Accuris is excited to welcome Martin Collinson to a new role – Chief Partnership Officer. Martin sat down with us for a brief conversation about his role, what he’s most excited about, and what he sees for the future of engineering standards.
Accuris: Your career has been deeply intertwined with the standards industry. What about this specific field are you most passionate about?
Martin Collinson: My passion for the standards industry comes from its purpose. It’s not just a business; it’s a community dedicated to a mission. I’ve always been inspired by the tireless efforts of the SDOs, the NSBs, and the thousands of technical experts and volunteers who pour their knowledge and time into creating these crucial frameworks. They are the unsung heroes who make our world safer, greener, and more connected. My commitment is to serve them, ensuring our partnerships empower them to continue their vital work.
Accuris is known for its strong technology platform. How do you see the role of technology in supporting the standards ecosystem?
Technology adds value to content – it’s not a replacement for content. Our goal at Accuris is to build the best tools to help engineers, scientists, and designers incorporate standards seamlessly into their workflows. We want to remove the friction, make compliance more accessible, and ensure that the critical information in these standards gets to the people who need it, when they need it. This digital integration is key to helping our partners expand their reach and impact in an ever-evolving market.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for Accuris’ partnerships and how do you plan to deepen these relationships?
My vision is one of true collaboration. I don’t see our partners as just suppliers; they are co-creators of value. We’re committed to listening to their needs, understanding their challenges, and building solutions together. This means not just driving revenue, but also exploring new business models, providing actionable insights, and building a community where ideas can be exchanged. We want our partners to feel that Accuris is their most trusted and strategic ally in a dynamic industry.
What’s your history with the standards/SDO industry? In other words, how did you get here?
I came to this industry through a circuitous but ultimately very meaningful path. My experience at O’Reilly Media was all about providing technical professionals with the knowledge they needed to succeed. The key to driving value in that context was ‘breaking the container,’ allowing users to gain access to the information they needed in their environments not constrained by the construct of a book or video. When the opportunity arose at ASME, it was a natural fit. It allowed me to apply my skills in revenue generation and sales leadership to a mission I deeply believed in – supporting the creation and dissemination of knowledge that truly matters. My journey from ASME to Techstreet and now Accuris has only deepened my respect for this community and solidified my commitment to it.
What are you most excited about accomplishing in your new role?
I’m most excited about building on the incredible foundation of trust and collaboration that Accuris has with our partners. My core goal is to elevate our relationships from being transactional to being truly strategic at a time of tremendous change. I have always believed that change brings opportunity – for our customers to get more value from the standards that are essential to their workflows, to our SDO partners and to Accuris. I want to work with our partners to co-create solutions that solve the biggest challenges facing our shared customers. It’s about driving a shared vision of progress, not just a shared bottom line. This is a chance to unlock new opportunities and push the industry forward together.
What factors make for strong partnerships between aggregators and SDOs? How do these strong partnerships benefit engineers?
The strongest partnerships are built on trust and transparency. We have to be honest with each other about our goals, our challenges, and our opportunities. It’s also about a shared commitment to the end user. When we focus on how to best serve engineers, scientists, and designers, everything else falls into place. For the engineers, strong partnerships mean a more seamless experience. It means faster access to the most up-to-date standards, a single platform to manage their entire workflow, and better digital tools to find the information they need without friction. It helps them innovate more quickly and with greater confidence.
What trends in standards development should our industry be paying the closest attention to right now?
I see three major trends. First is digital transformation. The world is moving beyond the static PDF, and standards need to become machine-readable and data-rich. This will unlock incredible new possibilities for integration and automation. Second is sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). The demand for standards related to environmental, social, and governance practices is growing exponentially. Finally, there’s the trend of cross-industry convergence. As technologies like AI and additive manufacturing blur traditional boundaries, we need more standards that work together seamlessly across different industries.