ABSTRACT
In this chapter we discuss the varieties among standards, their relationships, and applications. We also report on the efforts of the federal government to reduce the needless duplication in standards development and usage, by adoption of federal policy for the development and use of voluntary (nongovernmental) standards. In particular, we summarize the Office of Management and Budget's OMB Circular A-119 (1998 revision in Appendix B) and simultaneously, by incorporating this standards policy as legislation in Public Law 104-113, the National Technology Transfer Improvements Act of 1996 (NTTIA or TTIA).
