ANSI Opens Registration for World Standards Week 2023!

Register Now for Sessions and Networking Opportunities on October 10-12; Sponsorship Opportunities Also Available

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has opened registration for World Standards Week (WSW) 2023, to be held on October 10-12 in Washington, DC, with hybrid options available for all daytime events. A premier annual gathering, WSW brings together ANSI members and diverse private- and public-sector stakeholders from across the standardization communities for topical discussions and special events in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration.

Details and registration are available at www.ansi.org/wsweek; advance registration is required for all events. The week’s highlights include:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10

[PROMPT]: Will Generative AI Rewrite the Future? 
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Pavilion Room) and Zoom
Time: 9:30 am – 3 pm ET
Open to all; free

This conference will explore opportunities for generative AI, as well as associated challenges, risks, and the important role for standards and regulations in supporting its responsible use. The first portion of the conference will feature TEDx–style presentations featuring expert insights on this transformative technology, and what it means for the standardization community. Subsequent panels will explore 1) how various sectors are currently using the technology, how they see doing so in the future, and where they see the need for standards/regulations, and 2) trustworthy and responsible AI. View the agenda.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11

WSW Networking Breakfast
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Pavilion Room
Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am ET

Conference: Synergies and Shared Interests in Standards & ANSI Annual Business Meeting Luncheon
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Pavilion Room) and Zoom
Time: 9:30 am – 4 pm ET
Open to all; free

In today’s rich standards landscape, traditional standards developing organizations (SDOs) and consortia are facing common, cross-cutting issues—including an ever-quickening pace of change in critical and emerging technologies, an increasing level of politicization of standards and related standards processes at home and abroad, and the need to attract and upskill the future standards workforce.  

This community-wide conference will bring together standards-setting bodies of all kinds—including consortia and other forums and ANSI-accredited standards developers—to exchange best practices and identify opportunities to address common challenges and concerns. Sessions will include:

• Getting the Job Done: Standards Development in a Changing Landscape  
  Standards organizations have limited resources and rely heavily on member involvement. At the same time, new technologies are creating both opportunities and challenges—including calls for standards to be developed faster. With increasing pressures on bottom lines and competition from other open collaboration activities, such as open source projects, developing standards amid this changing landscape can be challenging. Discussion topics will include: increasing the speed and agility of standards development; training standards professionals and creating a talent pipeline; the impact of open source on standards development; and more.
  
  
• Politicization of Standards Development 
  Recently, standards development has found itself in the center of political debate amid growing trade tensions. National standards strategies have begun to proliferate, the EU has limited participation in some development activities to EU-headquartered companies, and U.S. legislators have submitted bills calling for “democratic values in standards organizations.” All of which puts standards developers in a delicate place. Through interactive discussions, this session will explore how the standards community can navigate these complicated times, and what needs to be done to assure that the global standards infrastructure that has served so well for more than a hundred years can be protected. 

ANSI Leadership and Service Awards
Location: Ritz Carlton Washington
Time: 6 pm – 9:30 pm ET
Open to all with registration fee

ANSI's 2023 Leadership and Service Awards will be presented to 19 recipients at this banquet and ceremony in celebration of outstanding achievements in standardization.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12

USNC Young & Emerging Professionals (YEP) Program Implementation: Next Steps
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (International Gateway) and Zoom
Time: 9 am – 12:30 pm
Open to all; free

Launched in 2022, the USNC National YEP Program provides opportunities and foster active engagement of U.S. young and emerging professionals in electrotechnology standardization. The USNC YEP Committee will host a session to discuss action plans related to strategic goals and next steps to implement the program. Lunch will be available following the session.

ANSI Legal Issues Forum: Copyright Implications in a Changing Landscape
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Pavilion Room) and Zoom
Time: 11 am – 4 pm ET
Open to all; free

ANSI's 2023 Legal Issues Forum (LIF) will focus on two hot topics for the standards community: the copyright implications of incorporating standards by reference into legislation (IBR), and the copyright implications of using AI in standards (and standards in AI). The LIF is relevant to a broad group of legal experts, standards professionals, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders interested in the intersection of copyright, innovation, and standardization. Panel discussions will include:

• Panel One: What SDOs Need to Consider as the Incorporated by Reference (IBR) Legal Landscape Changes
  What would happen to the current U.S. standards system and government use of standards developed by U.S. standards developing organizations (SDOs) if standards incorporated by reference (IBR) were to lose copyright protection? This panel will examine new challenges to IBR’d standards and pending court cases that have again called into question the copyrightability of IBR’d standards.
  
  
• Panel Two: What are the Copyright Implications of Using AI to Develop Standards? 
  What unique legal issues are raised by the intersection of copyright and AI—and who, if anyone, owns the copyright of AI-generated content? This panel will explore the potential perils of feeding standards content into AI tools and engines, as well as the opportunities of using generative AI to create content for standards. The session will also explore how standards developing organizations are currently using AI-generated content and how they can protect copyright in AI-generated content used in standards development.

WSW Sponsorship Opportunities
Various sponsorship opportunities are available. Register to be a sponsor by following the registration link on ansi.org/wsweek. Questions may be directed to ANSI’s senior meetings and events manager, Stephanie Carroll, at [email protected].

Book Your Hotel in Advance! ANSI Room Block Reservations
A block of rooms for WSW attendees is available at the Dupont Circle Hotel from October 8 – October 13 for $289/night, plus tax. Please use this link to make your reservation, or call 202.483.6000 to request the ANSI October Room Block. Reservations must be made no later than September 18, 2023.

Please note that this is a busy week in Washington, DC, and rooms are limited. Early reservations are highly recommended.

U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day 2023
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (Atrium Ballroom)
4:45 – 8:00 pm

As a collaboratively hosted event for the standardization community, the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day (WSD) has separate registration from ANSI's WSW events above.

The 2023 U.S. Celebration of WSD will have a new and engaging format this year: In place of a formal dinner, attendees will enjoy an evening of networking, interaction, and conversation with a lengthened reception featuring exhibitors from across the U.S. standardization community and a variety of food and drink options. Amid the festivities, a program highlighting the theme “A Shared Vision for a Better World" will honor the 2023 recipient of the Ronald Brown Standards Leadership Award—astronaut Michael López-Alegría—and the winner of the WSD Paper Competition.

The event is hosted by a committee of standardization community partners—co-chaired by ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). ASTM International is serving as the 2023 administrating organization.

WSD sponsorship/registration is open via https://register.ansi.org/2023wsd.