Service Sectors Turn to Standards Service Sectors Turn to Standards

ISO Fo c u s The Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization Volume 3, No. 1, January 2006, ISSN 1729-8709

ServiceService sectorssectors turnturn toto standardsstandards

• Security management in supply chains • Global standard for crash test dummies Contents

1 Comment Alan Bryden, ISO Secretary-General Positively global 2 World Scene Highlights of events from around the world 3 ISO Scene Highlights of news and developments from ISO members 4 Guest View Arthur D. Kranzley, Vice-President, Advanced Payments, MasterCard International ISO Focus is published 11 times 7 Main Focus a year (single issue : July-August). It is available in English. © Sanska Annual subscription 158 Swiss Francs Aerospace : Individual copies 16 Swiss Francs the new frontier Publisher Central Secretariat of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 1, rue de Varembé CH-1211 Genève 20 Switzerland Telephone + 41 22 749 01 11 Fax + 41 22 733 34 30 E-mail [email protected] Service sectors turn to standards Web www.iso.org

Manager : Anke Varcin • Who needs standards for services ? Editor : Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis • Facilitating business relations – a chance for services standards Artwork : Pascal Krieger and • The European approach to service standardization Pierre Granier • Financial services evolve to meet the needs of the digital age ISO Update : Dominique Chevaux • Six decades, but who’s counting ? ISO in financial services Subscription enquiries : Sonia Rosas Friot • A global benchmark for financial planners ISO Central Secretariat • Exhibition industry stands to gain from future ISO standard Telephone + 41 22 749 03 36 • ISO committee for tourism brings transparency to the industry Fax + 41 22 749 09 47 • Never get out of your depth : Scuba diving standards E-mail [email protected] • Global trade in services – New challenges for standardization • The challenge of standardizing water services © ISO, 2006. All rights reserved. • Going public – a Consumers International viewpoint The contents of ISO Focus are copyright • A new ISO standard for market, opinion and social research and may not, whether in whole or in part, be reproduced, stored in a retrieval • Best business practice for market and opinion research system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, 41 Developments and Initiatives photocopying or otherwise, without • Security management in global supply chains written permission of the Editor. 43 ISSN 1729-8709 New this month Printed in Switzerland • WorldSID – New CD-ROM on ISO 14000 – Nanotechnologies

Cover photo : ISO. 45 Coming up

ISO Focus January 2006 Comment Positively global

vents of the past year have rein- No wonder ISO is increasingly 2004 and 2005 compared to 2003, whilst forced the perception of how solicited ! Food safety, environmental our stock of work items has remained Eglobal many major issues faced management, converging information at over 4 000. This is also a sign that by mankind are. Climate change, epi- and communication technologies, home- we are improving the efficiency of our demics, terror and natural disasters have land security, anticipation and response development processes. We thus gear made the headlines ; the answers to such to natural disasters, social responsibil- ourselves to “ think (positively) global ” issues lie with global solutions. Poverty, ity, nanotechnology, services associat- and, through the network of our nation- demography, the digital divide, the rising ed with tourism are high on our current al members, “ act locally ”. price of energy and raw materials, the agenda. And, as the scope of our agenda I would like to take the occa- quality and quantity of the water sup- broadens, new partners and actors join sion of the dawning of 2006, with its ply, delocalization of labour and invest- the ISO System. It is important that they multitude of challenges ahead to meet ments are some of the many elements also feel at home with us. the high expectations placed upon us which increase world tensions. Global to thank very heartily the many experts leaders are struggling to address these “ International Standards and contributors to the “ ISO job ” and issues through international coopera- to present to the widespread ISO fam- tion and solidarity, and to find fair and not only facilitate trade, ily and the broader community of users acceptable short and long-term solu- but they are also of ISO standards my best wishes for a tions. The UN General Assembly in instrumental in successful New Year. New York, which reviewed the progress towards the Millennium goals, the World disseminating new Trade Organization Ministerial Confer- technologies and spreading ence, which in Hong Kong made some best practices for progress towards completing the Doha Round, the meeting in Montreal of the conducting business and United Nations Framework Conven- conformity assessment.” tion on Climate Change and the G8 summits are examples of venues illus- We pay special attention to mak- trating the difficulty in achieving con- ing sure our standards are globally rel- sensus on these issues, so vital for the evant. This is first ensured by our broad sustainable and peaceful development membership, which has grown by 10 of our planet. in just one year, bringing the contri- In this context, international butions of 156 national communities. standardization of the type developed Our Action Plan for Developing Coun- by ISO, based on a double level of tries accompanies this progression, so consensus – amongst stakeholders and that they are better positioned to make Alan Bryden across countries – is particularly topical an optimal use of their ISO member- ISO Secretary-General and useful. It represents a positive facet ship. Our partnerships with over 580 of globalization. Indeed, International international and regional organizations Standards not only facilitate trade, but in liaison with our technical commit- they are also instrumental in dissemi- tees comfort the content and the rep- nating new technologies and spread- resentativeness of our work. The abil- ing best practices for conducting busi- ity of our member bodies to promote ness and conformity assessment. At the the use of ISO standards and possibly same time, they avoid “ reinventing the adopt them as their national standards, wheel ”, and enable the cogs of the glo- together with the recent publication of bal village to turn smoothly. They thus our “ global relevance ” policy, adds to contribute to improving the planet’s tri- our collective efficiency. It is not sur- ple bottom line : economic, social and prising that our output of ISO deliver- environmental. ables has progressed by some 25 % in

