Owen Amburhttp://www.ansi.org/standards_activities/nss/usss.aspx?menuid=3United States Standards StrategyUSSSTransparencyEssential information regarding standardization activities is accessible to all interested parties.OpennessParticipation is open to all affected interests.ImpartialityNo one interest dominates the process or is favored over another.Effectiveness and RelevanceStandards are relevant and effectively respond to regulatory and market needs, as well as scientific and technological developments.ConsensusDecisions are reached through consensus among those affected.Performance BasedStandards are performance based (specifying essential characteristics rather than detailed designs) where possible.CoherenceThe process encourages coherence to avoid overlapping and conflicting standards.Due ProcessStandards development accords with due process so that all views are considered and appeals are possible.Technical AssistanceAssistance is offered to developing countries in the formulation and application of standards.Flexibleallowing the use of different methodologies to meet the needs of different technology and product sectorsTimelyso that purely administrative matters do not result in a failure to meet market expectationsBalancedamong all affected interestsWorking from these principles, the U.S. standards community is strongly committed to the following strategic vision for standards development globally and at home. GloballyThere is universal application of the globally accepted principles for the development of global standards.Governments rely on voluntary consensus standards as much as possible in regulation and procurement rather than creating additional regulatory requirements.The system is diverse and inclusive and supports flexible standards solutions. Consortia and forums are illustrative of that flexibility and are an integral part of the global standards system.The U.S. is committed to standardization that meets global needs. Standards activities are conducted by industry sectors in venues selected for their ability to meet those needs.Electronic tools are used effectively for the optimized production of global standards and to facilitate their dissemination throughout a global economy.Where a single national body organization represents the U.S. in an international organization, the U.S. national body promotes the U.S. Standards Strategy in both governance and technical programs. Examples include ANSI membership in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In treaty-based organizations, the U.S. State Department and its preparatory process ensures U.S. viewpoints are advanced, for example at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).At homeA cooperative process involving all stakeholders produces technically superior and unified standards that promote and strengthen U.S. global competitiveness.All U.S. interests work together to eliminate redundancy and overlap.Public and private sector management recognize the value of standardization at national and global levels and provide adequate resources and stable funding mechanisms to support such efforts.The U.S. standards system responds quickly and responsibly to provide standards that address national and international needs.1Strengthen participation by government in development and use of voluntary consensus standards through public/private partnerships Government reliance on voluntary consensus standards continues to grow. Public Law 104-113, the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA), remains the cornerstone at the federal level for promoting the use of voluntary consensus standards for both regulation and procurement. Our vision of the future involves building on our successes in this area and encouraging government, consumers and industry to use voluntary standards developers as partnership venues to create solutions to support national objectives. The key to such partnerships is participation, which requires support and resources from government policy makers at all levels.ANSI, standards developers, government, and industry should partner to identify proposed solutions where government interests could be addressed by the use of voluntary consensus standards and work together for a common solution.Government should increase participation in the development of voluntary consensus standards.ANSI and standards developers should provide state and local governments with ways to easily identify where their interests are being addressed and mechanisms for participating in voluntary consensus standards development.The U.S. government should use existing relationships with state and local government and its responsibilities under NTTAA to support greater use of voluntary consensus standards.ANSI and standards developers should raise awareness of policy makers on the benefits of voluntary consensus standards and the importance of participating in their development.2Continue to address the environment, health, and safety in the development of voluntary consensus standardsConsideration of the environment, health, and safety has always been a key concern of the U.S. standards system and will continue to be so in the future. It is important to take a balanced approach to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are considered and that decisions are based on a preponderance of objective evidence. Active participation by government, consumers and industry on voluntary consensus standards committees is essential to forge the trust and synergy needed to develop standards that meet society’s needs today and tomorrow.Standards developers should establish specific guidance to encourage participants to consider the environment, health, and safety as integral aspects of their work.Government should participate in voluntary consensus standards development efforts to ensure that they meet public objectives related to the environment, health, and safety.Industry should participate in standardization activities and consider the environment, health, and safety while ensuring that the resulting standards add value.ANSI should foster consideration of environmental, health, and safety, requirements in U.S. and international standards where appropriate.Consumers should increase participation in the development of voluntary consensus standards to ensure that they meet public objectives related to the environment, health, and safety.3Improve the responsiveness of the standards system to the views and needs of consumersThe representation of consumer interests in the U.S. standards system is essential to ensure that the individual’s needs are being considered and addressed. Today’s consumers are concerned about such issues as product compatibility; quality of products and services; ease of use and accessibility; the environment, health, and safety; deceptive trade practices; redress; and social responsibility. The emergence of the online market means more information and more choices are available to consumers. With its emphasis on balance, openness, and transparency, the U.S. standards system provides a valuable forum for the consumer voice to be heard. However, more is needed to make consumers aware of these opportunities and to encourage and facilitate their participation.Standards developers should identify, encourage and support appropriate consumer representation on their committees, make virtual attendance at meetings possible through electronic means such as teleconferencing or collaborative meeting tools, and encourage consumer comment during public reviews.Industry should use consumer research as a basis for standardization initiatives and decisions.Government should strengthen its consumer-related programs and initiate standards information and participation programs as appropriate.ANSI should work with consumer