Recently, Standards Australia attended the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam and presented on the APEC Silver Economy outcomes and workshop recommendations report. We are pleased to advise that APEC SCSC endorsed all the four key recommendations:

1. Recommendation One – APEC should accelerate and mainstream efforts in supporting Ageing Societies.
2. Recommendation Two – APEC SCSC should develop a 3-5 year Standardization and Innovation Roadmap to identify gaps, priorities and actions (at the Member Economy and regional level) to chart the way forward.
3. Recommendation Three – APEC should commit more funding and resources to support silver economy initiatives that harmonize standards and conformity assessment procedures, foster innovation, disseminate knowledge and promote Good Regulatory Practices.
4. Recommendation Four – Develop Standards Information Portal within APEC’s website to promote standardization activities, exchanges of information, research and sharing of resources to support the silver economy opportunity.

Based on the APEC member economies’ feedback, Australia plans to submit a Concept Note in 2018 to take forward the recommendations.

Again we want to sincerely thank PASC for supporting us on this important initiative and look forward to working with you all in 2018!

ISO New Field of Technical Activity – Ageing Societies

On a related standardisation matter the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has circulated a proposal for a new ISO Technical Committee (TC) on Ageing Societies.

Scope: Standardization in the field of Ageing Societies.

If approved, the new technical committee will develop standards and standardization documents with the main aim of promoting lifelong support and quality of life in ageing populations.

ISO members can provide their position on the proposal for this new field of technical activity by 26 October 2017. If you require any further information, please contact your PASC member for more details.

PASC members have unanimously supported Mr John Walter as the recipient of the 2017 PASC Meritorious Award. The award has been given to recognise John’s  significant contributions to PASC for many years, especially his leadership and guidance in the formulation of the PASC Strategic Plan for 2016 -2020 and PASC’s inputs to the development of the ISO Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020. He has also been instrumental in establishing a closer working relationship between PASC and ISO in his role as ISO VP for Policy as well as establishing a stronger partnership between PASC and COPANT in the last three years.

Standards Australia has today released an Issues Paper titled The Role of Standards and Innovation for Driving APEC’s Silver Economy, providing insights to assist Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies to prepare for the challenges and opportunities created by ageing societies.

In 2016, Standards Australia and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, on behalf of the Australian Government, commenced an APEC project to examine how standards and innovation can support the multifaceted societal challenge facing APEC member economies.

This Issues Paper, the first of its kind in APEC, has been produced by Standards Australia and is based on the results of a region wide survey conducted late last year. The findings and insights will form the foundation of a workshop to be hosted by Standards Australia in Sydney on 4-5 April 2017.

The report has recommended that:

1. There is strong support to make the silver economy issues mainstream in APEC’s broader agenda. Ageing populations within society can be seen as a driver of future business opportunities and economic growth.
2. There is an identified need to develop a Voluntary Action Plan which includes adopting and using international standards to foster innovation solutions.
3. APEC should consider developing a five-year silver economy standardisation roadmap with a focus on leveraging a range of sectoral standards and innovation supported by National Standards Bodies (NSBs).
4. Before the baby-boom generation retires, APEC members have a window of opportunity to tackle these challenges. However, the APEC survey highlights that the community is largely unware of their governments’ and NSB’s work to prepare for the silver economy.
5. APEC should consider funding pilot projects that link standards and innovation to create new products, services and technologies to address market gaps.

The Standards Council of Canada (SCC),  in collaboration with CSA Group (Canadian Standards Association), and ISED Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) are hosting an international discussion to identify standardization solutions that support an effective and efficient shared and collaborative economy. The event will take place March 21-23, 2017, at the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.  Additional information about the event can be found at the following link:

https://www.scc.ca/en/news-events/events/scc-lead-international-workshop-agreement-shared-economy

This meeting is open to experts nominated by an ISO National Standard Body or an international organization that could be considered as an international liaison. Please feel free to email Ms. Suzanna Ersoy at [email protected] if you have any additional questions and/or clarifications.

An Invitation to Participate

The Australian Government – Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and Standards Australia with the endorsement of the APEC’s Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance, invites APEC member economy stakeholders to attend this two-day Silver Economy Standards and Innovation Workshop in Sydney, Australia.

