Accreditation for Homeland Security
G.G. Gillerman [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)]
The Department of Homeland Security Standards Portfolio is coordinating the development of standards and conformity assessment programs for technologies and products in support of the DHS mission. These standards and conformity assessment programs will facilitate the procurement, deployment and operation of security critical devices. Laboratory accreditation is a one element in the architecture of many of these developing programs which include certification, manufacturing factory surveillance and quality assurance. Generally, international standards will be used in combination with device testing specific competency requirements. Since many of these standards are product standards and address key device performance, environmental and usage characteristics we anticipate a multidisciplinary approach to laboratory accreditation will be employed.