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Software: an emerging industry
Book Reviews
inexorable shift by all standards participants to effect international standards. To give him the final word: "This effort to make standards organizations more long-range focused and more planning oriented will constitute the major change in standards organizations over the next decade".
255
Information Technology and Economic Prospects. ICCP Report 12. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Index, Appendices, Glossary. ISBN: 92-64-12927-8. Trends of Change in Telecommunications Policy. ICCP Report 13. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Index, Appendices, Glossary. ISBN: 92-64-12940-5.
John L. Berg
The Omnicon Index of Standards for Distributed Information and Telecommunications Systems 1989 by Harold Folts. McGraw-Hill Information Services, New York, NY. $129.50. Index, Appendices, Glossary. 1- 11" A huge 8 : × volume containing a one page Table of Contents, a one page Preface, a two page "Guide for Using the Omnicom Index of Standards", 874 pages of standards' descriptions, six pages describing the 21 standards organizations included (Appendix A), three pages of their mailing addresses (Appendix B), 4 pages of abbreviations or acronyms (Appendix C), and an eighteen-page Subject Index. The Subject Index provides the main key to the awesome data. Each entry for a standard contains a main heading of organization, standard code, and title plus the version, date, status, number of pages, language, abstract, notes, cross-references, and supplier of the standard. The cross-reference points to the same standard as issued from other sources, for example, ISO and DIN. Note the scope limitation which is difficult to understand. The list contains PASCAL but not COBOL; the standard for binding PHIGS to Fortram but not FORTRAN. An important addition to any library serving the information technology community, John L. Berg
An Exploration of l~gal Issues in Information and Communication Technologies. ICCP Report 8. OECD, Paris. ISBN: 92-64-12527-2.
Software: An Emerging Industry, by Rauf Gonenc and Martine Briat. ICCP Report 9. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Appendices. ISBN: 92-64-12755-0.
These four books from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) address, in several different ways, the issue of standardization. The different ways include consideration of legal, policy, regulatory, and economic issues of information technology. All of these issues affect standardization processes. The recent International Symposium on Information Technology Standardization brought these several disciplines to exchange their information about standards with standards professionals and technical experts involved with information technology standardization. The results indicated clearly that all of these factors must be considered if standards would succeed - and if success in standardization means broad adoption of the standard, not just its publication, or completion, or the resultant pounds of • paper. The work in OECD was done under Dr. Hans Gassmann, Director of the staff that serves the Committee for Information, Computer and Cornmunications Policy (ICCP). The Committee comprised of representatives of member states also comprises several divergent views - including issues relating to standards. Report 13 presents the findings of a rather large Vienna conference which underscores, quite indirectly, a fact that standards professionals have a hard time ignoring. The fact is that government fiats and monopolies make the more successful standards. And since, in most cases, monopolies exist also through government fiats it may be that government effects the larger portion of successful standards. I appreciate that the bulk of our readers focus their interests on the technical aspects of standardization. And that they approach the standardization process and contribute their volunteer efforts in order to promote a certain technology or product, but a lesson whose learning may be hard and expensive rests in these reports. Namely, the standard is more important than parochial inter-
inexorable shift by all standards participants to effect international standards. To give him the final word: "This effort to make standards organizations more long-range focused and more planning oriented will constitute the major change in standards organizations over the next decade".
255
Information Technology and Economic Prospects. ICCP Report 12. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Index, Appendices, Glossary. ISBN: 92-64-12927-8. Trends of Change in Telecommunications Policy. ICCP Report 13. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Index, Appendices, Glossary. ISBN: 92-64-12940-5.
John L. Berg
The Omnicon Index of Standards for Distributed Information and Telecommunications Systems 1989 by Harold Folts. McGraw-Hill Information Services, New York, NY. $129.50. Index, Appendices, Glossary. 1- 11" A huge 8 : × volume containing a one page Table of Contents, a one page Preface, a two page "Guide for Using the Omnicom Index of Standards", 874 pages of standards' descriptions, six pages describing the 21 standards organizations included (Appendix A), three pages of their mailing addresses (Appendix B), 4 pages of abbreviations or acronyms (Appendix C), and an eighteen-page Subject Index. The Subject Index provides the main key to the awesome data. Each entry for a standard contains a main heading of organization, standard code, and title plus the version, date, status, number of pages, language, abstract, notes, cross-references, and supplier of the standard. The cross-reference points to the same standard as issued from other sources, for example, ISO and DIN. Note the scope limitation which is difficult to understand. The list contains PASCAL but not COBOL; the standard for binding PHIGS to Fortram but not FORTRAN. An important addition to any library serving the information technology community, John L. Berg
An Exploration of l~gal Issues in Information and Communication Technologies. ICCP Report 8. OECD, Paris. ISBN: 92-64-12527-2.
Software: An Emerging Industry, by Rauf Gonenc and Martine Briat. ICCP Report 9. OECD, Paris. Illustrated, Appendices. ISBN: 92-64-12755-0.
These four books from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) address, in several different ways, the issue of standardization. The different ways include consideration of legal, policy, regulatory, and economic issues of information technology. All of these issues affect standardization processes. The recent International Symposium on Information Technology Standardization brought these several disciplines to exchange their information about standards with standards professionals and technical experts involved with information technology standardization. The results indicated clearly that all of these factors must be considered if standards would succeed - and if success in standardization means broad adoption of the standard, not just its publication, or completion, or the resultant pounds of • paper. The work in OECD was done under Dr. Hans Gassmann, Director of the staff that serves the Committee for Information, Computer and Cornmunications Policy (ICCP). The Committee comprised of representatives of member states also comprises several divergent views - including issues relating to standards. Report 13 presents the findings of a rather large Vienna conference which underscores, quite indirectly, a fact that standards professionals have a hard time ignoring. The fact is that government fiats and monopolies make the more successful standards. And since, in most cases, monopolies exist also through government fiats it may be that government effects the larger portion of successful standards. I appreciate that the bulk of our readers focus their interests on the technical aspects of standardization. And that they approach the standardization process and contribute their volunteer efforts in order to promote a certain technology or product, but a lesson whose learning may be hard and expensive rests in these reports. Namely, the standard is more important than parochial inter-