bodies scattered across the globe. The fragmented and voluntary nature of these bodies makes it burdensome and costly for the private sector to participate. The strategy acknowledges this challenge and highlights the need to streamline processes, reduce barriers to participation, and provide incentives for US industry involvement to ensure comprehensive representation and influence in standards development. However, it remains to be seen how exactly the US intends to do this.
The US must also address the genuine and growing support for Chinese standards. Many countries favour Chinese proposals to enhance government control over digital technologies, given the difficulties of regulating technology and their own lack of industry participation in standards-setting bodies.
Another challenge is China’s use of de facto standards established through memorandums of understanding and technology exports. China leverages its dominance in certain industries, such as telecommunications, by promoting its own technical specifications. Through strategic partnerships and technology exports, China effectively extends its influence beyond formal standards bodies, establishing de facto standards that align with its interests and increase its market share. The US strategy is focused on formal standards-setting bodies—the US will need to focus bilateral and multilateral diplomatic efforts to raise awareness of how exports and other projects are embedding Chinese standards on the ground in real time.
The successful implementation of the US national standards strategy will require a collective effort from government, industry, civil society and international partners. Fortunately, it looks like this last part is well in train with the recent Quad Leaders’ Summit and G7 Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo setting out like-minded commitments for a fair and transparent rules-based global technology standards system.
Mercedes Page is a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. She previously worked for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This article is published courtesy of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
