ANSI highlights 2010 accomplishments.

Press Release Summary:



During 2010, ANSI made accomplishments in areas ranging from cybersecurity and workforce development to emerging technologies and energy efficiency. These accomplishments build on history of facilitating collaborative standards and conformance-based solutions for national as well as global needs. Involvement included standards panels and standards coordinating activities, asserting and strengthening U.S. leadership in standards-setting activities, and increasing marketplace acceptance.



Original Press Release:



ANSI Highlights of 2010



As 2010 draws to a close, the staff of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) would like to take this opportunity to thank ANSI members and constituents for their support over the past year.

ANSI is proud of its many accomplishments during 2010. From cybersecurity and workforce development to emerging technologies and energy efficiency, ANSI built on its extensive record of facilitating collaborative standards and conformance-based solutions for vital national and global needs. A sampling of ANSI's 2010 accomplishments follows:

In direct response to President Barack Obama's request for a pragmatic program that would help assign monetary value to cyber risks and consequences, ANSI partnered with the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) to issue The Financial Management of Cyber Risk: An Implementation Framework for CFOs. Now in the hands of thousands of corporate leaders around the country, the framework guides business executives in mitigating the financial risk related to a cyber attack.

2010 saw significant output from the Institute's standards panels and standards coordinating activities. From transit security and explosives detection to preparedness for persons with disabilities, the ANSI Homeland Security Standards Panel (ANSI-HSSP) had an active year of workshops that are driving security standardization forward in these priority areas. Two new workshop reports from the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) offer best practices on the measurement of identity theft and call for the development of an American National Standard (ANS) on identity verification as a tool to help combat terrorism and identity theft.

Meanwhile, the joint Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC), launched in 2009 by ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is making significant strides in advancing the standards needed to jumpstart the widespread commercialization of the U.S. nuclear industry. The ANSI-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO Technical Committee (TC) 229, Nanotechnologies, also released a workshop report on standardized nanomedicine terminology and hosted a webinar on an ISO Technical Specification on nano-labeling that will have broad implications for a number of U.S. industry sectors, including food, cosmetics, and chemicals.

On the international front, ANSI was successful in asserting and strengthening U.S leadership in standards-setting activities around the world. In October, the U.S. National Committee (USNC) to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) hosted the largest-ever IEC General Meeting in Seattle. The event brought together more than 2,400 delegates from over 80 countries for technical and policy discussions influencing the electrotechnical community and its activities in international standardization. Next year ANSI will play host to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 2012 General Assembly in San Diego, already deep into its planning efforts. Hosting these international events reaffirms our nation's commitment to international standardization, raises awareness of ISO and IEC within U.S. government and industry, and contributes to the spirit of international cooperation that drives the standardization community.

In regional initiatives, ANSI continues to facilitate commerce, increase transparency, and help U.S. industry maintain and increase marketplace acceptance for its products, services, and personnel. The U.S.-India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program (SCCP) strengthened U.S.-Indo ties through a series of sector-specific workshops on fire safety in tall buildings, the safe storage of liquefied natural gas, aerospace, and biometrics. ANSI also signed a cooperation agreement with the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) to promote and facilitate the development of skill standards, personnel credentialing, and an accreditation system in India and provide opportunities for American certification bodies to offer their services to a new marketplace. This year, the ANSI Manufacturer Member Roundtable in China grew to twenty-two participating companies from a broad range of industry sectors.

2010 also saw growth in the scope and recognition of ANSI's accreditation services. More than 5.2 million professionals now hold certifications from ANSI-accredited personnel credentialing bodies, supporting President Obama's stated goal of furthering the development of a well-educated and qualified workforce. In 2010, a number of federal agencies turned to ANSI for third-party accreditation of certification bodies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the WaterSense program and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its Energy Star programs, among others.

In its ongoing effort to underscore the strategic value of standardization to corporate America, ANSI worked closely with partners throughout the standards community to launch the Standards Boost Business campaign. ANSI also created the Top Issues tracking system, a centralized resource on strategic and emerging issues facing the Institute and its members. This unique service assists ANSI members as they identify and track emerging issues affecting the standardization and conformance community, their constituents, and other stakeholders.

As the facilitator of the U.S. public-private partnership for standards and conformance, ANSI also continues to engage with agency representatives, legislators, and the recently formed National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Standards (SOS) to promote federal, state, and local government understanding of and reliance upon our nation's robust standardization system.

The Institute would like to extend our best wishes for a safe, happy, and successful 2011.

Happy New Year!

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