A study on measurement of standardization level in information and telecommunications technology

Abstract

The standardization is a very weighty issue especially in Information and Telecommunication (IT) business as the products and services of IT get more diversified and the competition between firms or nations becomes more intensive due to the radical technology development. In this regard, every nation seriously deals with the standardization. This paper proposes the index model that can measure the degree of standardization in Korean IT industry. The study employs the approach of MAUT (Multi Attribute Utility Theory). For this purpose, we classify IT Technologies into three groups of technology based on its products and services: wired, wireless and information technology. Throughout the study, we suggest standardization index model as the linear combination of ten determinants that characterize the level of IT standardization in Korea. These determinants are determined by an expert survey and CVM (Contingent Valuation Method). Since the determinants are not equally important, we impose different weights on each determinant based on its importance in standardization using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). Finally, we apply the model to Korean IT industry and estimate the standardization level. The validity of the proposed model is also partially proved adopting historical approach. The key contribution of this paper is to set the logical framework of IT standardization index model. The way of building the framework can be applied to many industries and their standardization processes. The outcome may help to justify various endeavors and investment of managers and policy makers in setting the standard. We expect that the outcome deliver somewhat important implications to stakeholders of IT industry as well as other industries where the standardization is crucial.