Here, you'll find an overview of some of ANSI's notable accomplishments over the past year, driving responsive solutions and enhancing the critical work being done across the standardization system. Explore the included links and resources to learn more about how we're working with our members and partners to respond to change and fuel innovation for U.S. competitiveness and quality of life.
Always looking ahead, ANSI is already preparing for the next five-year update of the United States Standards Strategy (USSS). The USSS describes the principles that guide how the U.S. develops standards and participates in the international standards-setting process—and sets a strategic vision to support U.S. competitiveness, innovation, health and safety, and global trade.
The U.S. standards system embraces the participation of all affected stakeholders, making it dynamic, flexible, and responsive to market needs. As part of the update and revision process for the strategy’s sixth edition, ANSI will once again engage the broad spectrum of stakeholders, reflecting the diversity of the system itself.
Stay tuned to learn how you can contribute to the strategy’s update!
Voluntary consensus standards have long been woven into the fabric of federal regulations, supporting U.S. innovation, safety, and quality of life—while saving the government millions of dollars in its reliance on private-sector standards as directed by OMB A-119. But in the U.S. and globally, recent legal actions have challenged longstanding copyright protection for standards incorporated by reference (IBR).
ANSI has been working with stakeholder task groups to assess threats, identify strategies, and explore concrete solutions to protect copyright. As part of a proactive education and awareness campaign, ANSI:
As we move into 2025, ANSI remains committed to addressing the challenges to the IBR public-private partnership that has effectively supported the nation and its interests for many years.
The U.S. standardization system is one of the most wide-reaching and impactful public-private partnerships (PPPs) in our nation’s history, enabling the development of responsive standards for enhanced safety, security, sustainability, performance, and interoperability.
Throughout 2024, ANSI worked with members, stakeholders, and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to explore the use of PPPs to support standards development, the role of government in the related activities, key elements of effective collaborative mechanisms, and information sharing needs for addressing standardization for critical and emerging technologies.
The resulting report, Enabling Standards Development Through Public-Private Partnerships, details best practices on how to establish and execute effective PPPs to enable or even accelerate standardization activities, including 19 use cases. The effort was performed under a cooperative agreement with NIST to help inform the implementation of the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology.
Propelling Innovation: ANSI Standardization Collaboratives
For more than 30 years, ANSI’s cross-sector standardization collaboratives have advanced emerging areas such as additive manufacturing, electric vehicles, nanotechnology, and unmanned aircraft systems, leveraging the collective expertise of the public and private sectors to advance emerging technologies and areas of national or global priority.
A Nanoplastics Case Study
A recent ANSI Nanotechnology Standards Panel workshop focused attention on the health and environmental impact of minute particles called nanoplastics. Participating experts agreed on the need for reference materials, measurement techniques, and consideration of nanoplastics in relevant environmental matrices (water, air, sediment). Read the workshop report.
From formal consensus bodies to consortia to emerging communities of open collaboration, a diverse landscape of standards setting organizations contribute to global solutions—and all face common challenges and opportunities. As coordinator of the U.S. standardization system, ANSI is committed to supporting the diverse landscape of standards setting organizations in the U.S., and the global work that they do.
ANSI is energized that our multi-year initiative to boost consumer participation in standards-setting is building momentum.
For more than 100 years, ANSI has provided the neutral forum for diverse stakeholders to work together to create consensus-based solutions. As the numbers below demonstrate, the American National Standards process supports capacity, responsiveness, and flexibility by capitalizing on the expertise of many developers while creating assurances for the integrity of a process that allows for all voices to be heard.
New in 2024, this digest offers a concise roundup of global policy initiatives impacting standardization. Recent issues highlighted the EU Standards Strategy, Mexico’s National Quality Infrastructure, and U.S. cooperation with developing nations on critical and emerging technologies. Please request access to read.
This monthly feature empowers members with expert insights on policy matters and federal and Congressional developments impacting industry and the standardization community.
This quarterly newsletter has been redesigned to better highlight policies and regulation trackers, technical activities, trade matters. The English version and the archive of all past issues are available to ANSI members. The Chinese version is available to all.
Also new, this resource offers insights into this region of growing importance to the U.S., covering the African Continental Free Trade Area, its implementation status, and standardization priorities. A separate newsletter for African audiences is available to all.
As standardization continues to evolve and expand, building a diverse community of knowledgeable standards professionals remains crucial for U.S. innovation and competitiveness. ANSI is committed to strengthening this foundation by expanding our educational programs, developing new resources, and creating opportunities for emerging voices across the standardization landscape.
Alongside our own growing collection of training courses, we maintain an extensive directory of highly-tailored resources to help other organizations contribute to an informed, effective, and engaged U.S. standardization workforce.
The U.S. is among the most active members of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), with ANSI and its U.S. National Committee, respectively, representing our nation and cultivating leadership positions in these forums.
With international standardization activities expanding in scope, venues, and the number of participants, U.S. interests must double-down on engagement and support to maintain and expand on the robust ISO and IEC activity levels you see in the tabs below.
An AI Case Study
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) expands its reach across industries, the U.S. championed the development of ISO/IEC 42001, a management system standard that guides organizations of all kinds on the responsible use of AI systems.
The standard was led by ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information Technology, Subcommittee (SC) 42, Artificial Intelligence, with ANSI serving as secretariat for both committees. According to Wael Diab, ISO/IEC JTC1, SC 42 chair, ISO/IEC 42001 is a first-of-its-kind AI international standard that will help unlock the societal benefits of AI while addressing ethical and trustworthy concerns.
Photo: JTC 1/SC 42 was honored for its work with ISO’s 2023 Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership Award, which recognizes superior performance by an ISO standards development group. SC 42 is the first international standards committee looking at the entire AI IT ecosystem.
In October, James E. Matthews III, formerly of Corning Inc., was elected as the U.S. president-elect of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). He will begin his term as president elect in January 2025 and assume the office of the president from 2026-2028.
In January 2024, Steve Margis of UL Solutions began his term as IEC vice president and chair of the IEC Conformity Assessment Board. Margis is the first individual from the U.S. to undertake this role in IEC’s conformity assessment leadership.
One of ANSI’s productive public-private partnerships with the U.S. Agency for International Development is the Standards Alliance Phase 2 project that helps developing countries implement international best practices and reduce unsafe or poor-quality products, services, and infrastructure. Three recent successful SA2 initiatives that helped to support trade and economic development include:
Learn more about the full range of ANSI's international development partnership activities.