organizations to educate them about standardization and encourage and support their participation in standards development.4Actively promote the consistent worldwide application of internationally recognized principles in the development of standardsA key goal of international standardization is to define requirements that products and services should meet to be acceptable in all markets. To ensure broad acceptance, members of the standards community have made considerable progress in establishing internationally accepted principles on how such standards should be developed. Our strategy seeks to encourage the consistent interpretation and application of these principles.The U.S. standards community should work to improve global relevance by promoting participation in standards processes by a broad cross-section of both domestic and international stakeholders, particularly in markets where the relevant products are used.Stakeholders in the U.S. standards system should seek, directly or through the U.S. national body where representation is by country, to reinforce the sectoral approach to standards development in regional and international forums and highlight the benefits of this approach.The U.S. government should continue to foster and support the unique character and strengths of the public-private partnership in standards development as it pursues trade and other international agreements, regulatory harmonization, and legislative and regulatory approaches. The U.S. government and industry should strongly and visibly coordinate their work in international forums to promote the consistent interpretation and application of internationally recognized principles on standardization, including those reflected in the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement and the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards.U.S. stakeholders participate in standards development bodies around the world to achieve their objectives. The goal of all international standards forums should be to achieve globally relevant and internationally recognized and accepted standards that support trade and commerce while protecting the environment, health, safety, and security.Promote the consistent application of principles for developing standards in international standards development organizations as elaborated in the TBT Agreement, including the principles on global relevance.Encourage standards development forums to work together to address the need for standards on converging technologies that affect the interests of various stakeholder communities.Work with all stakeholders to ensure that voting procedures in international standards development bodies do not limit consideration of U.S. views while respecting all other views.5Encourage common governmental approaches to the use of voluntary consensus standards as tools for meeting regulatory needsMany standards are developed to meet regulatory needs. Governmental approaches to regulation, however, often differ, resulting in incompatible national and regional standards that add unnecessary expense and may limit trade. Global commerce will be facilitated if governments would apply common approaches to the use of standards as tools to meet regulatory needs. Standards developed through a voluntary consensus process have proven effective at meeting both regulatory and market needs in a variety of sectors.Governments should be encouraged to adopt compatible approaches to using standards to meet regulatory needs, and partner with all stakeholders to develop standards that have global acceptance.Standards developers and industry should work with governments to develop voluntary consensus standards that meet regulatory needs.ANSI and government should work together to improve the understanding among domestic and international stakeholders of the benefits of using voluntary consensus standards in regulation.6Work to prevent standards and their application from becoming technical trade barriers to U.S. products and servicesAs tariff barriers have been reduced, technical standards have become more prominent as potential barriers to market access for products and services. Differing technical standards can significantly raise the cost of exporting to and importing from international markets or even prevent market access. The facilitation of global trade requires that more attention be given to preventing standards and their application from becoming market access barriers and addressing barriers which arise.The U.S. government should work with its counterparts in other countries and through intergovernmental organizations to ensure that standards facilitate global trade, and to minimize potential trade barriers and requirements for duplicative tests.The U.S. government should work with other WTO members to seek full implementation of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement and annexes as well as decisions taken in the WTO TBT committee.Government and industry should identify and eliminate or minimize the effect of technical barriers to trade that result from technical standards and their application.U.S. national bodies should work with their counterparts in other countries to ensure that standardization is not used to develop trade barriers in organizations where representation is on a national basis.7Strengthen international outreach programs to promote understanding of how voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven sectoral standards can benefit businesses, consumers and society as a wholeOur standards process offers enormous benefits to businesses, consumers and society, facilitating innovation and strengthening economic competitiveness. But this process is not well understood by many outside the United States. U.S. stakeholders need to do more to help foreign stakeholders understand the benefits of the approach embodied in the U.S. standards system.All stakeholders in the U.S. standards development process — particularly industry, standards developers and the U.S. government — need to devote more resources and greater efforts to helping stakeholders in other countries understand the U.S. process and its many benefits.U.S. stakeholders should promote policies and procedures in international forums that encourage the development of standards that are voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven and globally relevant.Outreach efforts should be focused on countries that are still developing their standardization systems and offer important commercial market opportunities.Special attention should be given to using new communications technology, such as the Internet, teleconferencing and other new modes of communication. This will facilitate contacts with non-U.S. stakeholders (particularly in newly developing markets) and enhance their participation in standards-related activities.ANSI should play a leadership role in promoting dialogue with foreign standards organizations and in reinforcing outreach efforts of industry, standards developers, the U.S. government and other stakeholders.8Continue to improve the process and tools for the efficient and timely development and distribution of voluntary consensus standardsIn recent years, the U.S. standards system has made significant strides in the timeliness, relevancy, and compatibility of standards by taking advantage of technologies to promote online collaborative standards development and electronic distribution of standards. In the spirit of process improvement and in response to changing customer needs and evolving new technologies, all stakeholders in the U.S. standards system must continue to work together to build on these successes.Standards developers should continue to improve the working processes for voluntary consensus standards development and use standardized tools to