Setting International Technical Standards to Shape Digital Trade Policy
Approaches, challenges, and opportunities for developing countries
As digital trade expands, digital technical standards are essential for ensuring interoperability, scalability, security, and seamless integration among actors across global markets.
Key Messages
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Interoperability, scalability, and security in digital trade rely on internationally recognized technical standards. For developing countries, meaningful engagement in international standard-setting processes plays an increasingly important strategic role in securing digital market access.
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Despite the strategic importance of digital standards, developing country stakeholders face barriers that limit their participation in international standard-setting. The "standardization gap" risks leaving these countries as passive "standard-takers" rather than active contributors.
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Policy-makers can bridge the standardization gap by monitoring international forums, prioritizing open development processes, seeking targeted support to participate, and collaborating across countries and organizations.
This policy primer provides a comprehensive overview of digital technical standards: what they are, how they are developed, and why they are vital for digital trade policy. It explores international governance frameworks, standard-setting approaches, and the influence of trade agreements, while highlighting strategies major economies use to lead in defining these standards. The primer also addresses the unique challenges developing countries face in engaging with these processes and offers practical recommendations for policy-makers and trade officials.
This report is part of a policy primer series, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), aimed at deepening understanding of the key policy and regulatory foundations that shape today's digital economy.
This is the third report of the Building Blocks of Digital Trade Regulation series. You can continue exploring the series here:
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