In January 2004 the NISO Board of Directors took the decision to launch a far-reaching review of NISO's mission and programs. The Board was in agreement that the world in which NISO operates had fundamentally changed and that it was an opportune moment to reexamine this environment and perhaps redefine key elements of NISO. During 2004 the Board of Directors carefully took stock of this environment and solicited various inputs including a Survey of Community Thought Leaders and a survey of the NISO Members. In addition, an environmental scan of the standards landscape provided useful information on the many organizations active and influential in standards setting.
The Board also determined that a formal external review would be a valuable and necessary component of the Strategic Planning process. With generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation a Strategic Planning "Blue Ribbon" Panel was appointed to advise the Board.
The Board made the Report of the Strategic Planning Panel and the Board's Response to the Panel's Report available for review early in 2005. Since then, the Board has drawn heavily on the Blue Ribbon Panel Report in developing a Strategic Directions document that is being used for more detailed planning. Roy Tennant's report with recommendations on a revised standards development process is an important part of this evolving plan.