Past Standards Coordination Office Activities

U.S.-EU TTC Event: How Standards help SMEs to Innovate, Compete, and Grow (TTC WG1/WG9 SME Webinar)
Standards enable Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to innovate and grow while addressing the safety, quality, and interoperability of their products and services. U.S. and EU government and private sector representatives met for a webinar on December 13 to discuss technology standards-related best practices and available resources for SMEs. This webinar was organized by the European Commission as part of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council. 

NIST Awards Funding to Five Universities to Advance Standards Education
NIST has made five awards totaling nearly $500,000 to support standards education in undergraduate and graduate level curricula. The disciplines supported by this year’s awards include aerospace; robotics; sustainability, infrastructure improvement and resilience; nanomaterials engineering; and building information modeling.    

The Quad Leaders' Summit (US-Australia-Japan-India) took place on May 24 in Tokyo, Japan. Announcements from the Critical and Emerging Technology (CET) Work Group - Technology Standards Subgroup included successful cooperation through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meetings as well as a commitment to strengthen cooperation through the new International Standards Cooperation Network (ISCN), a mechanism for like-minded allies and partners to share information on technical standards activities. 

The Technology Standards Working Group of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) agreed to establish a Strategic Standardization Information (SSI) mechanism on international standards development with the aim to cooperate and share information on new standardization opportunities. This cooperation was operationalized May 16 at the TTC Ministerial through the signature of an administrative arrangement, designating dedicated EU and US contact points including the Director of the NIST Standards Coordination Office.   

NIST signs MOU with the Standards Council of Canada enhancing cooperation in documentary standards, conformity assessment, and accreditation. The NIST Standards Coordination Office (SCO) and The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) signed an MOU on April 6, 2022 that intends to enhance cooperation in documentary standards, conformity assessment, and accreditation. The MOU includes cooperation in emerging technology areas such as AI and the participation in the International Standards Cooperation Network (ISCN) that is also being pursued with the Technical Standards Working groups under the US/EU TTC and Quad. This cooperation in standards will increase our alignment in international standards work and create an environment that will reduce technical barriers to trade in North America.

Mexico-USA-Canada Workshop
On September 22, 2020, NIST, the General Directorate of Standards (DGN) of Mexico, and the Standards Council of Canada held a virtual Mexico-USA-Canada Workshop: Overview of Mexico’s National Quality Infrastructure Law. A link to the workshop presentation is in the agenda on the event page. 

United States and Brazil Conformity Assessment Workshop
The United States and Brazil Conformity Assessment Workshop took place virtually on September 22-23, 2020. This workshop facilitated the exchange of information concerning U.S. and Brazil standards, conformity assessment and regulatory systems as well as experiences concerning the acceptance of conformity assessment results in each other’s markets. 

Conformity Assessment Guidance and Best Practices Workshop: Canada – Mexico – USA
NIST organized and hosted a workshop on August 6, 2018 entitled Conformity Assessment Guidance and Best Practices Workshop: Canada – Mexico – USA.The goal of this workshop was to share stakeholder experiences in conformity assessment best practices and guidance between Mexico, Canada and the United States.