STANDARDS STRATEGY AND THE NATIONAL INTEREST

Consortia and accredited Standards Development Organizations sometimes seem like two neighbors that nod to each other, but rarely speak. It has never made much sense, and it makes less sense now than ever.

To qualified consortium representatives to attend a private briefing and working session on the Revised United States Standards Strategy.

Traditionally, the United States government has paid scant attention to voluntary consensus standards. But in 1980, that began to change. In this article, we review the laws that require the Federal agencies to use and support standards, and how they go about fulfilling that obligation.

In the era of globalization, multinational companies, and the transition of America from global manufacturer to global consumer, what type of standards strategy is best for the United States?

Our affinity for creating standards perhaps arises from humanity's perpetual desire to make a dangerous and uncertain world secure, orderly and reassuring. But the more orderly it becomes, the easier it is to forget how vulnerable we remain.