I love it when an editor manages to sum up the benefits of data standards in a short, punchy statement. It's a gift to all of us who are looking for new ways to get our points across. So I particularly like this intro from an article in Government Technology: “Data standards create a common structure that facilitates information sharing, inter-organizational cooperation and the ability to build on past successes – all important ingredients to driving data-smart innovation.”
Notice how this summary links past and present via data standards. You're more likely to innovate if you've built a solid foundation and rules of the road. Also, this summary reminds us to celebrate and value the successes we've achieved. Data standards stabilize and enable past learning – sometimes painful learning no one would ever want to repeat. Standards also convert one-time discoveries or moments of creativity into policies everyone else can exploit for as long as they want. Standards are an important ally of organizational memory and community cohesion. More and more, standards make meaningful communication possible and therefore form the baseline for business. GOVTECH