ISO Focus January 2006 1 World Scene

Planning for the UN road is responsible for the ISO accountability of the second safety week 14000 family of environmental phase of WSIS. management standards. The Road Safety Collaboration, The role of International Stand- a coalition of international ISO 14064 will be followed ards in contributing to the devel- organizations united to address in early 2007 by ISO 14065, opment of a global Information the global road safety crisis, a standard that will provide Society was acknowledged at met in London, England, in requirements to accredit or the first phase of WSIS. recognize bodies that under- November 2005. For more information : take GHG validation or verifi- www.itu.int/wsis/ According to the World Health cation using ISO 14064 or Organization (WHO), road

© ISO other relevant standards or traffic injuries kill 1.2 million specifications. ISO/IEC 17011 deadline people every year and injure or for accreditation bodies disable as many as 50 million For more information, see : more. Road crashes are the second ISO standard on http://unfccc.int/2860.php leading cause of death globally greenhouse gases in among young people aged five wings of climate change World Summit on to 29 and the third leading conference Information Society ISO’s future ISO 14064 standards tackles ‘ digital divide ’ for the quantification, reporting Tunis hosted the second phase and verification of greenhouse of the World Summit on the gas (GHG) emissions were pre- Information Society (WSIS) on sented in the programme of side 16-18 November, which 50 events to the United Nations heads of state, around 19 000 climate change conference in participants including national Montréal (Québec) Canada, in delegations from 174 States, December 2005. UN agencies, civil society Targeted for release in mid- organizations and leading IT March 2006, the three-part ISO companies attended. All signatories to the 14064 will be a practical tool The two outcome documents – International Accreditation for government and business to the Tunis Commitment and the Forum (IAF) and the measure and manage green- Tunis Agenda for the Informa- International Laboratory house gas emissions and reduction Society – address the prob- Accreditation Cooperation tion activities. The ISO standard lem of the “digital-divide” (ILAC) international should support the development through the use of information recognition arrangements of GHG reduction programmes and communication technolo- were to have implemented and emissions trading markets gies to drive economic and the requirements of ISO/ by providing an auditable, social development, in line with IEC 17011:2004, Conformity standardized process for GHG the UN Millennium Develop- assessment – General quantification and verification. ment Goal of building an IT requirements for accreditation The draft standard is already society accessible to all. bodies accrediting conformity cause of death among people being incorporated in govern- assessment bodies, by 1 January aged 30 to 44 years. They cost The International Telecommu- 2006. mental GHG mechanisms in nication Union will collaborate low and middle-income countries The deadline was set at the Australia and Canada. with other UN agencies, includ- more than the total development 2004 annual meeting of IAF The standard was presented at ing the United Nations Educa- aid they receive. and ILAC in Cape Town, Montréal by a panel including tional, Scientific and Cultural South Africa, in collaboration WHO established the Road representatives of ISO/TC 207 ; Organization (UNESCO), with ISO. Safety Collaboration following the United Nations Develop- United Nations Development a UN General Assembly resolu- ment Programme (UNDP) ; Programme (UNDP) and the The IAF and ILAC recognition tion in 2004 urging Member governmental entities of Austria, Economic and Social Council arrangements provide for mutu- States to address the problem of Canada and Indonesia ; the (ECOSOC) to establish an effi- al recognition of conformity road traffic injuries and inviting World Business Council for Sus- cient infrastructure to ensure assessment results from accred- WHO to coordinate efforts. tainable Development (WBC- the required follow up and ited management system and The Road Safety Collaboration SD), and the World Resources product certification bodies and is now finalizing the objectives Institute (WRI). A technical testing and from calibration lab- of collaboration and planning analysis prepared by UNDP oratories respectively, thereby for the first UN Road Safety shows broad compatibility reducing cost and time in Week to be held from 23-29 between ISO 14064 and the import and export activities. April 2007. Several international Greenhouse Gas Protocol for For more information, contact : organizations, including ISO, corporate accounting and report- ISO’s policy committee for have been invited to join this ing developed by WBCSD/WRI. conformity assessment global effort. ISO 14064 is the result of a (CASCO) Project Manager, For more information, contact working group of ISO technical Joyce Bleeker :

