ANSI as an Accreditor
www.ansi.org/accreditation
International Cloud Symposium
October 11, 2012
Presented by: Anne Caldas
acaldas@ansi.org

ANSI coordinates standards, conformity assessment, and related
activities in the United States of America
 Founded in 1918, ANSI is a private, non-profit organization
 ANSI is not a government agency or standards developer (SDO) and
ANSI does not test products, personnel or services

ANSI’s mission is to enhance the global competitiveness of
U.S. business and the American quality of life by promoting
and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity
assessment systems and ensuring their integrity.
2012 ANSI
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U.S. member of ISO

U.S. member of the IEC,
via ANSI’s U.S. National Committee

a U.S. member of IAF and ILAC

member of regional forums in the
Pacific Rim and the Americas

liaison with groups in Europe,
Africa and the Middle East

bilateral agreements with
other national standards bodies
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Represent U.S. globally

Offer neutral forum

Accredit standards developers
and conformity assessment
organizations

Offer accreditation framework
in response to market and
government needs

Ensure integrity of the
American National Standards
(ANS) and US conformity
assessment system

Coordinate partnerships
between U.S. public and
private sectors
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Accredited 3rd-Party Hierarchy
(ISO/IEC 17011 standard for accreditation bodies)
Accreditation bodies
Assess competence
Conformity assessment bodies
Audit/Test/Verify conformity
Product/Person/Organization
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Multilateral Recognitions
are Essential
IAF
International
Accreditation Forum
PAC
EA
Pacific Accreditation
Cooperation
European
Accreditation
Cooperation
ILAC
International
Laboratory
Accreditation
Cooperation
APLAC
Asia-Pacific
Laboratory
Accreditation
Cooperation
IAAC
Inter American
Accreditation
Cooperation
“ANSI’s Role in Conformity Assessment”
ANSI is committed to 2 related but distinct efforts:
1.
ANSI Conformity Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC)
addresses conformity assessment policy issues.


2.
ANSI International Conformity Assessment Committee (ICAC)
and ISO Conformity Assessment Committee (CASCO)
Promotes education and understanding of conformity assessment
ANSI Accreditation Programs accredit conformity assessment bodies



Serve market; open, flexible and efficient; technical rigor; highest integrity
Strengthen, enhance government recognition for regulatory needs
Support mutual recognition, interests and competitiveness of U.S. industry
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ANSI’s Accreditation Roles
Standards
Conformity Assessment (ISO/IEC 17011)
ANSI
Procedures
for ANS
“Essential
Requirements”
SDOs
ANSI
International
Procedures
ANSI/
ISO/IEC
ISO/IEC
ISO/IEC
ISO/IEC
ASTM
ISO/IEC
ISO/IEC
17065
14065
17024
17021
17025
17020
Product
Certifiers
Greenhouse
Gas Verifiers
Personnel
Certifiers
E265909
U.S. TAGs
to ISO
Certificate
Issuers
Management
System
Certifiers
Laboratories
Inspection
Bodies
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What can ANSI provide?

What can ANSI provide?
 Mature (since 1972), but flexible, accreditation
infrastructure based on ISO/IEC 17065, the current
version of Guide 65
 Credible and well regarded track record
 Broad-based expertise
 Program design responsive to market needs

Which conformity assessment method is appropriate
depends on:
•
Customer's requirements
•
Risk associated with product/service
•
Regulatory requirements
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What does ANSI provide and what is needed to establish
an Accreditation Program for Cloud Services?
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What aspects of introducing an Accreditation Program
would need to be addressed?
- Identification of a reliable and recognized
organization as “Scheme” owner
- Standards that will be used by the CBs to certify
Cloud Computing Services
- Competent and recognized Accreditation body
- Certification bodies that demonstrate competence,
consistency in the operation of certifications and
impartiality
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US Government Reliance on ANSI Accreditation
Programs

www.ansi.org/accreditation

Sample Programs:
 FCC: Accreditation of Telecom Certification Bodies since 2000
 ONC
 EPA WaterSense
 EPA Energy Star
 SFI/PEFC Certification Program for Chain of Custody
 GLOBAL GAP
 SQF
 Personnel: Industry (e.g., Microsoft) and Government: FDA,
Defense, OSHA, State Government (e.g., California)

See additional background slides for details
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ANSI Background
www.ansi.org/accreditation
Conformity Assessment: Cloud Computing

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Certification of services: a means of providing assurance that
cloud computing services providers comply with specified
requirements in standards and normative documents
What cloud computing services could be certified?
 Data and applications stored in a server(s) that exist in some
place other than the user (client) location
Certification Scheme could be developed by a Scheme owner
- ISO/IEC 17001 (Impartiality), 17065 (Replaced ISO/IEC Guide 65),
17067
- OASIS standards and others
- Scheme Requirements could address: Security, Integrity,
Confidentiality, Performance, Availability, Accuracy, Risk
Management, Interoperability

