IDEA’s Knight Joins ETIM North America Board of Directors

ETIM North America (Salt Lake City, UT)

ETIM North America appointed Patrick Knight, president and CEO of the Industry Data Exchange Association (IDEA), to its board of directors. Knight brings with him 15 years of professional expertise in strategic planning, business process improvement and business development. His cross-industry experience and global exposure have made him an out-of-the-box thinker who gets excited by solving problems and embracing challenges head on, according to the press release.

“And what better a challenge to tackle than helping our organization bring a tried-and-true global data classification standard like ETIM to the North American market,” said Mary Shaw, executive director of ETIM North America, in the press release. “That’s why we’re excited to have leaders like Patrick involved — those who not only understand the value of standardized data but are deeply committed to making it a reality. Patrick recognizes the importance of supporting our multi-vertical product data standard and is committed to advancing our efforts to address one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the lack of standardized and digitized product descriptors.”

Matt Christensen, chairman of ETIM North America, added, “With his connection to IDEA’s customer base and the member organizations of IDEA’s Shareholders, NAED and NEMA, Patrick is uniquely positioned to help advance our mission of accelerating adoption of the ETIM classification model throughout our regions. He will play a key role, along with our other board members, in guiding our strategy, supporting member engagement, and advancing our efforts to deliver much-needed digitalization and operational efficiency to our channel.”

“I’m honored to join the ETIM North America board of firectors and excited to collaborate with this exceptional team to drive digital transformation in our industry,” said Knight in the press release. “By integrating the ETIM classification standard into our HDM-based IDEA Connector and supporting translation efforts, we aim to bring greater efficiency to all industry stakeholders.”

As one of the over 20 regional non-profit ETIM organizations worldwide, ETIM North America is charged with supporting the implementation and adoption of the ETIM Technical Information Model in the North American wholesale electrical industry, and associated verticals (HVAC/Plumbing and Building Materials).