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| From left to right: ISO Deputy Secretary-General Kevin McKinley, ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden, ISO Vice-President (technical) Ziva Patir and J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director, International Trade Centre |
Following the initial words of conference moderator Kevin McKinley, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, further speakers at the 3rd ISO conference for technical committee and subcommittee chairs, held in Geneva on 16-17 June, also referred to the passion with which makers of International Standards approach their work. But all agreed on the need to channel that passion into making the ISO system globally relevant and efficient – the conference theme.
ISO’s current portfolio of more than 15000 voluntary standards is the output of some 50000 experts, coming from stakeholders in business, government, international organizations, consumer associations and other groups, working in over 3000 technical bodies under 177 active technical committees. ISO meetings take place at the rate of over 10 per day in different parts of the world. Between meetings the experts continue the standards’ development work through information and communication technology (ICT) tools.
Because this system is decentralized, ISO instituted periodic conferences for the chairs of its technical committees and their subcommittees to offer a chance of face-to-face exchanges of views, experiences and ideas with their counterparts from other committees.
ISO Vice-President (technical management) and Chair of the Technical Management Board (TMB), Mrs. Ziva Patir, welcomed delegates with a challenge to ensure that standards do not become an impediment to progress, but remain “the bright side of globalization” and a vehicle to disseminate innovation and good practices. Standards were the building blocks of quality. Global reach and competitiveness could be obtained only through quality assurance. She pointed out that services now represent 70 percent of the world economy and were no longer “soft” subjects. They demanded an approach in which quality was embedded.
A motivated, efficient and peaceful “army”
In his own welcome, ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden identified the actions taken by ISO over the last three years “to better position itself as the leading platform for the production of globally and market relevant International Standards, covering products, services, and management and business practices.” Alan Bryden saw a growing demand for and growing production of, standards, against a background of increased globalization and a need for increased security that should not itself become a new barrier to trade. The ISO/WTO interface was changing in scope and importance, with the emergence of ever larger multinational companies; trade in services (cf. WTO-GATS) would become a larger part of the daily dialogue.
Providing ISO with a “platform for performance” had become a principal aim of Alan Bryden's tenure. The ISO 2005-2010 Strategic Plan “Standards for a sustainable world” was central to this and recognised three vital pillars of enhanced performance: the 153 members of ISO, the 177 technical committees and the 150 staff in Central Secretariat services and support.
Alan Bryden outlined four other major recent initiatives: the ISO Code of Ethics; the ISO Five Year Action Plan for Developing Countries; the ISO Policy for global relevance; the deployment of a communication plan designed to enhance ISO’s profile with governments, industry and civil society at large.
The theme of communication in all its forms – through Joint Working Groups, through ISO’s connections to the outside world including the World Economic Forum, through IT and publications such as the magazines ISO Focus or ISO Management Systems - was central to Alan Bryden’s closing remarks, following two days of intensive discussions and interaction. “I see all of you, involved in meeting the world’s growing demand for more relevant International Standards, as the highly motivated and increasingly efficient field officers of a peaceful army.”
The value of time
Conference organization recognised the fact that delegates’ time has a high personal and business value. During the two days, Chairs were given at least as much opportunity to network and interact on a “one-to-one” basis with each other and with Central Secretariat staff as to listen to and take part in formal working sessions.
Those formal sessions were arranged around six themes, each with its moderator, rapporteur and from three to six presenters; no working session lasted more than 90 minutes and times were strictly adhered to – without serious curtailment of the vital question and answer periods. It is at least conceivable that elements of ISO’s own 9000 series on quality assurance went into the crispness of the overall planning and execution.
The chronology of the two days took attendees through Managing the technical work, Global relevance (a relatively new initiative), Developing countries and stakeholder engagement (another initiative of recent vintage), Using IT from development to delivery, Communication and promotion, to Central Secretariat services and support. Many of the sessions covered old ground but in the light of new imperatives for speed and relevance. Something new emerged from all the sessions.
