US worried about dominance in standards for emerging tech; wants to refocus the nation

Standards-making is the dullest critical aspect of technology dominance. The Biden administration buys that idea and wants to make sure the U.S. continues to lead the world in crafting rules-based standards, including for digital identity.

The administration says the United States’ economic dominance could weaken if its acumen with standards erodes. Already, officials say, the domestic standards workforce is falling behind when standards bodies are growing rapidly in number.

In Europe, for example, a standards agency is pushing an idea for user-centric digital IDs and there are others.

Under the newly formed National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology, Washington is hoping to collaborate with universities, businesses of all sizes and civil society.

Internationally accepted technology standards created by the United States, or the U.S. and economic allies give domestic products and services an advantage. They are more likely to work and work more widely around the world, crowding out nonstandard goods.

In the case of hot-button technology like facial recognition, standards can even imprint downstream products with desired values – an individual right to privacy, data protection or minimally biased operation, for instance.

The U.S. is not the only one bobbling this area. The European Union reportedly is leaving human rights in its AI Act to tech standards group. The effort feels superficial to some.

The classic modern example is the standards regime, largely implemented by U.S. businesses and academics, underpinning local area computer networks, which were the origins of the internet.

The standards strategy is expected to “renew” the nation’s rules-based approach to writing standards for critical and emerging technologies, according to a White House press release.

Officials have said they need to address four key areas if they want to energize standards development: investment, participation, the workforce and integrity and inclusivity.

The White House says the strategy itself will spark investment, but it also wants the private sector and schools to make long-term investments in standards creation.

The government says it will work to win the close participation of businesses, researchers and foreign partners to keep the nation at the forefront of standards.

To address the waning workforce, officials say the federal government will invest in training and educating people to work in standards.

And while integrity might be an obvious objective for a standards effort, the White House pairs it with inclusivity. Technical merit should be a yard stick to use when developing standards. Fair processes should be in place to gain the participation from all nations allied economically.

Article Topics

AI  |  digital identity  |  NIST  |  standards  |  U.S. Government