Government standards are rules and regulations put in place by the government to ensure adherence to a certain measure of quantity, quality weight, extent, and value. Almost all governments in the world have pre-set standards in various sectors of their economies. Well-developed standards ensure that there is the creation of quality, beneficial and safe products. However, standards can also be inflexible forcing producers to adhere to certain ways of making products. This essay answers the question as to why or why not the government should set standards for networking standards, the role of the U.S. government in setting standards and the role of other governments such as Japan and China in setting standards.
Do You Think a Government Should Set Standards for Networking Equipment?
Networking equipment joins other electronic devices and computers for the purpose of exchanging information. Examples of the networking equipment are routers, switches, hubs, bridges and gateways among others. I think the government should set standards for all networking equipment. Such standards would ensure that the networking hardware and software from different vendors, functions collectively. Lack of networking standards will make it difficult to come up with networks that simply share information. With standards, the customers are not forced to rely on one vendor for all their networking needs. Instead, they can buy hardware and software from whichever vendor whose equipment conforms to the preset networking standards. This will also minimize the competition and prices for all networking equipment in the market.
What is the Current Role of the U.S. Government in Setting Standards?
The government of the United States has acknowledged that voluntary consensus standards are vital to the economy of the U.S. The role of the U.S. government in setting standards is to foster private and public cooperative relationships to support the private setting of the standards. In addition, the nation has enacted the antitrust laws in the context of the standard-setting through the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The contentious issue which has been the subject of debate is how to balance the two competing interests. That is the private and public sectors interests. The government of the U.S has improved its efforts to direct agency standards actions as well as engagements.
What is the Role of Other Governments, Such as the Government of Japan or the Government of China in Setting Standards?
Apart from the U.S. government, other governments have standards in their countries. In China, the standards are regarded as tools to support industries. This means that the responsibility for setting standards lies within the ministry that heads the respective industry. The government funds various government ministries or bodies which have the command to decide which standards to set. This is contrary to the U.S. government where the standard setting process is voluntary and based on an agreement between the interested parties. According to the Chinese law of standardization, Chinese standards are grouped into sector standards, provincial standards, national standards, and Enterprise standards CITATION Yim07 \l 1033 (Wang, 2007).
The government of Japan plays a big role in setting many of its own standards. Standard setting in the nation is also done by several industry associations. The national standardization body of Japan is the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee CITATION JIS05 \l 1033 (JISC, 2005). This body plays an essential role in standardizing activities in Japan. This body represents the state in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as well as International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC). Standards in ISO are set by a board of experts in a technical committee. The national committee of IEC agrees to come up with an International standard. The standard may be implemented as such or through different countrys national standards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, government standards are a set of tools established by the government to help them achieve better. This is by setting rules and regulations. Standards are important since they ensure that the right services and contents are available to the right users and at the right time. The U.S. government fosters the cooperation of public and private bodies to support the setting of standards. It has also enforced antitrust laws in the context of the standard-setting. Contrary to the U.S, the Chinese government views standards as tools to support their industries. The responsibility of setting standards is left to various government ministries. The government of Japan sets its own standards through the national standardization body.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY JISC. (2005). Standardization. Retrieved March 25, 2016, from Japanese Industrial Standards Committee: https://www.jisc.go.jp/eng/
Wang, Y. Z. (2007). The Impact of Informatization on the Chinese Construction Industry. The Organization of Information Standards in the Chinese Construction Industry.pdf, ITcon Vol. 12, Pp. 207-219. Retrieved March 25, 2016, from http://www.itcon.org/data/works/att/2007_14.content.07127.pdf
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