"Alternative Paths to Industrialisation: The Co-creation of Standards and Systems"

This presentation examines the history of industrial standards as a site of co-creation between governments, industries, engineers, and consumers. It argues that measurement systems, quality norms, and technological standards did not arise from unilateral authority but from complex negotiations that shaped both industrial practices and state–market relations. Through comparative historical case studies, Mihm traces how the development of shared standards fostered trust, coordination, and innovation across sectors and borders. By analysing how these standards were collaboratively (and sometimes contentiously) defined, the paper shows how technical systems became arenas of co-production between public and private actors. It also reveals how standards structured global competition, industrial modernisation, and transnational governance. Placing standardisation within the framework of co-creation, Mihm demonstrates that the evolution of measurement and quality systems illuminates how societies balance innovation with regulation, autonomy with cooperation—issues that remain at the heart of sustainable industrial development today.