Accreditation by a third party, like ANSI, is an option
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US Government Reliance on ANSI as an
Accreditor

Telecommunications and Radio Equipment: The U.S. federal
government relies on ANSI to accredit telecommunication
certification bodies under a Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) program that enforces rules for the manufacturers of
telecommunications and radio communication equipment used in
the U.S. and abroad. ANSI’s accreditation of telecommunication
certification bodies is also recognized by several other nations.
(Since 1972)
 In 2000 FCC processed about 1,500 certifications; in 2011, using
accredited 3rd party certification bodies who processed 985
(est) of the certifications, around 15,000 were issued – a tenfold increase
 IC – Canada; iDA – Singapore; OFTA – Hong Kong; Japan MIC
Requirements
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US Government Reliance on ANSI as an
Accreditor

ONC – Information Technology – Electronic Health
Records: The American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, is pleased to
announce the first accreditations of health information technology
certification bodies under the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Permanent
Certification Program for Health Information Technology (HIT). In June
2011 ANSI was selected as the Approved Accreditor for the ONC program,
which was established by regulation in a final rule published in the
Federal Register on January 7, 2011. The program provides a way for
organizations to become authorized by ONC to test and certify electronic
health record (EHR) technology. As Approved Accreditor, ANSI reviews and
accredits all certification bodies seeking to participate in the ONC
program.
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US Government Reliance on ANSI as an
Accreditor
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EPA WaterSense: WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that seeks to protect the
future of our nation's water supply by promoting water efficiency and
enhancing the market for water-efficient products, programs, and
practices. To ensure the WaterSense program's integrity and
sustainability and also to ensure consumer confidence in the products
that bear the WaterSense label, ANSI has been recognized as an
accreditor of the WaterSense Program. Through partnerships with
irrigation professionals and irrigation certification programs and
manufacturers, retailers and distributors, and utilities, the program is
designed to promote water-efficient landscape irrigation practices
and to bring WaterSense products to the marketplace and make it
easy to purchase high-performing, water-efficient products.
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US Government Reliance on ANSI as an
Accreditor
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EPA Energy Star®: To ensure that Energy Star® remains a trusted symbol
for environmental protection through superior efficiency, EPA and DOE
collaborated to develop enhancements for product qualification and
verification. These enhancements include: third-party qualification prior
to labeling, laboratory qualification, and comprehensive verification
testing. As a signatory to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MLA), ANSI is recognized by the EPA
Energy Star® Program to evaluate the competency of product certification
bodies in accordance with ISO/IEC Guide 65 in each of the designated
product categories. EPA and ANSI envision the enhanced testing and
verification to be an integral part of the Energy Star® Program.
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US Government Reliance on ANSI as an
Accreditor

U.S. Government Recognition - Personnel: The U.S. Government is
increasingly relying on ANSI accreditation for verification of the quality of
certification programs and to control fraud and misuse in certain
industries.
 In view of the proliferation of certification programs and the need to help
consumers make informed decisions, government agencies are looking to ANSI
accreditation to differentiate quality programs and improve practices in
industry.
 The ANSI accreditation process is designed to increase the integrity,
confidence, and mobility of certified professionals.
 Some of the government agencies that are closely associated with ANSI
accreditation include: Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense,
Department of Defense, Massachusetts Securities Commission and Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
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Conformity Assessment Vocabulary

ISO/IEC 17000 – Conformity Assessment: demonstration
that specified requirements relating to a product,
process, system, person or body are fulfilled.
 Note 1 The subject field of conformity assessment
includes activities defined elsewhere in this International
Standard (IS), such as testing, inspection and certification
as well as the accreditation of conformity assessment
bodies
 Note 2 The expression “object of conformity assessment”
or “object” is used in this IS to encompass any particular
material, product, installation, process, system, person
or body to which conformity assessment is applied. A
service is covered by the definition of a product…
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Conformity Assessment Vocabulary

Certification: third-party attestation related to
products, processes, systems or persons
 Note 1 Certification of a management system is
sometimes also called registration.
 Note 2 Certification is applicable to all object of
conformity assessment except for conformity assessment
bodies themselves, to which accreditation is applicable.

Accreditation: third-party attestation related to a
conformity assessment body conveying formal
demonstration of its competence to carry out specific
conformity assessment tasks
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Conformity Assessment Vocabulary

Service: result of at least one activity necessarily
performed at the interface between the supplier and
the customer, which is generally intangible. (17065)
 Note 1 Provision of a service can involve, for example,
the following: an activity performed on a customersupplied tangible product (e.g. automobile to be
repaired); an activity performed on a customer-supplied
intangible product (e.g. the income statement needed to
prepare a tax return); the delivery of an intangible
product (e.g. the delivery of information in the context
of knowledge transmission); the creation of ambience for
the customer (e.g.
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American National Standards Institute
Anne Caldas
Sr Director
Procedures & Standards
Administration
acaldas@ansi.org
212-642-4914
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