François Abram: [email protected] committee ISO/TC 207, which © ISO [email protected]

2 ISO Focus January 2006 ISO Scene

ISO plastics committee Kick-off meeting for der, providing 2.3 % of the total launches service award ISO’s tourism committee world production. ISO technical committee The inaugural meeting of the ISO ISO/TC 34 recently published ISO/TC 61, Plastics, Leaders technical committee that is to ISO 22000: 2005, Food safety committee launched the out- develop International Standards management systems – Require- standing service award in 2005 for the field of tourism and relat- ments for any organization in © ISO to recognize distinguished or ed services is taking place on 27- the food chain, which helps From left to right : Dr. Mahmoud Eisa, organizations ensure that their Director-General of EOS (Egypt) and ISO exceptional service to its work. 28 March 2006 in Tunis, Tunisia. Regional Liaison Officer for the Arab and suppliers and customers receive Mediterranean region ; H.E. Dr. Hashim Based on merit alone, a person ISO technical committee ISO/ safe, quality products. Yamani, the Saudi Arabia Minister of may be nominated for the TC 228, Tourism and related Industry and Commerce ; Alan Bryden, ISO award if he or she has shown services, is aimed at standardiz- For more information, contact Secretary-General ; Dr. Khaled Al-Khalaf, unusually productive service ing terminology and specifica- Pauline Jones : [email protected] the Director-General of SASO. over a substantial period of tions across the industry, so that ISO standards topical time, demonstrated marked choosing between tourism prod- in the Gulf region leadership in technical or other ucts becomes more transparent, activities or made outstanding as well as ensuring, for exam- Saudi Arabia has become the contributions in research lead- ple, that holidays match their th 149 signatory to the World ing to the development of new sales description (see page 26). Trade Organization (WTO) standards. agreements, thus joining the Potential areas include : termi- five other countries of the Gulf nology, accommodation, restau- Cooperation Council. Interna- rants, convention bureaus, tour- tional Standards are therefore ist information offices, confer- particularly topical in this region. ence management, natural protected areas, beaches, leisure ISO Secretary-General Alan activities, travel agencies, trans- SNIMA training session in Morocco. Bryden visited the Saudi Arabian port and sustainable tourism. Standards Organization Promoting ISO 14001 ISO/TC 228 is jointly adminis- (SASO), in November 2005. The ISO member for Morocco, tered by the ISO member bodies He reviewed SASO’s participa- Service de Normalisation from Spain (AENOR) and Tunisia tion in ISO, as well as its role Industrielle Marocaine (INNORPI) ; the latter will host in relation to the implementation (SNIMA), in cooperation with this first meeting. of the WTO Technical Barriers the Swiss government and ISO, to Trade and Sanitary and Phyto- organized four weeks of train- sanitary agreements, and its Honorary guild of paprika ing sessions in Morocco, in the ongoing projects for updating producers last quarter of 2005. and increasing its capacity in The sessions promoted and testing and metrology laborato- Huub Omloo, Convenor, SC 5/WG 11 and The director of ISO member for ries. Together with Dr. Khaled SC 9/WG 8 and 26, (right) presents Dr. Hungary Magyar Szabványügyi explained how the implementa- Al-Khalaf, the Director-General of Robert MacFarlane, TC 61/SC 9 Chair Testület (MSZT), Mr. György tion of an environmental man- with the award. SASO, he visited H.E. Dr. Hashim Pónyai, and Pauline Jones, techni- agement system, through the cal programme manager for ISO/ application of ISO 14001:2004 Yamani, the Saudi Arabia Minis- In September 2005, Dr. Robert TC 34 (ISO Central Secretariat) can be used as an efficient tool ter of Industry and Commerce, MacFarlane, Chair of ISO/TC were invested in the Honorary for any type of organization, to who had just signed the Protocol 61/SC 9, Thermoplastic mate- Guild of Paprika Producers at a improve its environmental per- of Accession to the WTO. rials, received the award for meeting of ISO technical commit- formance, thereby contributing his outstanding leadership of tee ISO/TC 34, Food products, towards a sustainable environ- this committee and dedication SC 7, Spices and condiments, held ment. to the development of classifi- in Hungary in September 2005. cation system standards in this The sessions were attended by field, and Roger Guillermin, The meeting was sponsored by some 80 professionals from Chair of ISO/TC 61/SC 13, the Kolosca Spice Paprika Com- industry, consultancies, govern- Composites and reinforcement pany Limited, currently Hungary’s ment and other types of services, Participants in the GSO meeting with the fibres, was recognized for his market leader in the production universities and laboratories. ISO Secretary-General. outstanding work particularly and export of spice paprika pow- In addition, four environmental During his visit, Mr. Bryden in the development of Interna- György Pónyai, (left) Director of MSZT, experts chosen by SNIMA addressed the trainees of a tional Standards on the deter- ISO member for Hungary and Pauline completed the training pro- course on standardization organ- mination of fibre length for Jones, technical programme manager for gramme for trainers, with the ized at SASO by the Gulf Stand- glass-reinforced products. ISO/TC 34 being invested in the Honorary objective of capacity building ards Organization. He met with Guild of Paprika Producers. The ISO/TC 61 award com- of ISO members by promoting the CEOs of the national stand- mittee will meet each June to environmental management and ards bodies in the region, all consider nominations. the effective use of ISO 14001. members of ISO, and discussed training and awareness-raising For more information, For more information, contact events to be organized jointly in contact Todd Sandler : Bernardo Calzadilla Sarmiento : the Gulf region. [email protected]. [email protected]

