Executive Office ofthe President Executive Office of the President Executive Office of the President 

Office of Management and Budget United States Trade Representative Office of Science and Technology Policy 

January 17,2012 

M-12-08 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES 

FROM: 	 Aneesh Chopra , / 

U.S . Chief Technology '~ Office of Science and Technology Policy 


Miriam Sapiro f"\)

Deputy 

United States Trade Representative 

Cass R. Sunstein (\\'lJ 

Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 

Office of Management and Budget 

SUBJECT: 	 Principles for Federal Engagement in Standards Activities to Address 

National Priorities 

On February 4, 2011 , the President released "A Strategy for American Innovation: Securing Our 

Economic Growth and Prosperity ,,1 and directed Federal agencies to increase their efforts to catalyze 

technology breakthroughs to advance national priorities. Pursuant to the Strategy for American 

Innovation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are issuing this Memorandum 

to clarify principles guiding Federal Government engagement in standards activities2 that can help address 

national priorities. 

The vibrancy and effectiveness of the U.S. standards system in enabling innovation depend on continued 

private sector leadership and engagement. Most standards developed and used in U.S markets are created 

with little or no government involvement. This approach - reliance on private sector leadership, 

supplemented by Federal Government contributions to discrete standardization processes as outlined in 

OMB Circular A-119, "Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus 

Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities,,3 - remains the primary strategy for government 

I http://www.whitehouse.gov/innovationlstrategy. 

2 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars al19/. 

3 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars al19/. 
engagement in standards development. Consistent with the Administration' s commitment to openness, 

transparency, and multi-stakeholder engagement, all standards activities should involve the private sector. 

In limited policy areas, however, where a national priority has been identified in statute, regulation, or 

Administration policy, active engagement or a convening role by the Federal Government may be needed 

to accelerate standards development and implementation to help spur technological advances and broaden 

technology adoption. In these instances, the Federal Government can help catalyze advances, promote 

market-based innovation, and encourage more competitive market outcomes. The Federal Government 

should clearly define its role, and then work with private sector standardization organizations in the 

exercise ofthat role. 

For example, the Strategy for American Innovation describes national priorities with respect to achieving 

breakthroughs in health care technology and promoting clean energy. In both of these areas, the Federal 

Government is making substantial technology investments - electronic health record systems and smart 

grid technologies - to produce productivity gains and improve outcomes. And in both of these 

technology markets, interoperability standards are needed to decrease the risk that sizable public and 

private investments will become obsolete prematurely. To accomplish these objectives, the Federal 

Government, as directed by Congress, is taking a convening role to accelerate standards development, by 

working closely with domestic and international private sector standards· organizations. 

The principles and related directions to agencies outlined in this Memorandum are intended to be 

followed in those limited instances in which the Federal Government engages in a convening or active 

engagement role together with private sector standardization organizations to address a national priority. 

Such engagement should be undertaken pursuant to existing legal and policy obligations. 

Federal Government Objectives for Standards Engagement to Address National Priorities 

Once a national priority has been identified, it is important for the Federal Government to engage private 

sector stakeholders early in the process of identifying technology, regulatory, and/or procurement 

objectives. The Federal Government's engagement should be broad-based, and it should rely on open and 

transparent processes. Broad-based engagement provides public officials with the opportunity to obtain 

information that often is widely dispersed across the economy.4 

At the outset of engagement, the Federal Government should: 

• 	 Clearly identify the standards-based challenges it is encountering in addressing a national 

priority; 

• 	 Define its goals as precisely as possible; 

• 	 Provide a reasoned analysis of what has led to the perceived standards gap and what needs 

to be done to close it (including any relevant and appropriate science-based data); and, 

• 	 Commit, to the extent feasible and appropriate, to support the technical work necessary to 

achieve the defined goals. 

4 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the press office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/. 

