I can think of a few: the US dollar, the railroad gauge, encryption algorithms, etc. The government is often the largest single customer of things so what they

I can think of a few: the US dollar, the railroad gauge, encryption algorithms, etc. The government is often the largest single customer of things so what they demand, someone provides. And since marginal cost is usually smaller than unit cost, one large guaranteed customer means that product or service is cheaper for everyone else than some competing product or service.