Page 18 - DIVA_No.24_2006

International
urers, Maritime information technology tools red the organization's mem-
suppliers,
distributors, ven- Organization and the Council and streamlined processes bers and community of
dors; "governmen- for Harmonization of which has made things much experts to better meet market
tal agencies (all Electrotechnical Standards of more efficient for its experts. needs.
levels); "professional socie- the Nations of the Americas
(CANENA). To harmonize
associations;
ties, Also, as technology becomes Celebrating an electric
trade
"consumers, end-users; "stan- work in common areas, the more complex, users and century
consumers of a variety of elec-
Standards
dards developers. "World
Cooperation" between IEC, trical and electronic products To mark the organization's
To respond to WTO's call for ISO and the ITU strengthens are becoming more aware of centenary, several events are
more inclusiveness, an and advances the voluntary their dependence on products being organized locally and
Affiliate Country Programme consensus-based international whose design and construc- abroad. In Geneva, residents
(ACP) was created in 2002, standards system and has tion they may not understand. are invited to explore an inter-
which means a growing num- become truly representative of This is a good example of how active exhibition designed in
ber of industrializing countries the entire international stan- IEC's conformity assessment partnership with the Services
also comprise the IEC family. dardization system embodied systems try to offer consumers Industriels de Genève (SIG)
The programme is aimed at all in the three organizations. that needed reassurance that a from May 16 to June 10, 2006
newly-industrializing coun- More constructive work is product is reliable and that it on the Pont de la Machine.
tries around the world and cur- expected in the future from will meet expectations in The exhibition, which will
rently has 69 participants. these three equal partners with terms of performance, safety, survey IEC's work together
Though participation in the the primary goal of always durability and other criteria. with future projects, is to be
ACP is not a form of IEC serving their market. In addi- For industry, such systems inaugurated on May 16 in pre-
membership, it offers a means tion, the IEC wishes to main- contribute to removing signifi- sence of federal, cantonal,
of participation in, and use of, tain its commitment to coope- cant delays and costs of multi- municipal authorities and
IEC standards without incur- ration with all its international ple testing and approval pro- other representatives from the
ring onerous costs. standards partners whenever it cedures, enabling business to public sector such as SIG and
is in the common interest and be conducted faster while still Electrosuisse.
For the IEC, newly-industria- benefit of both the organiza- marketing reliable products.
lizing economies stand to gain tions' communities. A special IEC Centenary
most by focusing on the basics As the market is very deman- Challenge competition for
to help establish solid founda- The organization also encou- ding, with expectations of new papers was launched in
tions for the future and its rages industrializing nations to products from the IEC, the October 2005 in partnership
conformity assessment sys- share in the benefits ofjoining organization draws on its track with lEE (the largest profes-
tems can help with procure- in its work and liaises closely record as an innovator in brin- sional engineering society in
ment by simplifying regulato- with the International ging such products to the mar- Europe), IEEE (Institute of
ry control of imports and Monetary Fund (IMF), the ket, an example being online Electrical and Electronics
for
Bank
databases such as IEC 60417 Engineers), VDE (Germany's
exports without compromi- European
and
for graphical symbols. The Association for Electrical,
sing quality. The programme Reconstruction
is also considered as a first Development (EBRD), the icons for fast-forward, stop Electronic &Information
step towards becoming a full World Bank and the United and for pause that you find on Technologies), and in associa-
Development
IEC member. Nations
audio systems and iPods are tion with The Economist.
Programme (UNDP). but three well-known exam-
Collaboration with inter- ples that come from this data- Particularly intended for the
national and regional Prepared for increasing base. Putting it online gives academic world, the contest
partners complex technology product developers much aims to highlight the econo-
quicker access to the informa- mic, business and social
Harmonizing standards being With rapid technological tion they need to do their jobs. impact of International
a key strategic factor, the IEC changes and shortened Standards. Approved papers
works closely with other inter- product life-cycles, the IEC This characteristic of the JIEC will be judged by a panel of
national bodies and regional recognizes the need to develop is also reflected outside its distinguished leaders from
standardization organizations. International Standards based offices as it has become business, academia, govern-
These include WTO, the on market demand. To that known in the standardization ment and the media. Prizes of
International Organization for end, the organization is pla- community as an innovator USD 15 000, USD 5 000 and
Standardization (ISO), the cing great effort on reducing for standardization. For exam- USD 2 000 are to be given to
International the average development time ple IEC's use of an the first, second and third pla-
working ces, respectively. The deadline
Telecommunication (ITU), for its standards and increa- electronic-only
the United Nations Economic sing output while maintaining environment and its streamli- for papers is 31 May, 2006
Commission for Europe quality. One way of addres- ned processes for developing (more information is available
(UNECE), the World Health sing this important need has standards along with decentra- at:www.iecchallenge.og).
Organization, CENELEC, the been the organization's use of lized systems have empowe-

162 2006 Diva