This week, together with some other 160 countries members of the International Standardisation (ISO, IEC and ITU) community, the MCCAA celebrated World Standards Day. This celebration pays tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as national, regional or international standards.
What do we mean by standards?
Standards are technical agreements on quality of products and services, their safety in use, how the products and services are tested, certified, and how they impact the environment.
Standards practically affect everyone, every time, everywhere. Often standards are taken for granted and we only realise their importance when there is a lack of them. For example, when our domestic electrical plug does not fit in a European socket or when we try to figure out the equivalence between European, British, American sizes of clothes. Standards are like the quality of the air that we breathe, we only notice it when there is a lack of it!
Many associate standards with products, but they also deal with services all of us benefit from, such as healthcare, tourism, energy providers, banking and insurance. Standards deal with issues such as staff training and qualifications, information provision, customer service, complaints handling and billing. There are also standards to tackle key issues such as social responsibility and protection of the environment.
Our life would be quite different if experts do not come together under the aegis of a national, European or international standardisation body and agree on common standards that promote economic progress, quality of life, safety at work, and products and services that are easier to use.
Standards are key for better access to markets as standards can open up markets by making products or services compatible and comparable.
What is World Standards Day about?
This year’s theme of World Standards Day is about our shared vision for a better world. The battle against the global pandemic we are still fighting reveals the importance of addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an inclusive way. The key message coming from IEC, ISO and ITU is:
“The entire standards system is built on collaboration. It is testament to the power of cooperation and the belief that we are stronger than the sum of our parts. By working together, we are empowering people with real-world solutions to face sustainability challenges head-on.” (https://www.iso.org/world-standards-day.html)
This increasing awareness of environmental and ethical issues has put pressure on all types of organisations to modify their behaviour to minimise their impact on our planet and the people in it. The way organisations conduct themselves is important to consumers but the organisation itself can also benefit in the long run. Environmental and ethical standards play an important role in raising the expectations of consumers and creating a demand for sustainable business practices from those who provide products and services.
What is MCCAA doing?
The work of standards development is done through technical committees hosted by recognised national standards bodies. In Malta, this body is the Standardisation Directorate within the Standards and Metrology Institute of the MCCAA.
This directorate has adopted over 26,000 European and international standards and has developed several standards that are of national importance on a wide range of subjects – from the placing of the Maltese alphabet on the keyboard to safety of playgrounds, from motor vehicle garage repairers to installation of PV panels, from Maltese craft to transport of cash and green roofs.
The MCCAA is dedicated to promoting best practices underpinned by national, European and international standards to support more sustainable consumption, production and development. It is our mission to work with organisations of all sizes to help improve their performance, reduce risk and increase resilience.
Our ambition is to see our clients and stakeholders benefit directly from standardisation over what a responsible and sustainable organisation looks like and thus to deliver a real impact towards a more resilient economy and society.
Currently, the MCCAA has over 50 experts working on a voluntary basis in its technical committees to keep its catalogue of standards up to date, and to contribute in the development of European and international standards that are of importance to Malta.
Standardisation topics being followed by MCCAA experts range from consumer protection, conformity assessment, cultural heritage, eSkills, lifts, online gambling, to artificial intelligence and quantum technology. This to ensure that European and international standards that are relevant to Malta take into consideration our local needs and conditions.
How can I contribute?
Anyone can contribute to the shared vision of a better world through standardisation. Learn more on standardisation by visiting our website (https://mccaa.org.mt/Section/index?sectionId=1064) or approach the Standardisation Directorate help desk for more information.
Francis Farrugia is director general, Standards and Metrology Institute, MCCAA.