ISO Focus January 2006 3 Guest View Arthur D. Kranzley

rthur D. Kranzley is Executive Priceless® advertising campaign is now Vice-President, Advanced seen in 105 countries and in 48 languag- A Payments, for MasterCard es, giving the MasterCard brand a truly International. In this role, he has global reach and scope. established centers of excellence to © MasterCard International develop and manage new programmes, MasterCard Incorporated is a pri- products, services, and channel vate, securities and exchange commission- opportunities made possible by current registered share company whose shares and evolving advances in technology. are owned by the principal members of Areas of expertise addressed in these MasterCard International. MasterCard centers include electronic commerce, International, a non-stock, membership e-B2B, smart cards, mobile commerce, corporation with more than 23 000 Mas- and wireless. Mr. Kranzley works terCard, Cirrus and Maestro members extensively with MasterCard’s global worldwide, is the principal operating business areas and regions to identify subsidiary of MasterCard Incorporated. new opportunities in these areas and to MasterCard has approximately 4 000 maximize MasterCard’s leadership role employees. Our headquarters is located in advanced payment systems and in Purchase, New York, and we have 37 technology. He is also active in additional offices around the world. managing MasterCard’s continuing efforts to promote safe, confidential, and “ MasterCard is a strong ISO Focus : How and where have reliable payments in remote channels. proponent of International International Standards helped Mas- Mr. Kranzley, a MasterCard veteran terCard’s business ? of almost 20 years, has been in the Standards and views payments industry since 1975. He them as a vital part of Arthur D. Kranzley : Today’s com- served with MasterCard in several roles, our continued effort to petitive environment is defined by rap- including president of Maestro USA and id advances in products and technology. senior vice president/general manager, safeguard all those involved Continued innovation in telecommunica- U.S. Region Deposit Access. He has also in the payments process.” tions has led to increased technical col- held positions as senior vice president, laboration across industries and countries Debit Services, and senior vice president, in support of global commerce. Conse- Cirrus System, where he contributed to ISO Focus :What is MasterCard Inter- quently, a new trend has emerged – the the international growth of the national ? And what are its primary stronger movement toward open stand- MasterCard®/Cirrus® ATM Network. responsibilities ? ards and interoperability within pay- Prior to joining MasterCard, he was ment systems. responsible for strategic business and Arthur D. Kranzley : MasterCard Historically, MasterCard products corporate development in the areas of International is a leading global pay- have been compliant with ISO standards, electronic financial services, Internet ments solutions company that provides from the size and shape of the payment development, strategic alliances, new a broad variety of innovative products card to the formatting of the informa- business initiatives, and portfolio and services in support of our global cus- tion contained on the magnetic stripe, acquisitions with Advanta Corporation. tomers’ credit, deposit access, electronic the layout and meaning of the embossing Mr. Kranzley serves on the board of cash, corporate and related payment pro- on the front of the card, and the mech- directors of The Center for e-Business grammes. MasterCard manages a family anisms by which that information can at MIT, Mondex International, Mondex of well-known, widely accepted payment be presented anywhere in the world to USA, and Mondex Asia Pte Ltd. and on brands including MasterCard®, Maes- facilitate payment. the Executive Committee of EMVCo. tro® and Cirrus® and serves financial In the early 1990s, we began to Mr. Kranzley holds a bachelor of science institutions, consumers and businesses plan for the global migration of payment degree in aerospace and mechanical in more than 210 countries and territo- cards from magnetic stripe technology to engineering from Princeton University. ries. The MasterCard award-winning smart card technology. We quickly real-

4 ISO Focus January 2006 (Left) MasterCard’s headquarters in Purchase, New York.

PayPass also allows financial institutions to offer customers more payment options

