Standards affect almost every facet of our lives. Without standards, processes would become unreliable, commerce would stall, products would not work together, and consumer interests would go unprotected. Historically, standards have been used for many years. The use of standards was documented in the Civil War, when ammunition sizes had to be standardized so that soldiers on the battlefield could share ammunition between muskets. And, at one time, the diversity of screw threads for the same application caused maintenance problems and posed a significant barrier to international trade.
Standardized data is essentially more meaningful, more powerful, and easier to store.
Increased data compatibility. Improved consistency and efficiency of data collection. Reduced data redundancy. Improved data access. The key elements of a data standard are data element names, definitions, data types, and formatting rules.