VCAT Subcommittee

U.S. International Standards Development Activity 

Mr. Jason Matusow

Subcommittee Chair

Dr. Jayne Morrow

NIST Sr. Advisor for Standards Policy

Final Report

February 14, 2024
Subcommittee

Plan

Action 2

Action 3

Action 4

Action 5

• 8-10 listening sessions: (academics, SDOs, FACAs, think tanks and industry associations)

• Visiting Experts: independent submissions of findings

• Subcommittee Chair: input aggregation for draft submission

• Feedback and refinement: VCAT candidate submission

2

Action 1 Establish committee, secure visiting experts

(May 2023)

Action 6 • VCAT adoption at February meeting
Subcommittee 

Charter

3

Objective: 

Develop specific recommendations for deliberation of the full VCAT that 

assess the opportunities to enhance NIST's engagement in, support of, and 

coordination policy efforts in support of international standards 

development activity. 

Charter Directives for Consideration: 

• The Barriers to U.S. participation in standards development activity, and 

opportunities for knowledge and resource sharing to ensure U.S. equities 

from the private and public sector are supported -- especially in 

potentially disruptive, fast-moving technology areas;

• Opportunities to increase the number of professional in CET sectors 

engaged in standards development activity, particularly in small and 

medium size enterprises (SMEs);

• Opportunities for NIST to work effectively with private-sector 

stakeholders to foster greater U.S. investment in pre-standardization 

research that is essential to standards development activity. 

Designated Federal Officer (DFO) - Stephanie Shaw 
Subcommittee Members & 

Visiting Experts

Name Affiliation

Jason Matusow VCAT Member - Chair (Microsoft)

Vint Cerf VCAT Member (Google)

Monisha Ghosh VCAT Member (Notre Dame)

Mary Saunders ANSI and ITAC 10

Phil Wennblom Intel and ISO/IEC JTC 1

Susan Miller ATIS

Glenn Reynolds ATIS - alternate

Joshua Meltzer Brookings Institute

Tim Simcoe Boston University

Jim Matthews Corning and IEEE SA

Veronica Lancaster CTA and IEC USNC

4
Listening Sessions

SDO: 3GPP, ANSI, ASTM, ATIS, IEEE

FACA: ITAC 6, 10, 15

Academics / Think Tanks: GUIRR, ITIF

USG: EPA, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, NIST

Associations: ITIC Standardization Policy

Consortia Counsel: Gesmer Updegrove, Biddle Law

5
Preliminary Findings

USSCET 

Feedback

Overall supportive

Overreach 

cautions

Consortia 

inclusion

OSS inclusion

US Leadership

Standards system 

vs. individual SSO

Protect & promote 

democratic 

principles in good 

governance

International 

community 

engagement

Blockers

SME challenges

Hosting challenges

Long-term 

executive support

PreStandardization

Best opportunity 

for proactive 

impact

Numerous existing 

efforts for 

collaboration

Measurement

Most essential 

need, least 

understood path 

forward

Outcomes-based, 

avoid simplistic 

context

Workforce 

Development

Executive 

sponsorship 

challenge

University vs. midcareer training

Recognition and 

career challenges

6
VCAT Report

Summary Findings

7

Coordination: 

• Develop and execute a coherent and consistent standards policy that 

supports U.S. leadership and competitiveness in CETs

Engagement: 

• Increase engagement and participation in CET standards development 

organizations

Capacity: 

• Invest in resources and incentives to support the U.S. standards-setting 

ecosystem

Innovation: 

• Foster a culture of innovation and excellence in standards development 

and implementation
VCAT Report

Discussion

8

37 Total Recommendations:

NSSCET

• ANSI US National Strategy remains primary for industry-led system • Inter-agency coordination and USG engagement in CET standardization • USG leadership long-term awareness of standards

Barriers

• Analysis and awareness sharing is key

• Community notification process (SDO into NIST) would be valuable

• Hosting budget and visa challenges should be addressed

Measurement

• Collaboration with academia and industry on outcomes-based 

measurement

Workforce

• Public and private sector actions for enablement and capacity building

Pre-standardization • Maximize existing and new research grants/programs to generate pre- standardization inputs

• Coordinate with trading partner nations on pre-standardization inputs