International standards and the fourth industrial revolution

For traders, standards provide a workable basis for acceptance and rejection and consequential disputes

Imagine a world where your credit card would not fit into every cash machine. Also imagine a world without telephone codes, country and currency codes and access to internet. If we don’t have standards, communication between people, machine, it would have been extremely difficult. A standard is a document which provides, inter alia, requirements, rules, and guidelines, for a process, product or services. Standards are the result of a consensus and are approved by a recognized body aim at achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context. The process of formulating, issuing and implementing standard is called standardization.

Primary aim of standardization are fitness for purpose, interchangeability, variety reduction , compatibility, better utilization of resources, transfer of technology, better communication and understanding, removal of trade barriers and  guarding against factors that affect the health and safety of consumers.

International Organization of Standardization (ISO) develop standards by a panel of experts within a technical committee. ISO has developed nearly 20,000 standards covering almost every aspects of daily life.

There are almost one hundred international level standard bodies working on different specialized areas. Some commonly known bodies are, International Electro – technical Commission (IEC), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), International Plant Protection Convention and Codex Alimentarious Commission.

 There are active regional standard bodies like South Asian Regional Standard Organization and Committee for European Norms etc. Prominent National Standard Bodies are British Standards Institutions since 1901, Standards Australia established in 1922 and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution became member of ISO since 1974.

The main functions of national standards bodies includes, preparation and promulgation of national standards. Promotion of the implementation of standards by industry, and certification of products. Maintain and update latest information on standards related technical matters and represent the country in different international forums of standards.

Standards provide benefits to different sectors of society in different ways. For manufacturer, standards rationalize the manufacturing process and eliminate or reduce wasteful material and labor. Also reduce inventories of both row material and finished products and cost of production. For customers, standards assure the quality of goods and services, better value for many, and easier to settle disputes with supplier.

For traders, standards provide a workable basis for acceptance and rejection and consequential disputes.For technologists, standards provide starting points for research and development for further improvement.

Every year World Standards Day observed on 14 October. Some countries even observe standards week by organizing seminar, workshop and distribute standards awards. This year slogan of the day is ‘International standards and Fourth Industrial Revolution’. ISO, IEC and ITU determine the theme of the day.

Just as standards were crucial during first industrial revolution, over 250 years ago they will also play a critical role in the fourth. Mostly like steam power transformed production method and the way of life of many societies during the first industrial revolution. Later on the transition from manual work to machinery and factory work need for standards. Such as to replace machine parts and enable specialized mass production of components. After introduction of computer, automation and communication technology lot of changes has taken place in our life and economy.

Today standards will play a key role in the transition to new era. The speed of change we are witnessing would not be possible without them. Innovators rely on International Standards, like those produced by ISO, IEC and ITU, to ensure compatibility and interchangeability, so that new technologies can be seamlessly adopted. They are also a vehicle to spread knowledge and innovation globally.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the emerging technologies, which are blurring the traditional boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. The increased connectivity of people and things will impact the way we produce, trade and communicate.

The rapid pace of change brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution has its challenges. Robots and artificial intelligence will take over more and more tasks previously done by humans, additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing will change the way we make goods, and give us the ability to “print things” at home, and as everything from plane to baby monitors are connected digitally, the vulnerability of data and the consequences of a breach are growing exponentially. These are only some examples of the issues presented by a new generation of smart technologies characterized by big data increased integration , cloud storage and open communication of devices to name a few. International Standards are a powerful way to ensure safety and minimize risk. For example security standards can keep our data safe and deter hackers. And safety standards for robots, will make it easier to interest with humans.

To match the demand of fourth industrial revolution and regional and international standards we need to focus on curriculum of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.We teach our young children to be obedient, now we need to change it and teach them to ask more questions and think outside of the box.What we learn today may be redundant after few years, therefor emphasis should be on continuous learning and relearning to meet the demand of the time. These new technologies will impact on all discipline of economics. Our business leaders must rethink their business models and invest in research and development.

As the government try to keep pace with these emerging challenges they should take a collaborative approach with all stakeholders. Everyone must get ready for it, for the benefit of our future generation.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has begun, but in order to seize its full potential for the betterment of society, standards are needed more significantly than any time before.