facilitate global participation.Industry, government and consumers should provide standards developers with feedback on their needs and how well standards developers are meeting those needs.ANSI should investigate the feasibility of a central repository for all information about standards — both approved and under development — and recommend a course of action for the U.S. standards community.U.S. national bodies should encourage similar improvement in the processes and tools in the organizations where they represent the U.S.9Promote cooperation and coherence within the U.S. standards systemThe diversity of the sectorally-based, decentralized U.S. standardization system can result in duplicative efforts and sometimes overlapping or conflicting standards. In many cases, apparent overlap or conflict is merely the reflection of different customer needs for different sectors or competitive approaches and solutions to new products. Duplication, where it does not add value, should be discouraged.ANSI should review its procedures to make sure that standards receiving the American National Standard (ANS) designation are relevant and minimize conflict with other standards.ANSI and standards developers should work together to eliminate areas of redundancy to make U.S. standardization processes more efficient and coherent. This should include publication of information about their work.Industry, consumers and government should be proactively engaged with standards developers to minimize duplication of standards development activities.ANSI should continue to reach out to standards developing organizations not under the ANSI framework to promote its programs, principles and tools to broader constituencies and explore ways to work with those broader constituencies to best serve U.S. needs.Government should provide timely information on proposed regulatory actions in order to minimize conflict with existing or proposed standards.10Establish standards education as a high priority within the United States private, public and academic sectorsEducation programs covering the development and implementation of standards need to become a high priority within the United States. These programs must focus on the needs of leaders and top executives, those who participate in the development of standards, university and college students, and other interested parties.Develop new or significantly enhance existing standards education programs that address the significance and value of standards to the well-being of the United States and global economies.Develop or significantly enhance standards education programs that address the needs of specific groups within the United States. These programs must reflect the multidisciplinary environment in which standards development takes place and address national and international standards development procedures; the relationship between private and public sector standards; the environment, health, safety, sustainability, international trade, public policy, competition, legal, economic benefits, and strategic considerations; and how to balance the interests of stakeholders.Develop a national database of standardization case histories. The database should be jointly managed by the American National Standards Institute and the U.S. Department of Commerce.Encourage universities and colleges within the United States to create standardization education programs in fields of study such as engineering, science, technology, government and public policy, business, economics and law.Facilitate and enhance the creation of a communications network for standardization education programs among all interested parties in the private, public and academic sectors. Utilize Internet technology to the fullest extent possible to facilitate the development of e-learning and standardization education programs.11Maintain stable funding models for the U.S. standardization systemThere is no single method of funding the U.S. standardization system, and the U.S. recognizes the need to protect the pluralistic manner in which the standardization system is funded. If this standardization system meets public and private sector needs, then those who want the results will ensure that the necessary funding is provided. The tactical initiatives that support this strategy focus on the need to educate and influence policy makers and decision makers, and stress the need for the individual organizations that comprise the U.S. system to be able to maintain their various funding models.Standards developers should seek the participation and support of industry and government for voluntary consensus standards development. They should educate public sector policy makers, corporate leadership and consumers in the value of the diverse U.S. standardization system, including their roles in the support of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act.Government should advance and respect policies at home and abroad that ensure the continued ownership and control of the copyrights and trademarks of standards developers.Industry should support standards development through participation of their experts, funding of research, and sharing of information useful in defining and setting standards requirements. They should also utilize, and support the use of, standards to produce goods, provide services, install products, and conduct all other aspects of business activity in their respective sectors.All elements of the U.S. standardization system should support policies that allow U.S. standards developers to participate in international standards development activity without jeopardizing their copyrights and trademarks, and that recognize the flexible funding models that exist within the U.S.Governments at all levels, in their consideration of policies and legislation, should recognize the societal benefits of standards development organizations and their role in public health and safety.Government should recognize its responsibility to the broader public interest by providing financial and legislative support, and by promoting the principles of our standardization system globally. Global competitiveness of U.S. industry depends critically on standardization, particularly in sectors that are technology driven.12Address the need for standards in support of emerging national prioritiesThe U.S. standardization system has contributed significantly to meeting a diverse range of private and public sector needs in a variety of industries. ANSI has risen to the challenge posed in areas as diverse as homeland security and nanotechnology, through the creation of standards panels that bring together all affected interest areas, both public and private sector, to achieve maximum impact for standards efforts. With threats to our national security and the development of new technologies that promise economic growth and improved quality of life, the U.S. standardization system must be prepared to respond to emerging national priorities as they are identified.Government at all levels should seek early collaboration with industry and standards developers to identify standards needed to meet emerging national priorities.ANSI should provide active coordination, where necessary, in areas relating to emerging national priorities to promote information sharing across all affected interest areas and minimize overlap and duplication of standards-related efforts.Standards developers should proactively identify standards work in existence or underway that could support emerging national priorities.Industry should participate actively in efforts to identify needed standards and in the timely development of those standards.Government, industry and standards developers should be proactive in addressing international implications of standards in support of national priorities.