Standards and innovation

What is a standard?How do standards promote innovation?

What is the role of governments and the UN?

What is a standard

• An «agreed way of doing something»

• «A document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context» (ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004)

ISO 26000

Guidance on

social responsibility

ISO/IEC 31010

Risk management

Risk assessment

techniques

- Guidance on societal security

- Guidance on social responsibility

- Risk management – Risk assessment techniques

- Electrical apparatus for explosive atmospheres

Other examples

Standards & innovation

• Intuitively we associate standards with what is common, stable, and well mastered

• And innovation with the unique, the game breaker, and the unknown

• It is true that the slow uptake of standards, slow revision of existing standards, or lack of standards, may actually slow innovation

Standards promote innovation?

• Standards give innovators a level playing field facilitating interoperability and competition between new and existing products, services and processes;

• Standards provide customers with trust in the safety and performance of new products through reference to standardised methods;

• New standards are needed to introduce complex new systems, i.e. the Internet;

• The use of standards contributes to diffuse knowledge & facilitate the application of technology triggering further innovation.

EU policy: stds and innovation

Role of governments• Set the basis for vibrant and effective

standardization with participation from all stakeholders (SMEs, developing countries)

• Facilitate access to standards (for example by publishing abstracts of standards)

• Encourage both formal and informal standardization as appropriate for different sectors

• Avoid reference to dated standards in regulations

Role of the United Nations• Promote good regulatory practice (i.e.

reference to standards)• Promote convergence in technical

regulations in particularly important sectors (as a level playing field will facilitate interoperability)

• Promote good practice in the enforcement of regulations (such as market surveillance) so as to ensure that IPRs are protected

UNECE WP. 6What we are: • Intergovernmental body• Participation by: authorities, regional & int’l org, standards-

setting bodies, business, certification bodies, test houses, civil society

• From all UN Member States• 1970 – 2010: 40+ years

Our mandate:• Forum for dialogue on: Standardization Technical

regulations Conformity assessment Accreditation Metrology Market surveillance

Our activities • Share info & best practice• Capacity-building • Develop and maintain a set of recommendations • Implement a set of initiatives on specific industrial sectors

Main areas of work

Sectoral initiatives: • Develop/implement common regulatory framework x specific

sectors • So far: Telecommunications, Earth-moving equipment,

ExEquipment

Market surveillance: • Develop and share best practice/recommendations• Develop a common terminology• Worldwide database of market surveillance authorities Risk Management: • Best practice/Recommendation on using risk management tools in

developing and implementing regulations• New: 2 Recommendations + A book on “Crisis Management” and

“Risk management in Regulatory systems”

Next annual session18-20 November 2013

19 Nov. International Conference on Regulations and Standards which will discuss some of the concerns raised above