Its not pretty.

Companies send the loudest and most opinionated people to the things - not their best techies. The best techies are busy getting important stragegic things done. The people at the committees are devoted to making sure competitors can't get things done. This goal isn't explicit - rather there is a lot of "one upmanship" and angling for competitive advantage.

I don't put a lot of stock in standards these days. I do put a lot of stock in code, capability and compatibility.