ISO Standards Makers Address Sustainability, Public Policy, Standards Development System

June 24, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Alan Bryden, ISO secretary-general, said, "Not only is business global today, but so is the response to a number of challenges, such as climate change, with all its complexity, and the provision of food for a growing world population, as well as constraints on supplies of raw materials, energy, water, security and health care.

"If we add to these global challenges the pervasiveness and need for connectivity and interoperability of information and communication technologies, you can understand why the need for consensus-based international standards has never been so great," Bryden said.

"In response, our collective challenge is to develop globally relevant standards while continuously improving their time to market, user friendliness, the quality of the consensus on which they are based and our network of partnerships with stakeholders."

The current ISO portfolio of more than 17,000 voluntary standards is the output of stakeholders in business, government, international organizations, consumer associations and other groups, working in more than 3,000 technical bodies under more than 700 ISO committees.

Because this system is decentralized, ISO instituted a conference for the chairs of its technical committees, subcommittees and project committees to provide them with an opportunity for a face-to-face exchange of views, experiences and ideas with their counterparts from other committees. This year, the conference highlighted the themes of sustainability and standards and public policy.

During his opening speech, Håkan Murby, ISO president, said, "We contend that our standards, taken as a whole, make a major contribution to all three dimensions of sustainability: economic growth, environmental integrity and social equity."

Murby said by providing tools for business transactions and eliminating barriers to trade, consolidating innovation and contributing to interoperability and the dissemination of new technologies and best practices, ISO standards fuel economic growth. The toolbox of standards for conformity assessment, which can be used to increase confidence in products and services, is also part of this contribution.

In the environmental field, ISO standards support the dissemination of environmentally friendly and energy-efficient technologies and practices. There are a growing number of standards on sustainability in relation to activities such as building construction, treatment of waste, the quality of water services and air, water and soil quality. ISO also recently launched strategic initiatives on energy efficiency and renewable sources.

As for social equity, there are standards on consumer protection, safety at work, accessibility requirements for people with disabilities and a range of health care initiatives.

"Consensus-based standards for products and services on the one hand, and for conformity assessment procedures on the other, are of growing interest to public policy-makers in the context of good public governance and better regulation," Murby said.

The meeting addressed the importance of communication in putting ISO standards into the hands of interested stakeholders. Conformity assessment was identified as key for promoting confidence, and participants were urged to take advantage of the Council Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) toolbox of standards.

On the subject of standards, regulations and public policy, the importance of nurturing relations with government and policy-makers was highlighted as a step toward developing tools for these stakeholders.

Source: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).