ISO
LAUNCHES AWARD FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN STANDARDIZATION
ISO has
announced the creation of an award to encourage and recognize successful
programmes in higher education on standardization.
 The ISO
Award aims to raise awareness of the importance of standardization
worldwide by supporting institutions of higher education that have
developed and implemented successful programmes related to standardization
as a tool to access world markets, transfer technology and promote good
business practice and sustainable development.
The award
comprises a certificate of appreciation and a cash prize of 15 000 Swiss
francs. It is co-sponsored by ISO and the Japanese Industrial Standards
Committee (JISC), the ISO member for Japan.
ISO
Secretary-General Alan Bryden commented: "Knowledge of the economic,
technical and social importance and benefits of standards is becoming
imperative in the curricula of future managers, scientists and
technologists. Many universities and other higher education institutions
have begun introducing their students to standardization. ISO is keen to
support them in their efforts and to encourage them to share their
knowledge, experience and expertise with other educational
establishments."
The
ISO Award for Higher Education in
Standardization will be presented for the first time
in September 2007, at the ISO General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The
nomination of candidates must be made by
15 February 2007 to the
ISO Secretary-General by the national standards institutes that make up
ISO's worldwide membership. The deadline for receipt of applications for
the award is 1 May 2007. The award selection committee will consist of
eminent international personalities from academia, the economic sphere and
the media.
ISO is the
world’s leading developer of voluntary, consensus-based International
Standards. There are more than 16 500 current ISO standards and related
documents that specify the requirements for state-of-the-art products,
services, processes, materials and systems, and for good conformity
assessment, managerial and organizational practice.
International
Standards are in increasing demand and production as a result of the
globalization not only of trade, but of many other global concerns such as
environmental protection and response to climate change, energy and water
resources, security and health. Innovation and new technologies depend
more than ever on International Standards that create a world market for
them and which act as vehicles for their dissemination.
More:
www.iso.org/iso/en/commcentre/pressreleases/2006/Ref1040.html
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Mr. Janez BENČINA,
New CENELEC President
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by Dragica Manfreda,
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Ljubljana
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 During
their General Assembly in June, CENELEC Members elected their new
president.
Mr. Janez
Benčina, a successful and respected Slovenian businessman,
industrialist and manager, will commence his three-year mandate on 1st
January 2007.
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Janez Bencina was born in
Novo mesto, Slovenia, in 1948. He finished the Elecrotechnical secondary
school in Kranj, after which he continued his studies in the
electrotecnical field. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical
Engineering of the University of Ljubljana. In 1988, he finished his
management studies in Cyprus. He gained his first working experience at
Iskra Elektromehanika in Kranj, Slovenia, where he first worked as a
development engineer and then continued his career as a Marketing
Executive. He received several awards and also the President of Yugoslavia
National Award for his innovations. In 1978 he joined Hermes, a Hewllett
Packard company, as Sales Representative for Test and Measurement
Equipment and later became the Area computer sales manager for former
Yugoslavia. In the nineties he established a private consulting company,
BenCo Ltd., in Kranj. The main activity of the company was re-engineering
and business restructuring. At the same time, he managed several projects
for numerous Slovenian and foreign companies (preparation of business
plans, reform of business processes, consolidation and integration of IT
infrastructure and implementation of solutions in the field of company
management). He shared his extensive knowledge and experience in
restructuring Iskra companies in Kranj. Currently, he is President of the
Gorenjska Regional Development Board.
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Ten years ago
you were appointed Country General Manager of IBM Slovenia and later also
General Manager of the South/East Area in IBM Central Europe. When did you
first »discover« the field of standardization?
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»As a
development engineer in Iskra, I acted in accordance with Iskra's
standards, and also IUS, IEC and other standards. In fact, standardization
within the ISKRA system was very strong and working in the field of
measurement equipment within Iskra I had the chance to work with the late
professor Mlakar who was Vice-President of IEC at that time.«
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What is the influence of
European standardization on European economy?
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»Globalization, digital
economy, knowledge society and e-business are all a consequence of the
increasing use of ICT technology in business, technological, social and
other processes. More technology means more standards. Interoperability
and compatibility of different sub-systems are essential for a successful
management of companies, institutions, state and public administration.
