There are several definitions for standards and standardization. However, within the context of these guidelines, standardization can best be understood as the process aiming to define common and mutually agreed (technical) solutions between relevant stakeholders, for the benefit of all.
The primary aim of standardization in a social and economic context is to help encouraging the free movement of goods. Standardization will help to remove technical barriers, open up new markets, and enable new economic models. It helps to create economies of scale while at the same time increasing opportunities for product differentiation and competition and services. Consequently, standardization may help establish compatibility and interoperability, it may enable market self-regulation, and guard the safety and health of citizens.
From a European prespective, furthering consensus building and standardization in ICT is one of the key elements encouraging the deployment of Information Society Technologies (IST), and ensuring Europe's leading role in the generic and applied technologies at the heart of the knowledge economy.