WASHINGTON, DC, March 19, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Two representatives of U.S. industry and government have been named as leaders of the new Homeland Security Standards Panel (HSSP), a coordinating body for the development and enhancement of Homeland Security and emergency preparedness standards. The HSSP was created in February 2003 to promote a positive, cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors in order to meet the standards needs of the nation in this critical area.
The HSSP was created by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its proposed mission is to catalog, promote, accelerate and coordinate the timely development of consensus standards within the national and international voluntary standards system intended to meet identified Homeland Security and emergency preparedness needs, and communicate the existence of such standards appropriately to governmental units and the private sector.
Dr. George Arnold, chairman of the ANSI Board of Directors, has named Dan Bart, Senior Vice President, Standards and Special Projects for the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), as the private sector co-chair. As the current chairman of the ANSI Organizational Member Forum, Mr. Bart facilitates the cooperation and collaboration of more than 250 U.S.-based standards developers, professional societies, trade associations, and academic institutions interested in standards, certification, and conformity assessment.
Mr. Bart has been personally involved in National Security and Emergency Preparedness activities for over 20 years, and represents TIA as one of the Sector Coordinators for the Information and Communications Sector under Presidential Decision Directive 63. TIA has a large number of American National Standards supporting the telecommunications sector and has many standards activities supporting Homeland Security and the needs of first responders.
Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has selected Mary H. Saunders, chief of the NIST Standards Services Division (SSD), as the public sector co-chair of HSSP. Ms. Saunders is responsible for oversight of the NIST office that leads the implementation of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (P.L. 104-113). The NTTAA charges federal departments and agencies with using voluntary consensus standards, whenever feasible, and participating in their development. Ms. Saunders also chairs the Interagency Committee on Standards Policy, which coordinates standards activities across 15 Cabinet departments and 12 other agencies and commissions.
Ms. Saunders is directly involved in the administration of SSD programs in Laboratory Accreditation, Technical Standards Activities, and Global Standards and Information. As the national measurement institute for the U.S., NIST's measurement research and services often are incorporated into standards and into methods for assessing whether products, systems, and services conform with regulatory or other requirements, including those developed to support Homeland Security.
ANSI also announced two Special Advisors to the HSSP:
-- Dr. Robert Hermann is a former chairman of the ANSI Board and
long-time participant in the both the private and public
sectors. He retired in 1998 from his position as senior vice
president, science and technology at United Technologies
Corporation (UTC). Prior to joining UTC, Dr. Hermann served
20 years with the National Security Agency with assignments in
research and development, operations and NATO. He is a former
principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence, former
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for research, development
and logistics and former Director of the National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
-- David McCurdy is president of the Electronic Industries Alliance
and executive director of the Internet Security Alliance. Mr.
McCurdy served for fourteen years (1981-1995) in the U.S.
House of Representatives (D-OK). As chairman the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he prepared the
budget and conducted oversight of the multi-billion dollar
intelligence community and led a drive to reorganize that
community.
An Interim Steering Committee will meet on April 4, 2003 in the DC area. The full Panel will hold its first meeting later this year. Participation on both the steering committee and the full HSSP will be comprised of balanced representation from federal, state and local government agencies; industry; unions; academia; consumer interests; and ANSI-accredited standards development organizations, consortia and other non-ANSI-accredited standards organizations involved in Homeland Security activities.
The HSSP was established by ANSI in direct response to needs identified in the January 2, 2003, Report for Congress titled Homeland Security: Standards for State and Local Preparedness. Formation of the Panel also supports the March 1, 2003, transfer of 22 federal agencies to the new Department of Homeland Security. For more information about ANSI, the Homeland Security Standards Panel or its officers, please visit www.ansi.org/hssp or contact Matthew Deane, HSSP secretary, at mdeane@ansi.org.