Dr. Kerstin Schaefer was recently invited for two international seminar presentations on "The Geography of Technical Standardization," in which she highlighted the increasing significance of technical standards for economic success and technological sovereignty. Her first presentation took place at the Center for Innovation Research, University of Stavanger, on October 31st. The second seminar was held on November 11th at the University of Manchester with the Global Production Network, Trade and Labour, and the Cities, Politics and Economies Research Groups. Dr. Schaefer's seminars emphasized that while technical standards are becoming a global political focus, their geographical impacts are often overlooked. Standards profoundly affect the location of economic activities, global value chains, and the cross-border coordination of technologies. The influence of standards on regional economic development and innovation varies greatly depending on spatial contexts. Actors from newcomer countries, particularly late entrants like China, face challenges in asserting influence within international standardization—an issue known as the standardization gap between standard makers and takers. These newcomers often struggle to integrate their technological specifications into international standards, placing them at a disadvantage as standard takers striving to access global markets. Dr. Schaefer's discussions underscored the necessity of comprehensively understanding the geographical dimensions of technical standards and addressing standardization gaps, which are crucial to innovation processes across various scales.