© MasterCard International and it helps increase gross dollar volume (GDV) by attracting payments away from cash, opens up new acceptance opportunities for “ quick pay ” and self-service envi- ronments, and increases accountholder loy- alty for their card programmes. Deploy- ment of PayPass is now underway in several countries around the globe. ized that the key to global success was on the ISO/IEC 14443 standards. Mas- ISO Focus : You have said that “agree- the establishment of a common stand- terCard PayPass is a new “contactless” ing to one common standard benefits ard for how this new technology would payment feature that provides consum- all in the value chain” when referring be implemented. Using the global stand- ers with a fast and convenient way to pay to the common communications proto- ards established by ISO, we created the for small ticket purchases. Using Pay- col based on ISO/IEC 14443. Can you EMV 1) set of specifications with other Pass, consumers simply tap their pay- please elaborate on this ? What are the payment companies, which has become ment card or device (such as a key fob) benefits of using a common protocol the basis of all smart card payment trans- on a specially equipped merchant termi- for contactless payments ? actions globally. Today, there are more than 320 million cards and nearly four million point-of-sale (POS) terminals using the technology today. In the early 2000s, we began development of the MasterCard® PayPass™ contactless payment programme, based © MasterCard International

MasterCard PayPass provides an innovative contactless payment solution for public transportation. © MasterCard International © Skanska

The Taiwan PayPass Transportation Project nal, eliminating the need to fumble for launch in October 2005. cash and coins, hand their card over to a clerk or swipe the card. MasterCard PayPass allows merchants to function more efficiently and serve their customers better, since PayPass speeds 1) EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa), consumers through the check-out process, a new set of global electronic payment reduces cash handling, improves efficien- transaction standards named after the three cy and provide competitive differentiation. organizations who established them.

ISO Focus January 2006 5 Guest View

Arthur D. Kranzley : A common pro- existing and new payment programmes. tocol is essential for many of Master- The security mechanisms we employ to Card’s programmes and services, includ- protect cardholder PINs and other sen- ing the MasterCard® PayPass™ contact- sitive data are based on algorithms and less payment programme. The establish- management protocols defined by ISO. ment of a common protocol helps ensure As noted earlier, the MasterCard Pay- that card issuers and acquirers, payment Pass contactless payment programme is © MasterCard International organizations, and merchants are com- OneSmart MasterCard chip card. an implementation of an open industry patible globally. standard for radio frequency communi- MasterCard has helped accelerate ISO Focus : With the globalization of cations (ISO/IEC 14443) – and our M/ the industry’s migration toward contact- trade in services and the growing use Chip™ EMV smart cards are based on less payments by licensing its commu- of e-commerce, the expectations of the ISO 7816 standards. nications protocol for radio frequency- customers on the quality of services based contactless payments to its com- are also increasing – How do you view “ One common protocol petitors. This common and shared com- (and possibly support) the develop- munication standard benefits all in the ment of International Standards for the and testing process helps value chain by ensuring that cards and quality of services and security of their ensure that investments terminals supporting all contactless pay- delivery ? ment brands are globally interoperable. made now will continue to This benefits merchants, consumers and Arthur D. Kranzley : MasterCard is a pay off down the line.” terminal vendors by providing a consist- strong proponent of International Stand- ards and views them as a vital part of our ent experience at the check-out. ISO Focus : In a company like Master- continued effort to safeguard all those Card whose survival depends on stay- involved in the ing in the forefront of technology inte- payments process. gration, how do International Stand- Consequently we ards allow the banking/financial indus- continue to sup- try to move forward ? What are your port the develop- expectations on ISO and International ment of payment Standards ? standards for quality, compliance Arthur D. Kranzley : International with specifica- Standards enable organizations such as tions, and security. MasterCard to pursue continued tech- To the extent that nological development based on a sol- ISO is involved at id foundation of open industry stand- an international ards from card physical characteristics level across indus- to security specifications to advanced tries in these are- communication protocols that are sup- as, we hope to pro- ported globally and across industries. vide input to these This ensures that the best experts and © MasterCard International standards based most knowledgeable technicians and PayPass contactless card being used in McDonalds in New York City. on our work and experience within the engineers in these areas have contributed payments area. and reviewed these standards for worldwide application. As a result, we can be For instance, merchants investing assured that our investments in new and in point-of-sale readers designed to work ISO Focus : Can you describe the use innovative products and services based with contactless payments want assurance made by MasterCard of ISO Interna- on ISO standards have been developed that the technology will work the same tional Standards – and why Master- within a comprehensive framework, will in their numerous locations around the Card actively participates in ISO’s be globally supported by manufacturers, world and that they will not need sep- work to promote secure, open wireless suppliers, vendors and processors global- arate POS terminals for each payment payment standards ? ly, and will be interoperable with other brand. Following one common protocol Arthur D. Kranzley : At MasterCard, elements of an open system. and testing process helps the industry we believe it is our mission to devel- avoid such scenarios and helps ensure op and promote interoperable, reliable that investments made now will contin- and secure standards for domestic and ue to pay off down the line. international payments, and to ensure the same standards can be used for both

