May 18, 2026|Publications
By Frank X. Curci and Jeffrey M. Jackson
Standards bodies and research universities can provide each other with multiple benefits by expanding their level of collaboration. These collaborations are particularly timely for both parties as standards bodies seek more scientific expertise to keep pace with the rapid developments in their industries and as universities seek solutions to a number of challenges, including significant cuts in federal funding (particularly to basic research), the threat of reduced indirect cost rates (which makes it difficult to recoup the full costs of doing research), and challenges in recruiting and retaining graduate students. These collaborations can also benefit the overall high-tech industry by driving more innovation and accelerating the development of new industry-wide technology.
“Standards bodies” is an umbrella term that includes member-driven global standards-setting organizations and similar global technology consortia
through which high-tech industry companies and other key contributors collaboratively develop technical “specifications,” “standards,” or other technical protocols to address key technology needs in that industry sector (collectively, “specifications/standards”). Some standards bodies, for
example, are formed to create specifications/standards to facilitate greater interoperability or connectivity between devices or other technologies
in order to develop more innovative products and services for that industry sector. These standards bodies provide an open forum for their member
companies, who are often industry competitors, to come together to tackle industry-wide technology challenges in order to collectively develop next generation technology for the overall benefit of that industry.
Many research universities, including those with engineering schools, have some of the nation’s leading scientists and researchers engaged in cutting-edge research and development in their fields. These universities are critical centers of technology innovation and advancement – and that academic expertise could be very valuable resources for global standards bodies.
However, more than ever before, many of these research universities are facing critical budgetary challenges and other constraints. Developing collaborations with standards bodies could offer these universities new and more stable sources of revenue and open up new ongoing relationships with private sector high tech companies at a critical time for many of these universities.
A VALUABLE COLLABORATION
A particularly valuable collaboration for both parties would occur when a university partners with a standards body to provide standards/specification verification, validation, and compliance assistance, such as the following:
○ In view of its academic and scientific expertise, a university would provide the standards body with valuable scientific input, other technical feedback, testing, and/or other validation/verification assistance regarding its specifications/standards (collectively, Validation/Verification Assistance). This Validation/Verification Assistance could include the university developing proof-of-concept code or hardware or other analytical methods or test plans to assist the standards body in validating and verifying key technical features and/or technical assumptions that formed the basis for the specifications/standards.
○ A university could also assist in structuring and developing the standards body’s compliance, verification, or certification program or tools for use by its members, including developing simulated results and then comparing them to real world solutions or developing compliance code or other compliance tests (collectively, Compliance Program). Performance estimates, compliance code, other compliance tests, and other components
of a Compliance Program provided by a university can be more credible because they are viewed as independent.
○ A university could also assist the standards body in running that Compliance Program. In particular, a university could operate a laboratory or
another type of platform to serve as an independent forum for the standards body’s members to analyze and test their compliance with the specification/standards, based on the criteria in the Compliance Program.
○ A university could also co-organize and host educational events, plug-fests, and other types of training sessions to educate and provide other guidance to the standards body members regarding the technical features in, and their implementation of, the specifications/standards.
BENEFITS FOR UNIVERSITIES
Universities could receive significant benefits from collaborating with standards bodies in these ways, including the following:
○ These collaborations with standards bodies could provide universities with a strategic opportunity to expand their funding by obtaining
new and more reliable sources of vital revenue from the private sector through the following methods:
- A university could receive funding from the standards body through projects related to Validation/Verification Assistance to the standards body and/or for developing and operating the standards body’s Compliance Program.
- A university could also receive unrestricted funding from the participation fees that would be paid by all standards body members that
use the university’s labs and facilities for the Compliance Program.
- A university could also receive unrestricted funding from participation fees for educational seminars, plug-fests or other training sessions for the standards body members.
○ All of these new sources of revenue would be particularly timely for many American universities who, more than ever before, are looking for alternate and more stable funding avenues as they face budget constraints and other funding challenges.
