Draft Agenda Released for ANSI Joint Member Forum

Registration for 2013 Spring Member Forums Closes March 29

NEW YORK, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has publicly released a draft agenda for its 2013 Joint Member Forum (JMF), one of its annual spring member meetings. This year's JMF will focus on issues related to smart cities under the theme of "Making Smart Cities Smarter with Standards and Conformance." The event will include discussion of various smart cities initiatives in the U.S. and abroad, as well as topics related to smart cities standards. Speakers will include Jacques Lair, chairman of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 268, Sustainable development in communities, Kheng Mei Tan, senior program manager for the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2), and Keshav Varma, the sector director for the World Bank's urban water and disaster management sector unit, among others.

The full JMF draft agenda is available here.

The four days of spring member meetings – which include the JMF, the Intellectual Property Rights Policy Committee (IPRPC) meeting, the Company Member Forum (CMF) meeting, and the Organizational Member Forum (OMF) meeting – provide opportunities for ANSI members and representatives of U.S. professional societies, trade associations, standards developing organizations (SDOs), and academia to engage with significant issues in standardization and conformance.

Other highly anticipated features of the meetings include an update from Jack McDougle, senior vice president of the Council on Competitiveness, and discussions on emerging strategic standards issues led by CMF chair Dr. John Kulick of Siemens and CMF vice chair Dr. Richard Forselius, PE, of United Technology Corporation. During the OMF meeting, participants will be invited to take part in a discussion on long term business strategies for standard sales, and will hear a presentation on the value of systems and their importance to standards and mission activities from John A. Thomas, the CEO and president of John A. Thomas & Associates LLC, and president of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), followed by a related discussion.

All meetings will be held at the Sheraton Crystal City (1800 Jefferson Davis Highway) in Arlington, Virginia, except where otherwise noted. The full schedule of meetings is as follows:

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

• IPRPC meeting
  Consumer Electronics Association (1919 South Eads Street, Arlington, Virginia)
  9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

• IPRPC meeting
  Consumer Electronics Association
  9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
• CMF meeting
  1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

• CMF meeting
  9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
• Member Luncheon
  12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
• JMF meeting
  1:30 p.m. –5:00 p.m.
• Member Reception
  5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 5, 2013

• OMF meeting
  9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Registration for all of the ANSI spring member meetings will close on Friday, March 29, 2013. To register for any of the spring member meetings, click here.

About ANSI
The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is made up of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.

The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

About the IPRPC
The IPRPC – an ANSI policy committee that reports to the Executive Committee of the ANSI Board of Directors – is responsible for developing Institute positions on issues relating to the incorporation of essential patents and other proprietary intellectual property in national, regional, or international standards, among other related duties.

About the CMF
The CMF serves as a venue for ANSI members representing the full spectrum of U.S. industry to examine issues related to national and global standards, as well as conformity assessment developments. The forum allows industry members an opportunity to collectively shape and influence U.S. policy in the domestic and international arena, while also bolstering cross-industry networking and alliances.

About the JMF
The JMF provides an open forum for all ANSI members to discuss and engage with important issues confronting the standardization and conformance communities.

About the OMF
The OMF serves as a venue for U.S. professional societies, trade associations, standards developing organizations (SDOs), and representatives of academia to come together to examine issues related to national, regional, and international standards, as well as issues of interest related to conformity assessment.

SOURCE American National Standards Institute