Sardines from Peru
Before the working sessions got underway Mr. J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director, International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, stressed the symbiotic nature of the ISO/ITC/UNCTAD/WTO relationship, in his keynote address. ISO Chairs were seen as a driving force for world trade and development in a process where ITC and ISO need each other.
Mr. Bélisle welcomed the ISO 2005-2010 Strategic Plan which he qualified as clear and useable. He had praise for the ISO initiative aimed at developing countries – “the one raison d’être of my organization, the ITC, is to help the developing world export more. That is simple to state but difficult to do. The ISO is reaching out to the developing world in ways that complement the work of the ITC. In order to sell more to the developed world, less developed countries need to use International Standards - a fundamental part of the process of eliminating non-tariff barriers to trade in the WTO.”
The initial refusal of the EU to accept sardines from Peru as an acceptable use of the name was a useful illustration of overcoming non-tariff barriers to trade. The EU eventually aligned itself with CODEX definitions.
Technology transfer was achieved through use of standards; in fact, standards offered the lowest cost solution for such transfers. Lower transaction costs led to lower development costs. Mentoring and twinning – fostered at the multilateral level through ISO – were important tools in transferring knowledge and experience.
In Mr. Bélisle’s view, government regulators accept International Standards if they see that the standards fulfil their objectives, which are in general to make all markets as international as possible. But he recommended improving communication to the boardroom. “You must reach out directly to those people amongst the users who assess the bottom line, in any business. So – communicate in a non-technical manner and convince these people that standards improve profits.”
Putting a Dollar Sign on Standards
Standards may improve profits at the individual corporate level. That improvement may even be measurable, accurately. One thing that might convince even more people of the value of standards work is the contribution it makes to national economies and the world economy. Various speakers alluded to this and Ziva Patir quoted some hard data.
In moderating the final working session, she pointed out that DIN had identified an annual standards contribution worth 1 percent of Germany’s GDP. That contribution was reckoned to be five to ten times more than the contribution from patents (intellectual properties). The return on investment from standards was approximately 25 percent – which would be the envy of most commercial enterprises.
It is possible to put a dollar sign on such data, using GDP figures for 2003 – the most recent year for which the World Bank has published indicators for each of 185 independent countries. One percent of Germany’s GDP (the world’s third largest economy, behind the United States and Japan) is USD 24 billion, some 6.6 percent of the corresponding world figure of USD 365 billion. USD 24 billion is a larger amount than the annual total GDPs of 119 of the countries on the World Bank list. So we are looking at a very large figure indeed.
From Tradition to Innovation
It would not be possible to hold a conference for TC and SC Chairs without a working session devoted to managing the technical work. Participants were perhaps confirmed in their view of most aspects of the processes. But were they surprised or challenged?
A clear distinction had to be made between the Technical Management Board (TMB) and Technical Committees (TCs). For the latter, interactions with Subcommittee Chairs and Secretaries, and Technical Programme Managers (TPMs) within the ISO Central Secretariat added three more dimensions to their way of working which could simplify, complicate or even bury their efforts, depending on the quality of those interactions.
The tasks of the TMB included establishment of TCs and allocation of secretariats. The TMB appointed TC Chairs. They approved TC titles, scopes and programmes. They coordinated and monitored. They heard appeals.
But against that background the TMB had to ask themselves, continuously, six key questions. What worked? What did not work? How much was implemented? How much was fulfilled? How many of the predictions were correct? How difficult was it to predict the future?
Members of the TMB do not ask questions in a vacuum. In order to be on the TMB they are required in most cases to have broad experience in standardization. They consult nationally – and sometimes regionally or internationally. They represent the whole ISO membership. And they recognise that they need advice from stakeholders. Plan Do Check Act was becoming a watchword.
Steven Cornish, ANSI representative to the TMB, USA, gave participants a detailed analysis of just how deep the process of seeking stakeholder advice in the USA could go. He described the open and consultative approach that ANSI takes to obtain input on technical policy matters. ANSI also holds 25-30 bilateral meetings per year with parties in other countries and that assist in its formulation of positions for TMB.
