Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
admission, performance evaluation, graduation,
and certification are often described as technical
standards even though they are clearly behavioral,
managerial and professionally related. Similar
difficulties exist for cyber security standards
because they merge both IT technical standards
with behavioral, management, and professional
standards of cyber-security professionals who
operate computer networks. (ISO 27001) Further-
more, conformity assessment combines technical
standards with the behavioral and professional
standards needed to practice technical standards.
For example, cyber-security standards specify
that IT staffs must meet educational achievement,
professional examination, and personnel certifica-
tion requirements.
Another common characteristic of standards
is the focus on intended user groups and on the
purpose of the standard. The U.S. National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks
to classify standards by intended user group and
the standard's purpose. Intended user groups are
likely narrow groups who must directly modify
their behavior to comply with the standard. These
parties have the strongest incentive to understand
the technical aspects of a standard because they
must fully comply in order to supply that market.
These most intimate intended users generally exert
some control over how the activity standardized
produces side effects that will impact outsiders,
both positive and negative externalities. Thus, this
NIST taxonomy of intended user groups includes
only those most directly impacted by standards:
firms, industries, nations, provincial/local gov-
ernments, and international organizations that
develop and implement the standard. The narrow-
ness of this conception of user groups contrasts
significantly with the affected parties given status
to participate in standards rulemaking under U.S.
regulatory process. Other affected parties impacted
by de jure standards may participate more fully
than they would in SDA undertaken in consortia
or VCS bodies. This distinction may portend
problems for consortia-developed standards (APA
1946). Consider some common forms of standards
classified by intended user group: company (in-
house) standards, developed internally by a single
industrial firm and meant for internal and affiliate
uses; harmonized standards - either an attempt by a
nation to become compatible with international or
regional standards, or under bi-lateral international
agreement; and industry standards developed by
an industry for materials and products related to
that industry.
As to intended purposes, the NIST classifica-
tion scheme is also initially instructive. A basic
standard has broad-ranging effects in a particular
field, such as a standard for emissions that many
industrial producers must follow in producing a
range of products. Standardized nomenclature
or terminology standards enable commerce by
providing clear contract language. Test and mea-
surement standards define conformity assessment
methods that assess performance or characteris-
tics of products or processes. Product standards
specify qualities or requirements to assure they
serve their intended purposes. Process standards
specify method steps like a production line's
functions or operations. Service standards address
maintenance or repair. Interface standards define
connections (e.g., telephone, computer network)
and focus largely on accurate compatibility. Data
standards include characteristics for which values
or other forthcoming data will specify a product,
process, or service and not be misunderstood.
Another standards classification approach
focuses on the object standardized and relates
the standard to the object's phase in the object's
own product life cycle. This dichotomy may be
described as the design or performance standards
dichotomy. NIST describes this as “the manner
in which [standards] specify requirements,” the
classic ends vs. means approach. Design standards
prescribe characteristics of the product's compo-
nents, construction or manufacture. For example,
catalytic converter designs are regulated, such as