6 ISO Focus January 2006 Main Focus Who needs standards for services ?

by Arnold Pindar, Head of Consumer Affairs, British Standards Institution and Dana Kissinger-Matray, Secretary of ISO/COPOLCO, ISO Central Secretariat.

usinesses compete on the quality of the services they provide. BThey also believe they know their customers; their wants, their needs and their expectations. Assuming they are right, consumers should not have any problems with services, and business, inversely, should not have any needs for standards. Right ? Service sectors The answer is unequivocally no. The vast majority of complaints from consumers in developed countries are about poor or inadequate services. So turn to how can businesses reduce the level of complaints and improve services to ensure customers are delighted the first standards time, every time ? The benefits of developing standards start with the technical committees which bring together all stakeholders to debate the issues. The result is relevant, robust, full consensus standards that raise baseline safety, quality and performance of services whilst promoting competition and innovation in service delivery. “ International Standards for services can complement or provide a basis for national laws, just as they do for manufactured goods.”

A lot of businesses take great care to collect statistics about customer habits and trends and have strong per- ceptions about their customers’ needs. This information is valid and important,

ISO Focus January 2006 7 Main Focus by their experience as suppliers rather Bolstering benefits, make it more difficult to international- than users of the services they provide. bridging gaps ize certain requirements for the content The standards development process is and style of a service’s delivery, which an effective way for these same users to First of all, many underestimate can vary according to different client define services to meet their needs. the benefits that standards for services expectations in each country. Since ISO activities began 59 can provide for safety, health, fitness for Furthermore, a service is ephem- years ago, its International Standards purpose, information and other aspects eral, limited in time, and often demands have helped promote confidence in man- contributing to quality and which gener- face-to-face interaction between serv- ufactured products for consumers, sup- ate consumer confidence. This is all the ice provider and customer. The quality pliers and purchasers. More than 15 000 more true as standards for services are a of a service is also assessed different- standards now define technical param- relatively recent phenomenon, and the ly. For example, a service cannot eas- eters, test methods, management proc- marketplace does not have much expe- ily undergo a laboratory test the way a esses, and conformity assessment proce- rience with using them. Industry groups manufactured product can. Even audit- dures for all types of products and their and associations have sometimes mobi- ing the performance of a service from components. lized against the development of Inter- a vantage point outside the process can The benefits of standards are pal- national Standards for services, fear- be misleading, as receiving a service pable: in the United Kingdom alone, a ing that they would add one more layer recent study by the UK Department of of “ rules ” on top of national laws and 1) DTI Economic Paper No.12 “ The Empirical Trade and Industry1) reported that 13 % of regulations. Economics of Standards ”, June 2005, visit the country’s labour productivity growth This is actually a misunderstand- http://www.dti.gov.uk/iese/The_Empirical_ can be attributed to standards, equat- ing, as International Standards for serv- Economics_of_Standards.pdf ing to approximately GBP 2.5 billion ices can complement or provide a basis 2) Source “ Why services matter for per annum of today’s economy. How- for national laws, just as they do for development ”, International Trade Forum, ever, this research is based on a portfo- manufactured goods. The challenge lies International Trade Centre, and the World Trade Organization. lio of standards that are overwhelming- in helping service providers and stake- ly product-based, with very few stand- holders understand the mutual benefits 3) IMF World Economic Outlook, as quoted in the address of Cedric Foo (Singapore) to the ards for services. of standardization and to provide a flexible though reliable approach to stand- ISO General Assembly, September 2005. ards based service delivery. 4) Growth in services, fostering employment, © ISO By the numbers Secondly, the nature of service productivity and innovation, from the meeting provision is different from that of goods, of the OECD Council at Ministerial level, 2005. Up until recently, services have so it is important to know which elements 5) OECD Factbook 2005. been the “ poor cousins ” of international to define in a standard. Starting with the 6) Address by Mr. Lars Flink (Sweden) at the standardization, even though they form design of a service, cultural differences ISO General Assembly, September 2005. a substantial, and growing, share of the world’s economy. A few facts underscore the importance of services : according to the World Trade Organization (WTO), About the authors exports of commercial services have grown by an average of 9 % worldwide Arnold Pindar Dana Kissinger- is Head of Con- from 2000-2004 2). World trade in serv- Matray was sumer Affairs at appointed ices is expected to grow at an annual rate the British Secretary of