○ Collaborations with standards bodies could provide the university’s researchers with the opportunity to take on “real world” applications
and case studies. These real world applications, along with exposure to industry’s perspective on business matters, could expose the university
researchers to more cutting-edge technology perspectives.
○ The university could also forge multi-level partnerships with some of the private sector high tech companies that are members of the standards
body. These partnerships could involve direct sponsored research of projects at the university of interest to a particular standards body member company, supporting university workforce development and training programs, student recruitment, and integration of the company’s technologies in student research projects.
○ The university’s overall institutional reputation would be augmented through these collaborations with standards bodies, particularly in those technology fields associated with the standards bodies.
○ The university involvement in all of these activities (including hosting events related to the standards body, such as educational events, plug fests,
or training sessions) would provide still greater exposure to the university within the standards body’s technology field.
○ Finally, these partnerships with standards bodies can benefit students by exposing them to engineers and business people in private sector high
tech companies. These interactions would provide outstanding benefits to students – including experiential learning, industry mentorships, and
potentially employment after graduation.
BENEFITS FOR STANDARDS BODIES
Standards bodies would also receive significant benefits from these types of collaborations with universities, including:
○ Collaborations with universities provide standards bodies with a strategic opportunity to benefit from the emerging technological innovation,
scientific expertise, and other resources at the university in order to assist the standards body in more rapidly advancing its specification/
standards development efforts, including the following:
- The standards body’s standards development efforts, and overall Compliance Program, would benefit from early, and more regular, access and exposure to the engineering and scientific knowledge of the university professors/scientists and graduate students, particularly in technology areas which overlap with the standards body’s focus.
- In particular, the university’s research rigor and academic methods could provide the standards body with independent verification
and validation testing of the specifications/standards and criteria for the standards body’s Compliance Program – all of which could
provide more credibility for the standards body’s specifications/standards in the larger industry.
- In addition, the university would provide a credible and independent third party for the standards body’s members to participate in the
standards body’s Compliance Program.
- The university would serve as an ongoing partner to help the standards body create and run educational and training sessions for its
members.
- Partnerships with U.S. universities could also result in fewer challenges regarding U.S. export control regulatory restrictions.
○ These benefits provided by universities would come at a particularly critical time for many standards bodies as they face, more than ever
before, more pressure to accelerate the pace of their development of their specifications/standards. This urgency for more rapid standards/
specification development is being fueled by the need for standards bodies to keep pace with brisk technological innovation (such as artificial intelligence technology) and from the growing global competition to be the first to set the standards.
○ The members of the standards body, by attending the plug-fests or other educational and training sessions, could get access to the valuable engineering/scientific knowledge of the university’s scientists.
○ These collaborations would provide the standards body’s member companies a chance to identify skilled graduate students, which in turn
could provide those companies an advantage in hiring bright new talent.
MUTUAL BENEFITS
Universities and standards bodies can collaborate in other mutually beneficial ways. Some standards bodies invite university researchers to serve as
advisors to the standards body’s Board of Directors, often referred to as an “invited expert.” From the standards body’s perspective, the invited expert relationship is beneficial because the researcher can provide valuable scientific and research insight and guidance to the Board of Directors or technical work group. From the university’s standpoint, these invited expert experiences can help to inform the researcher’s academic projects.
In some situations, the university can become a regular member of the standards body. By taking on a membership role, which of course involves
the university complying with the full membership policies, the university can more fully participate in the technical work groups of the standards
bodies. This would afford the university a more direct impact on the particular technical features set forth in particular specifications/standards. By
doing so, the university could further augment its scientific reputation in that particular field. On the other hand, the standards body would benefit by having the university serve as a member because that would further accelerate the transfer of the university’s critical research knowledge and expertise to the standards body in order to more directly accelerate the specification/standards development efforts of that standards body.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, by expanding the level of collaboration between standards bodies and universities, both parties could better leverage the other party’s expertise and resources for mutual benefit. Such collaborations could advance the respective goals of each party, while also making technology advancements that have an industry-wide benefit.
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