2 
Federal Government engagement in standards activities should be guided by five fundamental strategic 

objectives: 

• 	 Produce timely, effective standards and efficient conformity assessment schemes that are 

essential to addressing an identified need; 

• 	 Achieve cost-efficient, timely, and effective solutions to legitimate regulatory, 

procurement, and policy objectives; 

• 	 Promote standards and standardization systems that promote and sustain innovation and 

foster competition; 

• 	 Enhance U.S. growth and competitiveness and ensure non-discrimination, consistent with 

international obligations; and 

• 	 Facilitate international trade and avoid the creation of unnecessary obstacles to trade. 

To realize these objectives, the Federal Government works with the private sector to address common 

standards-related needs, taking on a convening and/or active-engagement role where necessary to ensure a 

rapid, coherent response to national challenges. In undertaking such work, the Federal Government may 

play various roles in the standardization system - user, specifier, participant, facilitator, advocate, 

technical advisor/leader, convener, or source of funding - to assure that key public policy goals are 

achieved in a timely and effective manner. Successful achievement of these goals also requires an active 

effort to promote information sharing and coordination across the Federal Government. 

When addressing national priorities, standardization activities should recognize the global nature of many 

markets. In the context of communications technologies, for example, both users and vendors realize 

enormous economies of scale when standards are globally developed and deployed. Users benefit from 

lower prices offered by vendors able to realize the economies of scale of a globally sized market. When 

diverse national standards are imposed, however, products must conform to diverse requirements for each 

national market, raising costs for government and private sector users, limiting the flexibility needed for 

efficiency and innovation, and reducing profitability. 

Agency Responsibilities 

Agencies considering a convening or active engagement role in private sector standards developing 

organizations in order to address a national priority area should state their reasons plainly (including why 

private sector leadership alone is insufficient). Further, agencies should accept and act on feedback on 

their rationales before assuming this convening or active-engagement role in a private sector standards 

developing organization. In all cases, agencies should ensure effective intra- and inter-agency 

coordination of engagement in standards development activities. When an agency commits to a 

cooperative standards development effort with industry, that commitment should be maintained, as 

resources permit, and the resulting standards should be used where feasible. 

Agencies should use existing processes and, where necessary, establish new processes for open, 

transparent, and effective two-way communication with private sector interests, ensuring that concerns 

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from private sector entities are given thorough and objective consideration. To the extent feasible and 

appropriate, agencies should also provide continuous support for their technical experts' participation and 

leadership activities in mission-critical standards-setting activities and standards organizations, including 

standards organization-specific training and mentoring. Agencies should periodically review their 

standards activities to identify gaps in representation for mission-critical areas as part of their long-range 

planning and adopt policies that value and reward participation in standardization activities. 

Agencies should explicitly include consideration of conformity assessment approaches that take account 

of elements from international systems, to encourage private sector support and minimize duplicative 

testing. Agencies should evaluate whether their objectives necessitate creating government-unique 

conformity assessment schemes, which may be expensive to develop and maintain, may impose 

additional costs on the private sector, and may not be recognized beyond national boundaries. In doing 

so, agencies should use existing best practices and leverage available resources in the private sector as 

well as within the Federal Government. Such expertise is available at the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST), which has statutory authority to coordinate conformity assessment activities of 

Federal, State and local governments, and the private sector. 5 

Both in national priority areas and more generally, agencies should take into account the im1.act of their 

standards-related choices on innovation and the global competitiveness of U.S. enterprises, including the 

impact of intellectual property incorporated in standards, consistent with international obligations. On 

these matters, agencies should consult with USTR, which has statutory authority on international trade 

issues arising from standards and conformity assessment procedures. 

OSTP, OMB, and USTR look forward to working cooperatively with you and your staffto promote 

engagement in standards activities that support national priorities. 

5 http://standards.gov/standardsgov/nrtaa.cfin. 


6 Agencies should review OMB Circular A-119, section 6(t) for considerations regarding the use of a standard. 


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