The use of standards enables companies to sell their products on the
global market. And a country that fails to realize that advantage of
standards drastically reduces its possibilities of selling its products
and services. Large systems spend fifty percent of their income on the
suppliers. And if the products or services of the latter fail to comply
with the relevant standards, suppliers can say goodbye to a successful
business life. It is therefore in the interest of both, big and small
companies, to become active in the development of standards and to use
them as much as possible. Often the use of standards is the main criterion
by which a company selects its suppliers. Similarly, standards play a very
important role also in the cooperation or competitiveness between world’s
economies; Europe vs USA, EU vs China, Japan etc. Can you imagine how
interesting it would be for the EU economy if China adopted CEN and
CENELEC standards?«
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What objectives have you set
for the period of your CENELEC presidency?
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»I will continue the work in
the same manner as my predecessors because their approach has been quite
successful in the past. CENELEC wishes to become a modern European
organization in this era of information and knowledge society and constant
emerging of new technologies. We need standards that will contribute to
interoperability and convergence of infrastructure to support digital
economy. The role and importance of standardization must be enhanced in
business environment as well as in social environment. As regards my
long-term objectives, I believe that Europe needs a uniform system of
standardization.«
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What are the benefits and
advantages of standardization?
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»More standardization means sharper competitiveness, greater efficiency,
lower prices. Therefore, companies participating in the process of
standards development can benefit significantly from their use. For
example, the
Department of Trade
& Industry operating under the Government of UK recently published the
information that
2.5 billion Euro is contributed to the
UK economy as a result of firms using industry standards. Additionally,
the use of standards helped increase labour productivity for as much as
thirteen percent and enhanced applicable innovation and technological
development. Industrialists as well as political leaders must realize that
standardization is a good investment. Therefore, the engagement of an
organization or institution in this process should not be conditioned by
questions such as What do I get in exchange for my involvement? It
has become apparent from the situation on the market in practice that the
risk of non-participation is very high. The involvement of companies in
standardization is connected with knowledge management and minimization of
risks associated with the success of the business. Standards concerning
the electronic exchange of documents are a nice example; their purpose is
to have the same philosophy and develop a standardized environment for all
parties in the trade chain and for tax administration with regard to value
added tax and tax legislation. The same is true also for electronic tolls
and user charges systems; it would be ideal to have a uniform system in
all EU members.«
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Should there be any changes
to the European standardization?
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»Changes are the only
constant in standardization. New information and communication
technologies such as mobile communications, personal computers, car
navigation systems etc. radically change the way people work or spend
their free time. Changes in this field are frequent and rapid and the
standardization process will have to be revitalized, changed from
processes typical of the industrial era to those suitable for the present
information era.
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People still know too little
about the role and importance of standardization in business or social
environment. In this respect, standardization needs to become more
prominent, and standards need to be promoted more to achieve their use in
everyday business or private life.«
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What is your vision on the
future cooperation of CENELEC with CEN and IEC?
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»Up to now CEN, CENELEC and
ETSI have cooperated very successfully. Their approach to the challenge of
ensuring user-friendly standardization was well-coordinated and
successful. With all its extensive experience in the standardization
process, CENELEC can not afford to play just a minor role in this respect.
Nevertheless, there are some things that need improvement, especially in
the field of ensuring synergy between fast response and joint management;
in fact, there are several instances where different committees work
independently from one another in similar fields and consequently develop
different standards. In addition, standards today change from
product-oriented to system-oriented documents, from manufacture standards
to service standards, from hardware to software etc. and all this calls
for a more intense and effective cooperation of standards institutions and
eventually also for their merge. This is also an aspiration of the EC. My
view on this future common strategy is very positive, but the speed to
achieve this goal depends on several factors. I still need to hear more
arguments in favour and against the proposals for a uniform
standardization system in the EU. The fact that Slovenia has very positive
experience with joining all three fields in a single standards
organization, i.e. SIST, is very encouraging. As far as I am informed, the
cooperation between CENELEC and IEC is perfect and that is certainly a
good incentive for my future work.«
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