Open Session of ISO General Assembly to Focus on Innovation and Sustainability

September 20 International Standards Event to Take Place in San Diego

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested members of the media and other stakeholders to attend an Open Session on innovation, sustainable development, and standards, to be held on Thursday, September 20, in San Diego, California. The event is part of the 2012 General Assembly of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is taking place on September 17-22.

The 2012 ISO General Assembly (GA) will bring together more than 600 delegates and accompanying persons invited from ISO's 163 member countries. These individuals will participate in interactive discussions that will shape the direction of ISO's future products, services, and systems.

The September 20 Open Session will feature keynote speakers Denise Naguib, senior director of sustainability for Marriott International, and Phil McKinney, innovation consultant and former vice president and CTO of Hewlett-Packard's Personal Systems Group.

The Open Session is an opportunity for stakeholders from around the world – including business leaders and members of the media – to discuss the current issues around innovation and the economics of sustainable development, what is being done and what needs to be done better, and how standards could assist. Specific technologies that will be discussed at the meeting will include wireless technology in healthcare, smart cities, and smart buildings.

"The ISO 2012 General Assembly will be an exciting and dynamic gathering for everyone in the international standardization community," said Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "The Open Session is a terrific opportunity for southern California's business leaders to make their voices heard by the global standardization community, and for U.S. industry to participate in standards activities that promote global market access."

For more information on the Open Session or the 2012 ISO General Assembly, visit www.isoansi2012.org/. Events are open to the media; to gain press access to the world's foremost standardization experts during this exciting series of events, contact Liz Neiman ([email protected]). Unless otherwise noted, events are held at the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina at 333 West Harbor Drive in San Diego, California.   

About ISO

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 163 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations. Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private-sector, non-profit membership organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. ANSI membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. As such, 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 (USNC), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

SOURCE American National Standards Institute