The geopolitics of digital standards: China’s role in standard-setting organisations
Loading...
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Geneva Internet Platform; DiploFoundation; Multilateral Dialogue Konrad Adenauer Foundation
Abstract
Description
Standards, although invisible, shape the increasingly digital world in which we live, from the protocols that make
the internet work to the 3G, 4G, and now 5G standards that enable the functioning of mobile networks and devices.
Their main role is to describe how technologies, products, and services are developed and function. As such, they
enable interoperability and contribute to ensuring safety and quality of service. But standards are not only about
technology; they also have economic, social, and (geo)political implications. We explore these implications in the
first section of this report, as we explain why standards matter for the wider society, beyond those who develop
them.