Yes, I think examples like that do point to some kind of mandate to trigger coordinated action. It is similar to what we styles as “problem-first” in the responses; rather than seeing mandation as a being about a list of approved standards that should be used in procurement/development, see it as being about driving change. I’m also sure there are plenty of cases where there is no business case for standards adoption at an individual unit/agency level but where there is a whole-system benefit. That kind of model of intervention with mandatory requirement strikes me as being more effective than approved lists.

Cheers, Adam