Professional Knowledge and Abilities

Professional Knowledge and Abilities

A professional organization that I have a deep interest in would be the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The TIA is a group that is American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited to develop industry standards of telecommunications products. The TIA has more than 1,000 members ranging from manufacturers, end users and the government (1).

The TIA contributes to the knowledge of professionals in a number of ways. The most prominent of ways is that the professionals in the field of telecommunications abide by the rules and standards that are set by the TIA. The rules dictate how cables are to be connected to other cables, how specific devices communicate and the language used between them, as well as many other aspects of communications.

The ability that the TIA has affects our day to day life and our success in a substantial way. The TIA decides in what ways our world communicates. Our phones, computers, PDAs, fax machines, etc, all work together because of the standards that the TIA initiated. Without those standards in place, our equipment would not be able to communicate with other equipment unless it was made by the same manufacturer, and only if that manufacturer did not change the language that its devices use.

If the TIA was not in existence, our success would be very limited. We would be unable to call or e-mail someone to inquire about a business quote. We could not notify our superiors that we wanted or needed time off of work.

We rely on the standards that are set by the TIA so that we can have some regulation in our communications. The regulation is a requirement in this day and age. Without these rules, there would be a huge impact on the way our world works.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there would be a benefit to not having these rules set by an association such as the TIA. If these standards did not exist, then there would be more competition for holding the market...