In the localization industry standardization has been seen primarily as a technical activity: the development of technical specifications. As a result there are many technical standards that have failed to achieve widespread adoption. The GALA Standards Initiative, an open, non-profit effort, is attempting to address areas that surround standards development—education, promotion, coordination of development activities, and development of useful guidelines and business cases, and non-technical, business-oriented standards—to help achieve an environment in which the needs of various user groups will help drive greater adoption of standards.