The writer is a retired Additional Secretary, [email protected]

 

International standards and the fourth industrial revolution

For traders, standards provide a workable basis for acceptance and rejection and consequential disputes

Imagine a world where your credit card would not fit into every cash machine. Also imagine a world without telephone codes, country and currency codes and access to internet. If we dont have standards, communication between people, machine, it would have been extremely difficult. A standard is a document which provides, inter alia, requirements, rules, and guidelines, for a process, product or services. Standards are the result of a consensus and are approved by a recognized body aim at achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context. The process of formulating, issuing and implementing standard is called standardization. Primary aim of standardization are fitness for purpose, interchangeability, variety reduction , compatibility, better utilization of resources, transfer of technology, better communication and understanding, removal of trade barriers and guarding against factors that affect the health and safety of consumers. International Organization of Standardization (ISO) develop standards by a panel of experts within a technical committee. ISO has developed nearly 20,000 standards covering almost every aspects of daily life. There are almost one hundred international level standard bodies working on different specialized areas. Some commonly known bodies are, International Electro technical Commission (IEC), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), International Plant Protection Convention and Codex Alimentarious Commission. There are active regional standard bodies like South Asian Regional Standard Organization and Committee for European Norms etc. Prominent National Standard Bodies are British Standards Institutions since 1901, Standards Australia established in 1922 and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution became member of ISO since 1974. The main functions of national standards bodies includes, preparation and promulgation of national standards. Promotion of the implementation of standards by industry, and certification of products. Maintain and update latest information on standards related technical matters and represent the country in different international forums of standards. Standards provide benefits to different sectors of society in different ways. For manufacturer, standards rationalize the manufacturing process and eliminate or reduce wasteful material and labor. Also reduce inventories of both row material and finished products and cost of production. For customers, standards assure the quality of goods and services, better value for many, and easier to settle disputes with supplier. For traders, standards provide a workable basis for acceptance and rejection and consequential disputes.For technologists, standards provide starting points for research and development for further improvement. Every year World Standards Day observed on 14 October. Some countries even observe standards week by organizing seminar, workshop and distribute standards awards. This year slogan of the day is International standards and Fourth Industrial Revolution. ISO, IEC and ITU determine the theme of the day. Just as standards were crucial during first industrial revolution, over 250 years ago they will also play a critical role in the fourth. Mostly like steam power transformed production method and the way of life of many societies during the first industrial revolution. Later on the transition from manual work to machinery and factory work need for standards. Such as to replace machine parts and enable specialized mass production of components. After introduction of computer, automation and communication technology lot of changes has taken place in our life and economy. Today standards will play a key role in the transition to new era. The speed of change we are witnessing would not be possible without them. Innovators rely on International Standards, like those produced by ISO, IEC and ITU, to ensure compatibility and interchangeability, so that new technologies can be seamlessly adopted. They are also a vehicle to spread knowledge and innovation globally. The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the emerging technologies, which are blurring the traditional boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. The increased connectivity of people and things will impact the way we produce, trade and communicate. The rapid pace of change brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution has its challenges. Robots and artificial intelligence will take over more and more tasks previously done by humans, additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing will change the way we make goods, and give us the ability to print things at home, and as everything from plane to baby monitors are connected digitally, the vulnerability of data and the consequences of a breach are growing exponentially. These are only some examples of the issues presented by a new generation of smart technologies characterized by big data increased integration , cloud storage and open communication of devices to name a few. International Standards are a powerful way to ensure safety and minimize risk. For example security standards can keep our data safe and deter hackers. And safety standards for robots, will make it easier to interest with humans. To match the demand of fourth industrial revolution and regional and international standards we need to focus on curriculum of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.We teach our young children to be obedient, now we need to change it and teach them to ask more questions and think outside of the box.What we learn today may be redundant after few years, therefor emphasis should be on continuous learning and relearning to meet the demand of the time. These new technologies will impact on all discipline of economics. Our business leaders must rethink their business models and invest in research and development. As the government try to keep pace with these emerging challenges they should take a collaborative approach with all stakeholders. Everyone must get ready for it, for the benefit of our future generation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has begun, but in order to seize its full potential for the betterment of society, standards are needed more significantly than any time before. The writer is a retired Additional Secretary, [email protected]