3) Krieger © ISO, P. of 8.4 % in 2005 and 2006 . Standards Insti- ISO/COPOLCO, Furthermore, the service sector tution. As part of Committee on accounts for over 70 % of total employ- the Department consumer policy ment and value, and almost all of the of External in 2000, after employment growth in OECD (Organ- Affairs his work working for four isation for Economic Co-operation and covers consumer, years within Development) countries 4). Service activi- societal, and educational interests in stand- ISO’s Committee on conformity ties taken together account for about 70 % ardization. For five years Mr. Pindar was assessment (CASCO). Dana has a of the gross domestic product of OECD Chair of ISO/COPOLCO’s working group, Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr Priorities from the consumer’s point of countries as a whole 5); the same figure College, USA and a Certificate from view, and he takes an active role in ISO/ the Swiss Public Relations Institute. of 70 % applies to the majority of Euro- COPOLCO affairs. Prior to joining ISO, Dana was a technical pean Union (EU) member states. Finally, He has chaired the coordination group of translator and editor in Geneva. the value added by the service sector in The European Association for the Coordi- the EU grew at an average rate of 3.1 % nation of Consumer Representation in annually between 1991 and 2001 6). Standardization (ANEC) for several years.

8 ISO Focus January 2006 is a more subjective experience than Service standards Service sectors turn receiving a manufactured object : the as international ‘ best to standards customer participates directly in the practice ’ process of delivery. Therefore, other techniques, such High expectations – Be it a prod- as customer satisfaction surveys and uct or a service, consumers expect a high account the needs of all directly-affected “ mystery customer ” actions are more level of certain characteristics : quality stakeholders. This is no easy task though helpful. Even though more challeng- and reliability, safety and health, compat- International Standards for services can ing, it is nonetheless critical to ensure ibility with related products, consistent also provide some basis for redress where that the provider of a service gathers delivery, transparent information, great- legal proceedings can be costly or prohibi- information on customer satisfaction er choice, and fair pricing. In addition, tively difficult, especially across borders. and feeds it into an effective continual consumers are increasingly interested in improvement loop. evidence of environmentally- friendly, Poor performance – A more Finally, in spite of its significant ethical and sustainable manufacturing comprehensive application of standards growth, trade in services has, to a great and disposal practices. Through purchas- to services would help all industries to extent, still remained within national ing choices and other actions, consum- improve productivity, increase consum-

The British Standards Institution (BSI) research carried out under the National Standardization Strategic Framework (NSSF) 7) showed that the vast majority of complaints logged by the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading related to services. A total of 1 161 980 complaints were recorded in 2003. Topping the list were : Telecommunication and utility services Problems such as billing and marketing abuses (28,2 %) ; Home maintenance, including repairs and improvements like double glazing and kitchen fitting (26,2 %) ; Motor vehicle repairs and servicing (12,6 %) ; Professional and financial services (12 %) ; © ISO

7) For further information on the National ers are indicating they want standards er confidence and reap similar benefits to Standardization Strategic Framework (NSSF), those manufacturing and supplying prod- visit www.nssf.info. to confer the same benefits on services as on manufactured goods. ucts. Yet, independent research conduct- borders in most countries. Speaking at a ed in the United Kingdom by First Direct 9) conference on services in Berlin, Germa- Globalization – Financial and Bank examined the cost of “ bad ” serv- ny, in 2002, Dr. Torsten Bahke, Director tourism-related services are just two are- ice across several sectors and found that of DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung as where trade is becoming increasingly every person questioned had their time (Germany) and, then, ISO Vice-President international. Services are often provided wasted by poor customer service – on (policy), stated that services in Germa- through an intermediary rather than face- average losing 23 minutes a week. Valu- ny accounted for only 12 % of exports to-face. For example : the Internet is used ing time as potential lost earnings at the and 21 % of imports, and pointed out by dealers to sell tickets for cultural and national average wage this is equivalent that these figures were similar through- sports events, or air travel, and online trad- to GBP 300 per customer a year, adding out the industrialized world.8) ing of securities is becoming increasing- up to a total of GBP 14 billion. ly common. The challenge, therefore, is 8) Source : “ Service standards for global to agree a set of criteria which transcend 9) For further details on the First Direct Bank markets ”; Comment by Dr. Torsten Bahke in cultural standards, which are supported research, visit www.firstdirect.com/press/ ISO Bulletin, July 2002. by business interests and which take into releases/release95.shtlm.

ISO Focus January 2006 9 Main Focus

If the consumer is losing this much, consider for a moment how much more it is costing business to deal with the complaints and customer turnover arising from this poor service.

