The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is holding its World Standards Week 2007 this week in Washington, D.C., including a number of forums and panel discussions, as well as its 2007 Leadership and Service Awards ceremony tonight (Wednesday, October 17).  The awards are given to recipients for their "significant contributions to national and international standardization activities, as well as an ongoing commitment to their industry, their nation, and the enhancement of the global voluntary consensus standards system." 

TIA CTO Dan Bart was among the winners of the award announced last month, and will receive the Howard Coonley Medal which recognizes an executive "[who] has benefited the national economy through voluntary standardization and conformity assessment and has given outstanding support to standardization as a management tool."  ANSI cited Bart's active promotion of standardization programs and partnerships for the industry and his long careers with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and TIA.  This is Bart's second ANSI award; he won ANSI's Meritorious Service Award in 2004.

TIA will actively participate in the ceremony honoring Bart, as well as the U.S. Celebration of Standards Day, the following day, including a reception and exhibition and an additional ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center at 1330 Pennsylvania Ave.  For a full schedule of World Standards Week event schedule, click here.   Participants can also register for the remaining events at this site. 

For questions or comments about the award or TIA's involvement in the global standards process, please contact Ian Martinez at +1.703.907.7723 or imartinez@tiaonline.org.

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On October 31-November 1, the GSA will host Ideas 2007, its annual conference on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center on Mount Vernon Place.  TIA Regulatory & Government Affairs Manager Becky Schwartz will moderate a second-day panel on technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing. 

During this session, Schwartz will lead discussion on which technology solutions are available for procurement purposes, the cost related to providing these solutions, as well as the security and privacy aspects of each.  Panelists will include: Jim House, Public Relations and Resource Development Officer , Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Karl Ewan, Agency Liaison for Federal Relay, Sprint; and Michael Young, CAPTEC Manager, Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program.

The panel will commence at 1:45 - 2:45 p.m. on November 1.

For more information on TIA's work with the hard-of-hearing community, please contact Ian Martinez at imartinez@tiaonline.org or 703.907.7723.

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The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) will host a major event focusing on information and communications technologies (ICT) in motor vehicles. This event, The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008, will be held March 5-7, 2008, during the 78th Geneva International Motor Show in Palexpo, Geneva.

Topics to be covered at The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008 can be found at  http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200803/.

The ITU has issued a call for abstracts for the workshop, including demonstrations of ICT in automobiles.  Potential presenters should submit a half-page abstract, including the title of the paper and the author’s full name, short biography, address, telephone and e-mail, to tsbcar@itu.int by Friday, November 16, 2007.  Presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by Friday, December 14, 2007, and should respond with presentations no later than Tuesday, January 29, 2008.

For information on the 2005 Workshop go to http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200503/index.html ; for information on the 2007 Workshop please go to http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/ict-auto/200703/index.html. 

For more information on The Fully Networked Car Workshop 2008, please contact Tyler Messa at +1.703.907.7743 or tmessa@tiaonline.org.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce will hold a breakfast seminar October 17 on ways to take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to increase export sales. The combined markets of the two trade agreements include more than 188 million people and $2.2 trillion in GDP, representing a significant opportunity for companies looking to expand their market share.

The seminar will be held Wednesday, October 17, from 8:30 a.m. until noon at the Northern Virginia U.S. Export Assistance Center, 1100 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 1500, Arlington, Va. U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of State officials will speak on the following topics: The NAFTA: A Policy Perspective on the Effects on U.S. Trade; NAFTA Certificate of Origin: Qualifying for NAFTA Benefits; The DR- CAFTA: Introduction to Our Newest Free Trade Agreement; Making the DR-CAFTA-DR Work for You: Qualifying Your Products.

The seminar costs $40. Spaces are filling fast so please register now.

For more information on the seminar, please contact April Redmon at the Department of Commerce at +1.703.235.0329 or april.redmon@mail.doc.gov.

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More than 120 participants from over 20 countries will gather in Qingdao, China, October 15-19, for the 30th meeting of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 204 for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS); ISO/TC204. ISO/TC204 is the premier organization for international ITS standardization, and the weeklong series of meetings will focus on diverse set of emerging ITS standards in such fields as architecture, database technologies, automotive vehicle and equipment identification, fee and toll collection, general fleet management and commercial/freight, public transport/emergency, integrated transport information, management and control, traveler information systems, vehicle/roadway warning and control systems, dedicated short range communications, and wide area communications/protocols and interfaces.

The five-day series of meetings will cover the entire committee program of work, including the introduction of new work items. Anticipated highlights and new work items will include:

• Lawful Interception in ITS and Communications Access for Land Mobiles (CALM)
• Data retention for law enforcement in ITS and CALM
• A discussion of the succesful new project ballot: ISO/AWI 10992: The use of nomadic devices to support ITS service and multimedia  provision in vehicles, and the possible formation of Working Group 17 (nomadic devices) for future standardization in this field. 

As both the International Secretariat of ISO/TC204 and the administrator of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to TC204, TIA plays a critical role in steering the overall strategic direction of the committee, as well as providing overall administrative and technical support. 

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