Avoiding Surprises: Some Thoughts on Standards

Stacy Leistner

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 1998)

This article describes the voluntary consensus standards process and how the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) works with both national and international standards bodies to ensure U.S. interests are well represented in the global community. Voluntary consensus standards, which are documents written by industry professionals from both the public and private sectors, are the heart of the U.S. standards system. While ANSI does not develop standards, it accredits standards developers with expertise in a particular subject to write and maintain standards documents related to that industry. For example, the IEEE has been heavily involved in the development of standards for the information technology industry. Also featured is an explanation on how standards are developed, and ANSI's role in providing neutral forums where its members identify, discuss and agree upon solutions to standards and conformity assessment issues.