Below is the original call for papers as e-mailed on Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:16:07 +0000

CALL FOR PAPERS
for the HICSS-34 Minitrack on
Standardisation in Information Technology

Minitrack organiser:

Kai Jakobs
Technical University of Aachen,
Computer Science Dept., Informatik IV
Phone: +49-241-8021405; Fax: +49-241-8888-220;
Kai.Jakobs@i4.informatik.rwth-aachen.de

Minitrack Description

Standards form the sine-qua-non for all IT systems. Without underlying standards meaningful exchange of information between different systems would be next to impossible. Accordingly, standards setting has become big business (just look at all those consortia and forae, and their members), and whether or not the market adopts a standard may well have considerable impact even on large companies.

Thus, it should be a high priority interest to understand how standards emerge in the first place, what shapes them, and what impact exactly they (may) have.

This minitrack, which is part of the conference's "Emerging Technologies" track, aims at contributing to a greater awareness of the problems and issues surrounding standardisation and ideally, to suggest some solutions.

Today, the most pressing issues relating to standards setting include

• Whether or not the formal standards setting process, which is characterised by consensus and the observation of due process, is still adequate in the fast and constantly changing IT environment of today, and what needs to be done if it is not.
• How to manage intellectual property rights (IPR) during the process of standards setting.

Accordingly, papers addressing these issues are very much solicited. In addition, a non-exhaustive list of sample topics includes, but is definitely not limited to

• The role of standards in information infrastructures.
• Corporate standardisation policies.
• Corporate 'standards' vs consortium specifications vs formal standards.
• The economic dimension of IT standards.
• The role of the individual in standards setting.

Stakeholders in the standards setting process are at least as diverse, ranging from governments to, ultimately, the individual end-users. Large multi-national vendors/manufacturers have specific requirements on the standards setting process and its outcome, which may well contradict those of small or medium sized firms, which in turn are typically very different from the needs and expectations of user companies. This additional diversity further adds to the broad variety of topics and viewpoints.

Instructions for Authors

Manuscripts should have an abstract and be 22-25 typewritten, double-spaced pages in length. Papers must not have been previously presented or published, nor currently submitted for journal publication. Each manuscript will be subjected to a rigorous refereeing process.

Important Deadlines in 2000

March 1	Send a 300-word abstract
April 30	Feedback to author on abstract
June 1	Eight copies of the manuscript due
August 31	Notification of accepted papers
October 1	Camera-ready copies of accepted manuscripts due

For further information please visit:

the HICSS-34 homepage at http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/
the homepage of the Emerging Technologies track at http://cs.unomaha.edu/~rewini/ET-h34.html
the minitrack homepage at http://www-i4.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~jakobs/hicss-34/cfp.html

Return to home page for HICSS Minitrack on IT Standards