An in-depth analysis by Tatiana Khayrullina of Outsell, Inc. available for download
Both producers and consumers of standards agree about the extraordinary value standards contribute to the success of engineering work. Yet, in some cases, CCC has observed standards development organizations, or SDOs, to have a different point of view from their customers as to how to facilitate access by users while protecting their intellectual property. Still, as with all publishers, including standards developing organizations are experiencing growing pressure to provide more content free of charge. While not a new issue, the increased availability of public data, technical reference and scholarly information, primes users to expect similar offerings from standards publishers; this in turn has implications for copyright compliance.
Research firm Outsell Inc. recently released a report authored by Tatiana Khayrullina highlighting the results of a survey conducted on the work routines of engineers and their preferences for discovering and consuming specialized sources of information supplied by external providers. Through a licensing arrangement with Outsell, CCC is pleased to make this report available at no charge.
One highlight of the report that immediately catches the eye is this one, which indicates the wide variety of external data and information sources used by engineers who also use standards. Standards certainly do not exist in isolation!
The findings reported in this analysis are in line with the observations Tatiana made ina recent CCC-sponsored webcast, “Workflow of the Future: The Role of Standards.” A few highlights follow; however, we encourage everyone with a strong and specific interest in standards applications and development to download and read the full report.
- Standards reside in the realm of engineering solutions, which in recent years have undergone transformation as the industries they serve are reshaped by market and technological factors.
- The increasing pace of technological advancement has accelerated the speed of product design, which in turn has accelerated the speed of the R&D process, as well as that of product development, calling for more sophisticated ways of accessing, applying, sharing and reusing data from all sources.
- While many engineering companies use external data and content, they also generate data and other content from in-house work. Standards are not commonly used in a format that can be readily accessed in a workflow system and yet there are tools and content in the same space that are, and the gap is an issue that is widening. This entails a broader need for resource discovery and internal sharing and for more robust copyright policies.
Outsell’s reports use a clear and powerful framework structure which I find exceptionally helpful in understanding and applying the key points being communicated. Towards the end of the report, Tatiana provides sections highlighting the Implications and Essential Actions these findings call forth. Without giving those away — as you can read them in the full report — I will say that anyone currently tasked with applying standards to improving their organization’s R&D workflow is likely to find valuable takeaways in this report.
CCC has licensed this report from Outsell, Inc. with the right to distribute it for marketing and market education purposes. CCC did not commission this report as a fee-for-hire white paper nor did it have influence on the creation, distribution, analysis or outcome of the report. Outsell’s fact-based research, analysis, and rankings and all aspects of their opinion were independently derived.