The Society currently serves the professional development and personnel certification needs of its members with multiple credentialing options for individuals. A compliance program could help assure end-users and interested stakeholders that an eligible entity has conformed to the specific requirements of a particular ISA standard. Developing a standard compliance program would give ISA a new role in determining conformity assessment in addition to the Society’s current standards development role.
“Through compliance to ISA standards, users can have greater confidence that both software and hardware products, as well as implementation methods and solutions are helping them achieve the full benefits of automation,” said Ian Verhappen, vice president of the ISA Standards and Practices Department. “ISA is inviting input from users, vendors and government agencies as we collect information on this proposed program.”
A consultant will be assisting ISA in evaluating potential interest and the overall feasibility of the standards certification concept. Various ISA constituents will be contacted in coming months to provide input on the issue, by means of online surveys, telephone interviews or as part of focus groups, the Society said. Questions regarding this feasibility study can be addressed to Lois Ferson, manager, Standards and Technical Publications, at [email protected].