The implication seemed to be emerging that what had become a tradition for ANSI could perhaps become an innovation for other national standards bodies. But, as was clear from many of the questions, that challenge depended on resources and time.
Trevor Vyze, BSI representative to the TMB, United Kingdom, was keen to demystify the TMB. Everything came down to what was good for the quality of ISO standards – with questions concerning TCs, Chairs, members and experts derived from that, but against a background of the need to secure consensus. The TMB strives to take reasonable consensual decisions, even if it may seem to imply an added burden on the TC leaders at times.
Scott Jameson, Chair of ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology and Trevor Smith, Chair of ISO/TC 176, Quality management, identified key messages from the Chairs. Perhaps life was easier for them than for members of the TMB – but perhaps not. They did not have to ask themselves six questions. They merely had to remember to lead and not participate; to concentrate on consensus building; to be a diplomat, a communicator, a negotiator, a mediator, an observer and a listener. And, whilst embracing diversity, they had to communicate, communicate, communicate.
I Have a Dream
Mario O. Wittner, Chair of ISO/CASCO, Committee on conformity assessment, replied to the observation by Olivier Peyrat, AFNOR representative to Council, France, that he had moved from the academic world of exact and natural science, to standardization, by reminding delegates of the past ISO President Cortopassi 1-1-1 dream.
One standard – One test – One certification.
It was necessary to provide rules and tools for TC/SCs on global relevance policy and guidance. The important things were avoidance of technical barriers to trade, options to reflect market differences and to ensure that standards were market driven.
Cheryl Stark, Chair of ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries gave delegates “global relevance in differing climatic conditions.” The most problematic of climates was the political - which involved all the questions of social responsibility.
Global relevance itself had to be exported around the world – to the UN, IEC, EU and others. A global relevance conformity assessment set had to be developed. Global relevance should be considered in business planning. And, following the Vienna Agreement (VA), CEN members should be asked to promote ISO global relevance in Europe.
The Cortopassi dream had been replaced by a motto: global standards used locally, worldwide. But realisable dreams remained – that of market convergence and a global market in a significant number of goods and services.
Standards for Progress
Eighty percent of ISO members are developing countries or economies in transition. Despite this, ISO member organizations from developing countries hold only 5 percent of the ISO technical committee (TC) or subcommittee (SC) secretariats and only 2 percent of the ISO/TC/SC working group (WG) secretariats. This is primarily due to a lack of funding but also to a lack of information and awareness.
Maureen P. Mutasa, Chair of ISO/DEVCO, Committee on developing country matters and Director General, SAZ, Zimbabwe, reminded delegates of the ISO Five-Year Action Plan for developing countries – to improve awareness, develop capacity, increase national and regional cooperation, develop electronic communication and expertise in IT tools, and increase participation in governance and technical work of ISO.
But the successful implementation of the Plan depends to a large extent on partnerships amongst international organizations in a more systematic and coordinated manner. Under the watchful eye and sympathetic ear of Rob Steele, SNZ Member of ISO/TMB, three other principals contributed to the debate – Katie Altoft of the Canadian Standards Association, Francisco Verdera Mari – TMB member and Director International Relations and Cooperation AENOR and Caroline Warne – Chair ISO Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO).
The twinning concept had progressed to the point where new groups in TC 207 will have twinned leadership (from Canada and Brazil) and TC 176 had an approved internal policy on twinning and was seeking nominations for a Vice Chair for the TC and SCs. Spain and Tunisia shared a common interest in the new TC 228 (Tourism). A MoU for five years was 95 percent complete and established twinning principles. Doc TMB 13/2005 provided “Guidance for twinning & Partnership Arrangements.”
The discussion yielded important points for the way forward: monitoring of stakeholder involvement – including their actual presence at the table; consumer guides to be used in committee; getting to know committee colleagues; avoidance of jargon; writing participation guides; recognising that participation must precede twinning; applying Plan, Do, Check, Act; the possibility of a Web site for those involved in twinning.
