In May 2024, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) began work on a project aimed at enhancing the practical understanding of public-private partnership (PPP) models. The work included examining their use to support standards development for CETs, the role of government in the related activities, and identifying key elements of effective collaborative mechanisms for addressing standardization needs in CET areas.
This effort was executed as part of a cooperative agreement with NIST and aligns with the desired outcomes found in the United States Government’s National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET) Objective 2 on Participation, Line of Effort #4 to “improve communications between public and private sectors on standards.” ANSI’s efforts sought to identify industry perspectives on research, standards and measurement needs, as well as inform U.S. government participation, coordination, and cross-agency information sharing.
Effective implementation of the USG NSSCET will rely on a clearer understanding of PPP models, and ensuring that the government plays an active and appropriate role in the private sector-led system. This could be achieved by expanding communication with the private sector, including through strategic partnerships, information sharing arrangements, and other cooperative efforts between U.S. government agencies and private sector standards stakeholders, such as standards developing organizations (SDOs), industry associations, civil society, and others that participate in international standards activities.
When properly designed and executed, PPPs can facilitate timely actions to assess standardization needs in a particular industry or technology area and model innovative, high impact approaches to address these needs, creating efficiencies for both government and private sector stakeholders. Focused stakeholder input on best practices in public-private partnerships, enhancing U.S. participation in international CET standards activities as well as measuring the effectiveness of this participation are key to informing a robust U.S. government implementation plan.
Source: American National Standards Institute