A Standard-Setting Career

We talk a lot in this industry about investment, about innovation and regulation and other political issues. In hopeful moments we speak of connecting rural Americans and the people of developing nations to a high-speed, global information network. In anxious moments we talk about bandwidth limitations and technological neutrality. There are so many separate ways to look at our industry, so many different sectors and components that drive the larger whole. The ICT economy, as a microcosm of the world economy, is so multifaceted it almost defies analysis.

There's one facet of the industry so important nothing else could go on without it, yet it very rarely gets any attention. That's standards and the process of standards-setting that goes on every day, not only in our industry but in every corner of the global developed economy — from construction to plastics to telecom to environmental compliance. In a sense, the work of the standards sector — from large, accredited international bodies at the macro level to the individuals who volunteer their time and energy at the micro level — is like oxygen to the economy.  No one really notices when air is plentiful, but we couldn't live without it. Standards are the same — while most of the world's manufacturing, public safety, and even service sectors hum along blissfully unaware of their presence, consensus standards continue to support those sectors' very existence.

Last week I had the good fortune to attend a ceremony as part of World Standards Week honoring the winners of  the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) 2007 Leadership and Service Awards. TIA CTO Dan Bart was among the honorees, receiving the Howard Coonley Medal for an executive who has "benefited the national economy through voluntary standardization... and has given outstanding support to standardization as a management tool." In short, Dan's work over his career has directly helped strengthen the national economy, and I congratulate him on this unique and noteworthy career achievement.

It's not Dan's first such award: In 2004, he received the ANSI Meritorious Service Award for his hard work as co-chair of the ANSI Homeland Security Standards Panel. That year, he was honored for his assistance to the Department of Homeland Security and related sectors to accelerate development and adoption of consensus standards critical to homeland security. It was a proud moment for Dan, but also for TIA and the standards community at large. 

Despite such critical work, however, it is this year's award that represents the best recognition of Dan's work — for the Howard Coonley Medal recognizes not only one particular achievement but a career of achievement. For Dan, who sincerely believes in what he does, this is perfectly fitting.  Ask Dan and he'll tell you that standards keep our consumer products durable, our air and water clean, our communications more effective domestically and abroad, and our public safe.  After being reminded last week just how crucial the standards-setting process and the engineers who put in decades of their lives are, I can say he's 100 percent correct.

To Dan Bart and the rest of this year's ANSI Leadership and Service Award winners, TIA salutes you.

Thank you,
Grant Seiffert
President,
TIA