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Publication summary

Author(s): J. Morell and Selden Stewart

Publication date: June 1994

Citation: Jonathan A. Morell and S. L. Stewart: Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Availability:

• A paper copy of this document is available by contacting Kristy Thompson [web,email]

Abstract:

This report summarizes the deliberations and results of the workshop on, "Standards Development for Information Technology: Best Practices for the United States." The workshop was held at the Rockville, MD, June 15-16, 1994, and was sponsored by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) and NIST. The results of this workshop should be important to those interested in improving the standards making process. The whole process of developing standards is variable and uncertain. This is caused by such factors as: changing technology and market dynamics that can have unpredictable effects on standards making, the many years of effort to develop standards increases their vulnerability to unpredictable events, and standards are produced within an organizational environment that makes coordination very difficult. Even under these circumstances, workshop members came to the conclusion that process improvement can still take place using a traditional view of quality improvements. There must be sound business reasons for standards, the standards making process needs to be well characterized as a basis for process improvement, the standards process must be measurable, and incremental improvements can aggregate to significant changes for the better.

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