Market Access, Credibility, and Visibility for Standardizers Will Be the Focus of ANSI 2012 Open Forum

In an effort to bring together leaders from across the standardization community for interactive discussions and idea exchange, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will hold an Open Forum: Building Bridges across the Standards Ecosystem. The free event will take place on October 9, 2012, in Washington, DC, as part of the World Standards Week series of events hosted annually by the Institute, coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system.

The event is open to all organizations that develop standards, including ANSI-accredited standards developing organizations (SDOs), consortia, code developers, companies, and government agencies. The goal is to bring this community together on issues of common interest, such as market access, building visibility and credibility, and the challenges that U.S.-based organizations are facing in emerging economies.

Following a networking lunch, the Open Forum will begin with a keynote address from Michael C. Camuñez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance with the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration. Assistant Secretary Camuñez will offer an international perspective on how globally relevant standards facilitate trade and market access, including a discussion of efforts by the U.S. to promote the use and development of standards in emerging economies. A brief Q&A session will give attendees the opportunity to ask questions regarding Mr. Camuñez's remarks.

The afternoon's program will continue with presentations by esteemed speakers from throughout the U.S. and international standardization communities followed by interactive discussions highlighting audience participation. Topics covered will include:

• a case study on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its standards development process and activities, including international work on Web accessibility, as well as its partnership with ISO/IEC JTC 1 through the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) process
• a discussion of how standards developers of all types - including traditional SDOs and consortia - can share information and work together both domestically and internationally
• insights from SDOs and consortia on how their standards are adopted and used in markets around the world, and how emerging economies have become more skilled and competitive at standards development

ANSI members and all interested stakeholders including those from government, industry, business, consumer groups, and academia are encouraged to attend and share their perspectives and expertise on strengthening ties across the standards ecosystem.

Along with other World Standards Week events, the Open Forum will be held at the Newseum's Knight Conference Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The event will take place on Tuesday, October 9, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., including lunch. While admission is free, pre-registration is required by September 28, 2012. Online registration is available via the ANSI Open Forum web page.

World Standards Week, to be held this year on October 9-12, 2012, is an annual event where members of the standards and conformity assessment community come together in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. For more information, including registration for other WSW events and details on all meetings and conferences, visit www.ansi.org/wsweek.