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THE ASSOCIATION OF COMPANIES DRIVING INNOVATION WORLDWIDE

March 7, 2011

TechAmerica Response to NIST Federal Register Request for Information Regarding the 

Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization:

TechAmerica is pleased to provide these comments to the National Science and Technology 

Council’s Subcommittee on Standards on the effectiveness of Federal Agencies’ participation in the 

development and implementation of standards and conformity assessment activities and programs. 

These comments are in response to the Request for Information published in the Federal Register on 

December 8, 2010 (Docket No. 0909100442-0563-02). 

TechAmerica is the leading voice for the U.S. technology industry, which is the driving force behind 

productivity growth and jobs creation in the United States and the foundation of the global 

innovation economy. Representing approximately 1,500 member companies of all sizes from the 

public and commercial sectors of the economy, it is the industry’s largest advocacy organization. It 

is also the technology industry's only grassroots-to-global advocacy network, with offices in state 

capitals around the United States, Washington, D.C., Europe (Brussels) and Asia (Beijing). 

TechAmerica was formed by the merger of AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association), 

the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Information Technology Association of America 

(ITAA) and the Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (GEIA).

The technology industry’s long partnership with government agencies (both civil and military) for 

the development of standards is a key reason for the US dominance in technology. Ensuring a 

strong, responsive standards system is critical to the success of U.S. products and programs. The 

experience of the information technology industry suggests that establishing open industry standards 

and clear policy goals helps foster competition and innovation. This has a profoundly positive 

impact on speeding industry adoption and consumer acceptance. It is with this purpose in mind that 

we suggest these overall principles.

Effectiveness of the methods Federal agencies have used to engage in standards-setting activities

The technology industry would encourage government agencies to work with industry to set 

applicable standards to ensure that impacts to design and manufacturing are considered along 

with safety and health. Efforts that seem to be most successful occur when the end 

performance or the acceptable limits were specified and then industry was allowed to work 

with government representatives in industry standards setting venues to determine the best 

way to meet the specified needs. 

Effectiveness of Federal agencies coordination with the private sector

TechAmerica is looking to the NSTC Subcommittee to help establish more consistent 

interpretation and policy implementation across Federal agencies related to government 
participation in standards development. Conflicting agency policies on membership, 

inconsistent support of dues and travel costs, and the wide variability of guidelines related to 

the ability of federal employees to take on leadership roles with technical committees or even 

in the governance structure of standards organizations, leads to confusion and lost 

opportunity for the public sector to be an equal and effective partner in standards setting. 

We strongly encourage the NSTC Subcommittee to clarify, on a government-wide basis, 

policies which would help agency stakeholders understand the rules of engagement. 

Without competent government employees participation not only at the technical committee 

level, but at the standards governance level within standards setting organizations, private 

industry is unable to effectively partner with the public sector on critical standardization 

initiatives nor ensure that the standards systems meet the collective needs of both 

government and industry. 

Adequacy and availability of Federal resources 

The U.S. technology industry depends on the strong infrastructure of standards setting that 

government agencies bring to the public-private partnership. Certainly one of the 

cornerstones of the superiority of the US’s defense, space and civil programs is the existence 

of the Defense Standardization Program Office and the system of Military Specifications and 

Standards. TechAmerica encourages the Department of Defense and other government 

agencies to continue to support the robust set of government technical standards that define 

our defense and space platforms and programs as these same standards are also the major 

source of data used for civil aircraft. We encourage the DoD and other government agencies 

to grow and expand their efforts to work together with industry in voluntary consensus 

standards setting venues to develop the industry standards that define our defense and space 

platforms and programs.

At the same time, TechAmerica encourages the NSTC Subcommittee to help government 

agencies to recognize that the development and use of industry standards is not free. Just as 

the internal development and distribution of government standards is not without cost, 

participation in the development of industry standards and then the subsequent purchase of 

the standards requires resources. Federal agencies need to budget for the time and travel of 

government experts to participate in the industry standards setting process. Managed 

correctly, participation with industry, pursuant to the National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and OMB A-119, is a strategic investment in the standards 

which can ultimately control costs and improve quality and safety of government purchased 

products and services.

The technology industry would also like to encourage greater government support for the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in carrying out its assigned roles and 

responsibilities under OMB Circular A-119. 
Other issues that arise and are considered during the standards setting process which impact the 

process, and the timeliness, adoption and use of the resulting standards.

The RFI also sought comments regarding the federal role in standards setting relative to a 

few specific areas---e.g., smart grid, cyber security, and health IT. We believe that the model 

used by NIST to foster the creation of smart grid standards has been innovative. Importantly, 

this effort has leveraged voluntary, industry-led, consensus based standards. However, it is 

too early to fully assess the merits of using this model in other subject areas. Moreover, this 

approach to governmental involvement in the standards setting process is particularly 

resource intensive. If overused, the danger exists that NIST’s limited resources could be 

stretched to the point that other important initiatives are sacrificed.

Agencies that maintain a standards office/function staffed by full-time standards 

professionals whose careers are independent of any single administration, are those which are 

best able to develop, nurture and maintain positive public-private partnerships as well as 

forge strong interagency standardization networks. It is difficult for the private sector to 

work with a federal agency that doesn’t have individuals with a strong understanding of the 

value of standards, codes, conformity assessment process and the standards systems used by 

US industry.

TechAmerica would encourage the NSTC Sub-committee on Standards to work with the 

Standardization Executives to ensure that each agency develops and maintains a strong core 

office of professionals dedicated to helping coordinate standardization activities between 

agencies and with the private sectors. These government standards professionals should be 

encouraged to engage with and participate in standards setting organizations at the 

governance and policy level to help foster a stronger partnership.

Additionally, we would like to emphasize the connection between innovation and the 

protection of intellectual property rights contained in standards. The US Government should 

consider ways to ensure that standards organizations have IPR policies which meet the 

requirements established by OMB Circular A119. However, we would urge the US 

Government to avoid regulations or preferences directed at a particular IPR policy, noting 

that no single policy would be appropriate across all standards types and in every 

standardization instance.

Summary

Our nation’s economy and national security rest on the strength of the technology industry and its 

products, which in turn owes its strength to the robustness and flexibility of the standards systems it 

uses. The ability to collaborate with government agencies to identify and develop the standards 

necessary to support this vital industry is integral to the continued success of US superiority. 

TechAmerica and its members welcome the opportunity to continue to search for ways to improve 

this proven public-private standards partnership and to communicate and share requirements in 

standards setting venues in order to work together to respond to civil and defense priorities. 
The technology industry not only welcomes, but requires, the participation of government experts in 

standards development activities. Together we continue to create standards which can be adopted 

and relied on by government agencies. We welcome the opportunity to work with the NSTC 

Subcommittee on Standards and with entities such as NIST and ANSI to continue to build upon the 

success of the NTTAA. We appreciate the opportunity to provide these comments and we look 

forward to being a part of the ongoing dialogue between members of the Subcommittee and other 

key stakeholders from the standardization community.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Denham III

Vice President, Standards and Technology

TechAmerica

601 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 600 North

Washington, DC 20004

Tel: (703) 284-5326

Fax: (202)-682-9111

E-mail: cdenham@TechAmerica.org