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Quick Take: Worldwide standards made the Internet miracle happen. Worldwide standards can help the smart grid blossom too. Especially if those standards can be adopted more quickly than is currently the case. (Just witness the Smart Energy Profile fiasco.)

We hope that all corporations and governments are listening. Especially China. - By Jesse Berst

The organizations, IEEE, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Society and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released their "OpenStand" principles which are based on "the effective and efficient standardization processes that have made the Internet and Web the premiere platforms for innovation and borderless commerce." In a statement, the group said those standardization processes have been proven effective in encouraging competition and cooperation, supporting innovation and interoperability and driving market success.

They are calling on governments, organizations, corporations and technology innovators to endorse the principles which are intended to extend throughout the global economy's array of technology sectors and markets and to be an example for worldwide adoption of standards. One of those technology sectors is, of course, smart grid which is populated by a number of technologies like communications, IT, EVs, electricity generation and transmission. The basic principles are:

·         cooperation among standards organizations;

·         adherence to due process, broad consensus, transparency, balance and openness in standards development;

·         commitment to technical merit, interoperability, competition, innovation and benefit to humanity;

·         availability of standards to all, and

·         voluntary adoption.

"New dynamics and pressures on global industry have driven changes in the ways that standards are developed and adopted around the world,” said Steve Mills, president of the IEEE Standards Association. "Increasing globalization of markets, the rapid advancement of technology and intensifying time-to-market demands have forced industry to seek more efficient ways to define the global standards that help expand global markets. The OpenStand principles foster the more efficient international standardization paradigm that the world needs."

Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com, the industry's oldest and largest smart grid site. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the U.S. and abroad, he also serves on advisory committees for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Institute for Electric Efficiency. He often provides strategic consulting to large corporations and venture-backed startups. He is a member of the advisory boards of GridGlo and Calico Energy Services.

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