National standards resource launched

17 Jun 2002

The American National Standards Institute has officially launched its NSSN: A Global Standards Network. The NSSN (formerly known as the National StandardsSystems Network) is a World Wide Web-based, comprehensive source of information on regional, national and international standards from private-sectororganizations and federal government agencies. The network links the heterogeneous databases of these groups, giving NSSN users the ability to search multiplestandards databases in a few minutes.

Examples of standards included are those that set criteria for safety in consumer products, compatibility between computer software packages, and quality of exportedproducts and services (such as the ISO 9000 series of standards). Information on over 100,000 standards--including 30,000 military specifications--will be in theNSSN database by year's end. The new service is the result of a partnership between ANSI and NIST. Initial funding of $2 million for the NSSN's developmentcame in 1994 from the Technology Reinvestment Project, the multiagency program that provided Department of Defense funds for dual-use (military and civilian)technology development, deployment and utilization.