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Engineering Standards

Standards are a magical thing, cutting across both atoms and bits.

Standards enable composability and interoperability to focus attention on innovating at the edges. Extract the best from cutting edge science and technology to create new standards to engineer pipelines that scale with predictable outcomes.

Context

Standardization

Protocols and standards are closely related but distinct concepts:

  • Protocols are specific sets of rules for communication or interaction
  • Standards are formally recognized and widely adopted protocols or specifications

The relationship between protocols and standards:

  • Successful protocols often become standards through industry adoption and formal recognition
  • Standards organizations (e.g., ISO, IEEE, IETF) play a crucial role in formalizing and maintaining protocols as standards
  • Standards ensure interoperability, consistency, and quality across different implementations
  • The standardization process involves rigorous review, testing, and consensus-building among experts and stakeholders

Scalability

Standards enable scalability by driving consistency, without consistency improvement is guesswork.

  1. Stable
  2. Consistent
  3. Composable
  4. Interoperable
  5. Reliable

The HTTP standard for example catapulted the internet to ubiquity by creating a uniform way to exchange information.

Reliability

Standard build Trust, Trust builds Loyalty, Loyalty builds Liquidity.

  1. Standards drive consistency
  2. Consistency drives predictability
  3. Predictability grows trust
  4. Trust attracts investment