…and Progress in IT
Application of IT is a key success factor for ISO to accelerate standards development, facilitate the work of the TC secretariats and get all members involved, including the developing countries.
Herman Schipper, NEN member of Information Technology Strategies Implementation Group (ITSIG) reported on the progress outlined by Bob Feghali, Chair of ITSIG, ANSI, Ernst-Peter Ziethen, DIN representative to the TMB, and Reinhard Weissinger of ISO Central Secretariat. They had been kept in order by Elizabeth Stampfl-Blaha, ON representative to Council.
Behind much of the jargon inevitable in the IT world it became clear that ISO was already well along a path which led in its daily work to the total elimination of airmail and FAX, the elimination of much of the present e-mail and telephone traffic and even a fair portion of meeting time. The main message to emerge was that member bodies should use the harmonized systems developed under ITSIG and provide training; then the enormous potential of ICT could be fully used. The Global directory (GD), as a database for the management of users/participants in the ISO system, was an integral part of the changing system. Feedback was welcome.
In reply to the inevitable question on access, it emerged that all but a few members have at least first level IT capability. More support is in the pipeline. Developing countries themselves see the necessity to upgrade their ICT infrastructures and are investing in new systems. Then – does the new GD pose a security threat? “Less so than before – better protection is ensured.”
Methods, Plans – and Times
The winner of the 2004 Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership Award was SC 2, Quality system, of ISO/TC 176, Quality management. Charles Corrie, TC 176 Secretary, said that he trusted the award was given strictly because of the methods adopted in quality systems and it had nothing to do with the emblematic nature of ISO 9001.
Three significant “firsts” had been achieved in developing the standard: a product introduction – entirely new to ISO; an electronic comments template – more than 7,000 comments had required to be handled; and a DIS in electronic form. The whole effort had demanded 16 weeks of work per year by each committee participant – probably another “first” for ISO.
Adoption of the approach used took place 5 years after the vision for a “process based” standard. But, when adopted, the approach had a management plan with objectives, responsibilities and milestones. It had a project plan with key processes, staff, risks and schedules built in. And it had a work breakdown structure/design specification, with all processes defined and scheduled.
Success had been achieved through management, agreeing fundamental issues early, a higher work rate, extensive communication and the support of all involved.
Graham Holloway, Chair of ISO/TC 157, Graham Thomas, Chair of ISO/TC 118, and Hiroo Wakai, JISC representative to the TMB, debated the need for, and design of, business plans (BPs). There was no other systematic way to analyze the market, link the work programme to market needs and determine priorities and allocate resources. But BPs had to be simpler and more transparent.
Graham Thomas saw a lot of work for no reward, too many BPs that were not compelling and very often an unfocused mix of issues. Hiroo Wakai had canvassed views on ISO TC BPs. They were difficult to locate on the ISO Web site, they had tended to be of poor quality and not fresh for TC experts. They were too technical for the general public and there had been a problem with names. A long-term vision was required. A simplified BP template had become available in September 2004. By May 2005, 130 updated BPs had been received and 30 were missing of which 10 had extended dates.
Ernst-Peter Ziethen had been looking at standards development times and development tracks. The overall time to market of International Standards had improved. In 2000, only 46 percent had met their time frame; by 2004, 68 percent had done so. Further improvement depended on management (with BPs as one element), stronger leadership, support by NSBs, support for the conveners, training and more work between meetings.
Third Pillar
The third of Alan Bryden’s three pillars for enhanced performance is the ISO Central Secretariat (CS). Kevin McKinley, Joanna Goodwin and Alain Samné contended with final conference billing immediately after lunch and a hot afternoon to provide a rapid quickstep through what CS can do for you – the users - and what you are expected to do for CS.
The technical operation of ISO CS is now reorganized into four main functions – technical policy, production, project management and e-services, and the technical group. The focus in all areas is now on first class customer service, responsiveness, quality, efficiency and speed. ISO CS is certified to ISO 9001:2000. Feedback and suggestions for improvement are always welcome. |
