Positive change on World Standards Day 2013- Update

World Standards Day is celebrated each year on 14 October to pay tribute to the efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who collaborate within IEC, ISO and ITU to develop voluntary international standards that facilitate trade, spread knowledge and disseminate technological advances.

International standards represent the consensus view of the world’s leading experts in industry sectors ranging from energy utilities and energy efficiency to transportation, management systems, climate change, healthcare, safety, and information and communication technology (ICT). Volunteering their knowledge in service of the public interest, experts in these and many other subjects come together to create standards that share innovation with all the world’s countries and so provide business, government and society with a solid platform for positive change.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are the world’s three principal standards bodies and are committed to collaboration under the banner of the World Standards Cooperation (WSC).

Each year the heads of the three organizations sign a message outlining the World Standards Day theme. Signed this year by Klaus Wucherer, President of IEC; Terry Hill, President of ISO; and Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary-General of ITU, the 2013 message highlights how ‘international standards ensure positive change’ by providing “cohesion to a myriad of national and regional standards; thereby harmonizing global best practices, eliminating technical barriers to trade, and fostering shared socio-economic advance.”

The message touches on the challenges faced by today’s policymakers and business leaders, positioning that the “international community faces shifting global markets as well as a need to balance remedies to macro-economic challenges with the urgent call for a meaningful response to climate change,” and that, in this complex environment, “international standards are powerful tools to lead positive change by detailing specifications that can open up global markets, create enabling business environments, spur economic growth and help mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

Article & Image Credits:ISOorg