July 2019 - ISO 2030 Strategy Stakeholder Consultations

ISO 2030

The International Organization for Standardization, launched in London in 1946, is approaching a new milestone as the membership shapes ISO’s strategy beyond 2020 and towards 2030. Member countries all over the world are being consulted this summer over what that strategy should look like before it is agreed by the ISO Council next year. This is a rare opportunity for us all to reflect on how the need for standards is changing and to shape how BSI and the other 163 members should develop standards in ISO to meet the evolving needs of our stakeholders.

BSI was a founder member of ISO and UK stakeholders continue to be extremely active in all areas of ISO’s work. We use our permanent seat in the ISO governance structures to ensure that the organisation is well-led and reflective of the members’ needs, is visibly relevant to our industry users and respects consumer, environmental and regulator expectations.

New Strategy

There has never been a more important time for market-led, user-centric consensus international standards to support the global challenges that the ISO members face. Disruptive technologies, the threat of protectionism, demands for better governance and climate change are some of the external drivers that shape our economy and that must be reflected in our strategy for ISO post 2020.  We need to anticipate market needs and challenges and analyse where standards could and should have an impact in the future.

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth. The SDGs build on decades of global work by the UN. ISO has a major opportunity to structure its work to support countries everywhere to meet these challenges.

Strengthening ISO members and capacity building in developing countries is another of ISO’s key ambitions.  The developing countries’ committee (DEVCO) leads ISO’s work in supporting developing countries in standardization matters by identifying their needs and recommending actions, such as technical assistance and training. As ISO’s capabilities grow we must help all members grow with us or we risk creating a ‘standards divide’ and undermining the value of international standards that comes from our vision of one standard used everywhere.

BSI’s long-standing role

As a leading member of ISO, BSI will be providing input to the ISO strategy and helping to focus the main priority areas on behalf of UK stakeholders.

BSI is one of the six permanent members of the ISO Council and the Technical Management Board. UK experts participate in more ISO technical committees than any other country and BSI runs 75 ISO technical committees, just behind DIN (DE) and ANSI (US).

As Vice President (policy) I am acutely aware that there are wide variations between members, from the most advanced and large-scale economies to tiny island nations. ISO has a global reputation for its core principles of openness, transparency and inclusiveness in its standards making. Some members are very active in engaging with their stakeholders, as they should. Others are still learning how to reach out to their industries, consumers and governments, how to demonstrate the value of standards and how to deliver the real benefits to their countries that standards can bring.

Webinar – setting out priorities

BSI is giving its stakeholders the opportunity to help shape the future ISO strategy by holding a series of events and a webinar on 29 July. The webinar will be hosted by BSI’s Standards Policy team and will run twice that day at 10am and at 2pm (BST) so that more stakeholders may participate. This is your chance to help shape the UK input into the ISO strategy and we hope that you will join us.