A Leadership Standard

It's always a wonderful experience to see a deserving colleague recognized for a career of achievement. As TIA president, I've had the opportunity to see a number of very talented, dedicated men and women in the industry honored for their achievements by various awards and other laurels given out every year. It's a special thing to see. And when it comes to recognition of talent, hard work and accomplishment, there's nothing like entrusting a leadship role to someone.

Last week, TIA VP-Standards & Business Development Ed Mikoski was elected to the board of directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This is an honor for many reasons, recognizing Ed's wonderful career in the high-tech and communications industry. As TIA president, I could not be more pleased to know that Ed will bring a profound knowledge of the issues that shape our industry to ANSI's deliberations. 

Ed's election to the board offers the unique opportunity to provide valuable input for board decisions on the processes and protocols behind consensus standards in all industries. During his three-year term, he will bring a wise, reasoned voice for an industry whose success is so crucial to U.S. economic competitiveness. As major standards and legal issues come rapidly down the pike, as we've seen happen, for example, with intellectual property rights in the past few years, what better way to ensure the vendor community is represented than to have Ed at the forefront? ANSI work in the global arena also dovetails efficiently and effectively with TIA's own international policy work, a plus for members watching the world's ICT markets.

ANSI board members also play a key role in decision-making on the life cycles of standards documents:  Do we need to reevaluate standard X or Y every five years? Is there a different model? How do international standards bodies balance the need to update standards with the expense of maintaining obsolete committees? Once again, there are few in the industry I'd rather have sorting through those issues than Ed.

I am consistently impressed by the depth of experience and the respect commanded by TIA's technical staff and more than 1,100 engineering committee volunteers sitting on 70 committees. And now that is accurately reflected in Ed's membership on the board of an institution that relies on just that experience and respect to lead U.S. manufacturing into the future.

Thank you,
Grant Seiffert
President
TIA