From the information and communications technologies we depend on each day, to the essential medical devices emergency personnel use during the pandemic, and beyond, standardization is vital to U.S. competitiveness and quality of life.
In a live webcast on May 13, 2020, S. Joe Bhatia, president and CEO of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), highlighted the crucial role of standards and conformity assessment to American prosperity in a virtual roundtable hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Mr. Bhatia joined John J. Hamre, CSIS president and CEO and Langone Chair in American Leadership in a conversation about the U.S. standardization system and its role in supporting innovation, addressing national and global priorities, and contributing to rapid and effective COVID-19 response efforts.
In introducing the session, the first in a series of virtual conferences hosted by the Langone Chair at CSIS, Dr. Hamre drew attention to standardization as a foundation for American prosperity, pointing to President George Washington's call, in his first message to Congress, for a uniform system of weights and measures in order to unify the 13 colonies into one common economic entity.
"One of the greatest strengths of our U.S. system, what sets us apart from everybody else in the world, is our public-private partnership," said Mr. Bhatia. "The U.S. standardization system involves all parties. This makes it dynamic, flexible, and quickly responsive to market needs."
View the recorded video session of the May 13 roundtable or listen to the podcast.
A follow-up CSIS roundtable session featuring Mr. Bhatia on the role of China in international standards-setting activities is being planned for May 28; additional details are forthcoming at www.csis.org/events.