Evolving Standards Citation Technology Affects $1 Trillion in Annual U.S. Sales

How do standards developing organizations (SDOs) get their content more broadly cited by users worldwide while also improving the likelihood of being fairly compensated? This is a challenge that Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) addressed through its Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) project.

The stakes are high. International sales of goods and services that require citation of standards in industries like materials, automotive, pharmaceuticals, electrical, and mechanical engineering exceed $1 trillion annually.

Paywall: Three-Ring Binders & Pdfs

SDOs invest a lot to formulate, update, and curate technical norms, parameters, and methods. Updated standards ensure the safety and functionality of everything from concrete to screws.

Such effort is only sustainable because users buy subscriptions to access content. In the past, this often meant receiving hundreds of pages of standards in three-ring binders which SDOs update by mailing out new pages.

For years now, subscribers like engineers and architects have been able to pay for pdf downloads as well. But what happens when a project design changes or a standard is updated? Updating complex designs can take time. And using an automated update process may easily undercut the traditional paywall.

Maintaining & Citing Standards as IT & Machine Learning Becomes More Prevalent 

To help SDOs and users of their standards adapt to advances in design practices CCC proposed to supplement its own resources with a $146,000 MDCP award and regular consultation with the Office of Standards and Intellectual Property in ITA’s Industry & Analysis. A core element was the creation and promotion of Standards Community Resources.

On this website, SDOs and others learn how to adapt standards-citation practices to computer-aided and AI-driven approaches to design. CCC did not create the site to offer a silver bullet solution. But it does help SDOs to stay up to date. It also helps firms that cite standards to innovate lean practices that help them compete globally.