ISA has announced that they are thinking of moving into the standards compliance business. One of the largest standards making bodies in the world, ISA has never done well at encouraging or enforcing compliance with their standards.
Previously, there have been movements to provide a standard, books explaining the standard, training courses about how to use and implement the standard, technical notes elucidating best practices with respect to the standard...and all these movements have never amounted to jack.
Ian Verhappen, vice president of Standards and Practices, was one of the prime movers, along with myself, in the last attempt to make ISA a "full service" standards body. He's enlisted new Executive Director Rob Renner in the concept, and they are taking it even further...there is no reason why ISA couldn't become a compliance certification organization for the standards it administers, and there are lots of reasons why they should.
This is another step in the direction of reviving ISA and making it relevant again to the automation and controls industry and the process and discrete manufacturing industries.
Comments?
--Walt Boyes