The APEC workshop will focus on how standards and innovation can support the growth of the Silver Economy. The workshop will also generate a dialogue to share information, know-how and experiences to deepen regional collaboration to address the enormous challenges, issues and opportunities member economies face. The workshop will deliver a Silver Economy Standards and Innovation Framework to assist APEC in coordinating efforts to identify and capitalise on the increasing demand for innovative products and services to support our ageing populations.

Who Should Attend?

Participants are particularly invited from diverse stakeholders including; Innovators, Technology Start Ups, National Standards Bodies, Governments, Regulators, Trade Promotion Organisations, Small to Medium Sized Enterprises, Member-based Industry Associations, Consumer Organisations, Professional and Technical Organisations, Think Tanks, Academia and the ICT and Health/Medical industries. Ideally, National Standards Body representatives should be involved in stakeholder engagement or standards development.

Participant responsibilities include delivering presentations (where nominated), actively participating in workshop discussions, sharing views and experiences and engaging in networking sessions/breakout groups. A final agenda and program will be forwarded to participants as soon as it is available.

All APEC Member economies are invited to participate. Travel-eligible economies may designate two participants for APEC project-funded travel.

* Please note that once you have submitted your registration form, Standards Australia will contact you by email to confirm your attendance at the APEC workshop. To discuss the participation of additional attendees please contact [email protected].

Registration and Nomination forms are to be completed online and registrations are due to by Close of Business, Friday 17 March 2017.

Note: The following eleven APEC member economies are considered “travel-eligible” Chile; China; Indonesia; Malaysia; Mexico; Papua New Guinea; The Philippines; Peru; Russia; Thailand and Viet Nam. Funding will also be available for approved speakers/presenters.

Enquiries about the nomination form can be directed to:

Mr Damian Fisher
Senior International Development Manager, Standards Australia

Tel: 61 2 9237 6098 or [email protected]

Dear PASC Members

Registration for the PASC-COPANT Annual General Meetings is open: https://event-wizard.com/events/COPANTPASC2017/

PASC members are encouraged to register for the meetings as early as possible.

The IEC SMB released their 4th newsletter in late 2016.

The topics covered in this issue are:

• From Dresden to Frankfurt, a journey
• CIE – International Commission on Illumination
• World Smart City Forum
• My Way…at the IEC
• Breaking the silos – An interactive session at the Reinvention Lab
• Pierre Sebellin, new Technical Department Manager
• New team for the IEC DMT/JDMT
• Letter from the new SMB Chair, Ralph Sporer

The SMB Newsletter is intended to be complementary to the TC News and address more of the “why” related to the standardization work.

IEC welcomes feedback on the newsletter and seeks to keep their content relevant and as up to date as possible.

The newsletter is available here

Ahead of their hosting duties in 2017, Viet Nam has decided on a theme for the year: ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’. There are four main priorities for the 2017 program that are strongly supported by the APEC member economies:

1. Promoting Sustainable, Innovative and Inclusive Growth
2. Deepening regional economic integration
3. Strengthening MSMEs Competitiveness and Innovation in the Digital Age
4. Enhancing Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Changes

APEC has finalised their 2017 Notional Calendar with dates for meetings, workshops and events. You can download a copy of the calendar here: 16_isom_008

On 3 Nov, PASC Secretary had sought email approval and/or comments on INEN (Ecuador)’s interest to become a PASC member.

Secretariat has received votes of approval from the majority of the PASC members, and so, in accordance with the PASC Charter, Secretariat is pleased to confirm INEN (Ecuador) as a member of PASC.

PASC welcomes the new addition to the Standards Congress and looks forward to working closely with INEN in the future.

The 2nd Project Steering Group Meeting was held on Friday 25 November for the APEC Silver Economy project.

The Silver Economy Survey, conducted on Survey Monkey, received 140 responses in total. In addition, Japan have the results from a further 85 survey responses which are yet to be collaborated with the existing data.

Standards Australia would like to thank all PASC members who completed the survey and encouraged stakeholder participation. We are now working on analysing the survey results and drafting the Issues Paper. If you have any questions or contributions please contact [email protected]