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Belinda Collins, Director of the Office of Standards Services, chaired a day-long conference held at NIST on September 8, 1997 as part of ongoing efforts to implement the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA). The NTTAA assigned NIST a leadership role in coordinating standards and conformity assessment activities with the federal, state and local government agencies, and with the private sector to meet the needs of U.S. industry in the global marketplace.
The conference focused on federal agencies which have successfully worked with standards-developing organizations in their use of voluntary consensus standards. Four panels presented examples of voluntary standards successfully used for procurement, regulation and for meeting future national needs. Panelists also described the impact of particular standards on agency goals, the process of developing the voluntary standards and problems that had been encountered.
The conference was attended by more than 200 participants, including representatives from eight major standard developing organizations and from Federal agencies working with the private sector to develop mutually beneficial standards, resolve policy issues, and use standards for Federal procurement or regulation.
Overall, the conference fostered better understanding among federal agencies of the private sector standardization process and paved the way for increased future collaborative efforts.
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