The Challenge of IT Standards for the Federal Government Keith Thurston Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator Office of Electronic Government and Technology General Services Administration

Federal Use of Standards Gov’t can be great contributor Significant applications Market buying power to make it happen High level of interest in interoperability and open solutions

Sad Truths Federal orgs had downsized Stds efforts There is a separation between Stds staffs and IT practitioners Large scale procurements without stds undercut stds efforts (not serious) IT is hard. It is interoperability, not just quality and conformance stds – like others.

Consortia and Standards Orgs Consortia – industry interest driven, flexible process, speed, real products Standards Organizations – rigor, openness, fair IP access, user side interests, slow, (some times without products)

Federal Direction Architectures COTS (mixed message) Horizontal between agencies Vertical to states and local Without usable standards WITH products, it is winner-take-all environment

Accepting Reality Political pressure to move forward (even without standards) Technology moves fast Standards processes must keep up Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Use what works.