ANSI Hosts IEC General Secretary and CEO Ronnie Amit.
Press Release Summary:
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was pleased to host Aharon (Ronnie) Amit, General Secretary and CEO of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), during visit to the U.S. on July 22-23, 2009. Mr. Amit met with ANSI staff and representatives in a series of meetings. Speaking at a meeting of the ANSI Executive Committee, he discussed several issues and opportunities facing IEC and categorized them as inward-looking or outward-looking.
Original Press Release:
ANSI Hosts IEC General Secretary and CEO Ronnie Amit
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was pleased to host Aharon (Ronnie) Amit, General Secretary and CEO of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), during his recent visit to the United States on July 22-23, 2009.
Mr. Amit met with a number of ANSI staff and representatives during his two-day visit. On Wednesday, July 22, he addressed Officers of the Institute's Board of Directors, the Officers and Council members of the U.S. National Committee to the IEC (USNC), and members of ANSI's senior staff in a series of meetings held at the Institute's headquarters in Washington, DC. On the morning of Thursday, July 23, Mr. Amit spoke at a meeting of the ANSI Executive Committee, also held in Washington.
During his presentation before the Executive Committee, Mr. Amit discussed several issues and opportunities facing IEC, dividing these issues into "inward-looking" and "outward-looking" categories.
As part of the inward-looking discussion, he highlighted the quality, experience, and seniority of the technical experts who populate IEC Technical Committees, as well as the quality and level of experience of managers. Finally, he stressed IEC's continued goal of more efficient processes and tools for the development of International Standards.
Turning his attention to outward-looking issues, Mr. Amit addressed IEC's efforts to identify market needs, manage its intellectual property, distinguish between national interests and global interests, and utilize International Standards as strategic tools, particularly to drive the participation of developing nations.
"The IEC Affiliate Country Program brings very small nations and developing countries to the international table," explained Amit. "More than 80 nations are participating in the program today, and we've seen that their interest just continues to grow. We continue to provide training to these countries, and also offer IEC standards free of charge if they nationally adopt them.
"Since the program's launch in 2001, 34 of the participating nations have nationally adopted more than 2,500 IEC standards - a very exciting achievement."
The Executive Committee then engaged Mr. Amit in a lively discussion touching on a broad range of topics, from the IEC's Strategic Groups on smart grid technologies and the protection of intellectual property to the challenges caused by duplicative and - at times - conflicting standards and regulations.
"This was an excellent opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities we all face in standards and conformity assessment at the national and global level," said Jim Matthews, USNC president.
"I speak for everyone at ANSI in saying that we've truly enjoyed hosting Mr. Amit and furthering the partnership that ANSI, its U.S. National Committee, and IEC share," concluded S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "Our discussions were highly productive and informative, and I look forward to future opportunities to work closely with Ronnie and all IEC staff."
Ronnie Amit became IEC General Secretary on January 1, 1999, having served as Deputy General Secretary since February 1996 and, prior to that, Special Operations Director from 1995. Previously he was CEO of the Fiji Post and Telecommunications Ltd. He headed several companies in Israel and was a consultant for a number of European companies.
Mark Your Calendars:
IEC General Meeting scheduled for 2010
The IEC will hold its 2010 General Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The event, which is scheduled for October 6-15, 2010, is expected to draw more than 1,500 delegates and 750 accompanying persons from around the globe for technical and policy discussions that will influence the electrotechnical community and its activities in international standardization.
