Page 78 - Spring2020

A Sustainable and Fiscally Responsible Business Model for the Acoustical Society of America Standards Program
Address:
Acoustical Society of America 1305 Walt Whitman Road Suite 300 Melville, New York 11747-4300 USA
Email:
standards@acousticalsociety.org
Sound Perspectives
Christopher J. Struck
Introduction
One of the major roles of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is to be the US organization that takes the lead in developing a wide range of acoustics standards. These standards are used nationally and worldwide to ensure that different individu- als and agencies are “on the same page” with respect to terminology, calibration, test methods, calculations, and the way in which acoustical quantities are reported. Leadership in standards development is one of the important ways in which the
ASA engages with industry and advances the science of acoustics.
Although the ASA has been involved in the development of acoustical standards for decades, the ASA Standards Program is now at a crossroads. Fees and expenses are increasing, and revenues are stagnant. The free standards we have given away to ASA members over the past 12 years have inhibited growth and limited our ability to negotiate fair and reasonable terms with distributors. This business model has outlived its usefulness and continuing to operate in the same manner is no longer an option. Therefore, to support the strategic mission of the ASA, be fiscally respon- sible, increase revenue, and position for growth, the ASA Standards Program has changed from its past focus on member benefits (the so-called “freemium” model) to a modern “pay-for-service” model, congruent with similar Standards Develop- ment Organizations (SDOs) such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Although a large systemic change of this magni- tude is difficult, the benefits for our customers make it well worth the effort.
Background
The ASA Standards Program was established in 1929 with the founding of the Soci- ety and has been an integral part of the ASA ever since. A detailed history of the program was published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA; Blaeser and Struck, 2019). The ASA Standards Program, maintained by the ASA Committee on Standards (ASACOS), comprises 85 organizational members, four American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committees, and one subcommittee. The Standards Program administers the US Technical Advisory Groups (US TAGs) to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and holds two ISO Secretariats. ASA Standards supports 125 working groups with over 600 volunteer members that publish and maintain over 120 standards (Struck, 2017). An article describing the standards development process was previously published in Acoustics Today (Struck, 2012). The work of the ASA Standards Program actively promotes the ASA as a global knowledge hub for acoustics, in keeping with the mission of the Society in increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and promoting
78 | Acoustics Today | Spring 2020 | volume 16, issue 1 ©2020 Acoustical Society of America. All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2020.16.1.78