Building Blocks For The Future

Robert Parks

I am often asked for background material relating to standards, standards organizations, and policy about standards. Until recently, I have not been aware of a good reference addressing these questions. In March 1992, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment published the results of a study on standards issues at the request of Congress. This report, Global Standards: Building Blocks for the Future, is the most comprehensive document I have seen about the history of standards writing, the effect of standards on the economy, and the changes in policy needed to keep the U.S. standards effort abreast of the changing world economic situation.