Promoting Innovation through Standardization; Case Study of the Low Sulfur Fuel Law Published by the International Maritime Organization

The impact of rules and standards to stimulate innovation in organizations has been the subject of various articles and research since the early 1990s. Identifying the types of standards and their impact mechanism on innovation through public policies has been addressed in this study. In this line, by using library studies, at first, innovation and innovation policy are defined and then, the relationship between types of standards with innovation and the impact of regulation with various types of standards are examined. In the case study of "the standard of using low sulfur fuel has become mandatory from the beginning of 2020 in the shipping industry"; the structure of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the steps of converting a proposal into a standard in this organization are described. Finally, by applying the qualitative method and interviewing experts, the various solutions offered by countries and large companies in various industries to comply with this standard were analyzed. Solutions such as the use of marine diesel and low-sulfur fuels, the use of low-sulfur fuel mixtures, the installation of Scrubber of gas emission units in ships, the use of natural gas or the use of other marine fuels such as methanol and Biomass fuel was placed in the hands of research and development units in various refining, chemical, nano and polymer industries. These solutions require a variety of innovations in product and process technologies at different levels. This case study shows that a global standardization is effective in a variety of innovation methods and can shape the future development of countries and companies.