WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 -On August 25-26, more than 80 representatives from international control systems standards bodies gathered in Albuquerque, N.M. for the first International Standards Coordination Meeting. Sponsored by the Process Control Systems Forum (PCSF) in coordination with KEMA consulting, this landmark effort set the stage for improved efficiency with regard to standards development.
Over the two-day meeting, representatives from various standards organizations shared information on current projects, provided details on results, and addressed approaches to moving forward in a more efficient and collaborative manner. Particular focus was placed on the topics of creating a common glossary of terms and developing standards assessment maps or frameworks.
The meeting supported efforts initiated by the PCSF Congress of Chairs (CoC), a Forum Interest Group comprising chairs and representatives of standards groups and similar organizations, established to improve the quality of control system security standards through information exchange. Discussions included the value of utilizing the PCSF CoC as the primary venue to initiate and organize projects, provide continuity, and disseminate results of this scope.
Participants utilized "open spaces" working group sessions to dynamically propose consensus topics, facilitate discussion, and identify responsibility for next-step action items. Session contributors identified information- sharing techniques, required database resources, and the needs of the standards development community, asset owners, and vendors. This valuable feedback will provide the basis for assessing future objectives for the PCSF CoC.
Meeting participants pledged to continue their collaboration by working together electronically through the Congress of Chairs content area on the PCSF Web site (https://www.pcsforum.org/groups/59/) and by attending upcoming meetings. Their goal is to accelerate the identification of existing standards and organizations, areas of potential overlap and inconsistency, and deliverables resulting from a unified approach.
A progress report on the Combined Glossary and Standards Assessment Map projects will be included in the next Congress of Chairs meeting, to be held on Thursday, October 27th during the PCSF 2005 Fall Meeting in Chicago, Ill. The Fall Meeting is scheduled in conjunction with the Instrumentation Systems and Automation (ISA) EXPO 2005. For more information on the Fall Meeting or on the PCSF, visit http://www.pcsforum.org.
About the Process Control Systems Forum
The Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (DHS/HSARPA) contracted Mitretek Systems to establish the Process Control Systems Forum in October 2004. The purpose of the PCSF is to accelerate the design, development, and deployment of more secure control and legacy systems. The Forum is managed by a private sector/government collaborative board and facilitated by Mitretek Systems.
