I’m currently researching the governance of various protocols and standards, particularly in the context of networking and communications. I’m interested in understanding if there are existing frameworks or methodologies that allow for a systematic comparison of how different protocols and standards are governed.
Specifically, I’m looking for insights into frameworks that address aspects such as decision-making processes, stakeholder involvement, transparency, and adaptability. Additionally, if there are any case studies or previous analyses that have been conducted in this area, I would appreciate any references or resources you could share.
Hey Philipp – one of the POG projects from this past summer looked at governance in the Internet Engineering Task Force. They gave a presentation on it here. And in summer '23 David Lang wrote an essay on standards entrepreneurship, which could be helpful plus there is probably some good stuff hidden in the references.
We have a study group going on Telegram and this week’s topic is the latter essay ^ let me know you if want to join and I’ll send you an invite link. Call is thursday at 1pm EST. There’ll be an offline discussion in the chat too if you can’t make the call!
To add to Timber’s points, this classic IETF meta-RFC is probably a good source if you’re not already familiar with it.
AFAIK there aren’t any good comparative studies across communities, and there is a LOT of variation even across seemingly close technical communities, such as W3C and IETF. David Lang’s essay which Timber cited, and the literature he cites is mostly historically focused, so this is a significant gap in the current state of knowledge.
My main personal motivation is to showcase questionable protocol governance in a protocol called EDI@Energy used in the German energy industry - hence the idea to compare.
I first want to understand and if needed develop/extend a comparative framework, then apply it to EDI@Energy and others. You mentioned IETF and W3C, any other potentially interesting candidates?
Not sure how much generality you can expect. Since your thing looks like a renewable energy protocol, I’d look specifically for examples in that sector. Comparative analysis may not be the best way to troubleshoot a specific case. It might provide a few ideas but I suspect first-principles auditing by independent domain experts would do better.