IEEE-ISTO Industry Standards and Techology Organization

IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization Hosts First Annual Conference on Product Certification and Conformity Assessment

June 2009 Conference Schedule Unveils Line-up of Industry Experts

Piscataway, NJ, 23 April 2009 — The IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO) announced today it will be hosting the first annual IEEE Conference on Product Certification and Conformity Assessment. The conference will take place 1-2 June 2009, at the IEEE Conference Center, located at its Piscataway, New Jersey Operations Center.

The conference is being organized by the ISTO, in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association, as a part of their joint initiative on supporting industry conformity assessment activities. This initiative operates as the IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP), providing support to IEEE members and standards development groups in helping accelerate the implementation of new standards and technologies through conformity assessment activities and programs.

“Standardization is a watershed moment in the development of any technology, as it guides users as to which commercial products are worthy of their trust. Oftentimes, however, it takes a substantial amount of time and investment for a mature conformity assessment process to grow up around a new standard,” said Peter Lefkin, marketing and business development executive for IEEE-ISTO. “ICAP is designed to cut this time and investment and, ultimately, encourage quicker market adoption of innovations that are compliant with IEEE standards. This first conference will focus on the benefits and drivers behind certification and conformity programs, and the diverse processes used across industry for these programs.”

The event is designed for industry organizations, consortia, product manufacturers and conformity assessment professionals engaged in demonstrating product conformity to standards.

Speakers include:

Brad Booth, Chairman, Ethernet Alliance
Greg Ennis, Technical Director, WiFi Alliance
Gordon Gillerman, Conformity Assessment Adviser for Homeland Security, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Greg Gogates, WiMax Forum
Lane Hallenback, Vice President, Accreditation Services, American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Byron Horak, Director, Certification Programs, Intertek
Lou LaMedica, Verizon Wireless
Wayne Rifer, EPEAT Program Manager, Green Electronics Council
Mark Sargent, Assistant Vice President, Certification Program, CTIA
Dave Thompson, 1394 Trade Association
Peter Unger, President, American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA)
University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab

In addition to the presentations, panel discussions will be held to foster a dialog between attendees and speakers on industry program needs, best practices and lessons learned, and approaches to enhance market acceptance. Attendees will include operators of industry certification programs; companies, consortia and standards groups considering the creation of a certification program for standards and technologies of interest; and personnel from conformance and certification testing organizations.
Additional information about the event is available at:
http://www.ieee-isto.org/2009-conformity-conference.html

2009 Conference Registration

The conference registration fee is $350, which includes breakfast, lunches, breaks each day, an evening networking reception, and presentation materials. Attendees are encouraged to register by 30 April 2009 to take advantage of the early-bird discount rate of $275.

The Conference Website and Registration is available at:
http://www.ieee-isto.org/2009-conformity-conference-regpart1.html

ICAP, a program of IEEE-ISTO, is designed to accelerate market adoption of products that comply with IEEE standards. Uniquely through ICAP, industry groups leverage IEEE-ISTO’s organizational infrastructure, global relevance and expertise to quickly and cost-effectively build unbiased conformity assessment processes tailored to their unique technology and market needs. Technology-agnostic ICAP provides conformity assessment activities in support of IEEE standards across a broad range of technologies and industries.

For more information, please visit http://www.ieee-isto.org/icap.html or contact Rudi Schubert, director, conformity assessment at r.schubert@ieee.org.

IEEE-ISTO, a federation of programs, is a membership organization that helps technology industry groups form, function and succeed. It excels at supporting development and implementation of industry standards and facilitating activities that drive market acceptance. IEEE-ISTO strives to be the premier trusted partner of the global technology community for the development, marketing and adoption of industry standards.