Reaping the fruit of our labour Standardization of services entered the international scene after the ISO committee on consumer policy (ISO/ COPOLCO) held an international workshop on this subject in 1995. This event, along with its recommendations and fur- ISO/TC 228, Tourism and related serv- mation on a number of financial products. ther support from the ISO technical man- ices. Other articles in this issue describe The result was a diminished ability to make agement board (TMB), led ISO and the their activities more fully. informed choices and therefore greater per- World Trade Organization to organize COPOLCO addressed the stand- sonal risk in contracting these services. four regional seminars on standardiza- ardization of services once again in 2001, COPOLCO recommended that tion of services in 1998, in Argentina, when it held a workshop, “ Improving ISO develop International Standards France, Singapore and the USA. standards for services – How can stand- governing how information is presented ards help ? ”. As a result, COPOLCO for five financial services (life insurance, decided to develop an ISO/IEC guide mortgages, private pensions, consumer “ Be it a product or a for use by technical committees which credit, and payment systems), based on service, consumers expect develop standards for any kind of serv- their widespread use and high financial a high level of certain ice. It also identified tourism and finan- risk. By decision of the ISO technical cial services as priority areas for inter- management board in September 2005, characteristics.” national standardization. ISO/TC 222, Personal financial planning, The 2001 workshop resulted in and ISO/TC 68, Financial services, will The conclusions of these work- three main outcomes (either completed develop this work jointly. shops suggested that there was good or in advanced stages) : support for developing International Guidelines for standardization Standards on services, and stimulated a Tourism : Research by COPOLCO of services : COPOLCO also decided to number of national initiatives. Howev- provided important input into a propos- develop an ISO/IEC guide to provide basic er, hardly any international standardiza- al for a new field of technical activity principles to follow for experts on tech- tion activity resulted, with one notable which led to the establishment of ISO/ nical committees developing standards exception: the adoption of a European TC 228 (see pages 26). In parallel, some for services. The future ISO/IEC Guide standard, as an International Standard ISO members supporting the enquiry had 76, Developing standards for services – – ISO 18513, Tourism services – Hotel themselves proposed a large number of Recommendations for addressing con- and other types of tourism accommoda- specific projects for the work programme sumer issues, will shortly go out to ISO tion – Terminology. of the new TC, ranging from exhibition members for vote and comment. However, the workshops did stim- management to sustainable tourism. ulate a number of standardization initia- COPOLCO identified horizontal issues “ Financial and tourism- tives at the national level and regional lev- such as hygiene, safety (especially child related services are just el (including a European Committee for and fire safety) and accessibility as both two areas where trade Standardization (CEN) Mandate on stand- important for consumers and especially ardization of services – see pages 14-15) conducive to standardization. The work is becoming increasingly and helped set the stage for ISO’s recent is now being led through a twinning international.” initiatives. Since then, entire new technical arrangement between AENOR (Spain) and INNORPI (Tunisia). committees have been established. These This guide is significant because include ISO/TC 222, Personal financial Financial services : Starting in it provides a basic framework of ele- planning, ISO/TC 224, Service activities 2001, COPOLCO studied and confirmed ments to consider when developing a relating to drinking water supply systems a number of problems for consumer protec- standard for a service. It recommends a and wastewater systems – Quality crite- tion in the purchase of financial services. In series of steps to follow for the service ria of the service and performance indica- many countries, consumers had relatively design (with attention to needs of chil- tors, ISO/TC 225, Market Research, and little access to clear and comparable infor- dren, the elderly and persons with disa-

10 ISO Focus October 2005 © ISO tomer satisfaction, andtherebycontribute approach forallphasesofmanaging cus- Together, they formacomprehensive handling andexternal disputeresolution. practice incodesofconduct,complaints are anattempttodistilinternationalbest increasingly borderlessmarketplace. They tions andtheircustomersdobusiness inan to provide benchmarkstohelporganiza- July-August 2005). ards forcustomerservice “Stand- ”, and 2005”, September-October as freeadvice, nal toorganizations – Guidelines fordispute resolution exter- ity Management –Customersatisfaction dispute resolution,ISO/CD10003, of conductfororganizations for codes tomer satisfaction–Guidelines CD 10001, standards covering customerservice:ISO/ part ofayettobepublishedsuiteISO porting technologies. management andqualityassurance –sup- the leadershipofISO TC 176/SC3, plaints handlinginorganizations, tomer satisfaction–Guidelinesfor 10002:2004, tions have alsoledtothepublicationofISO satisfaction Improving customer ISO Focus issues instandardizationofservices ” (for moreinformation,see“ Consumer can bestandardizedusingthisguide with specific examples ofservicesthat these elementsandinformative annexes to thebasicelements,chartssummarizing ment. A checklistwithcross-references measurement andcontinuousimprove- includes aspectsofcustomersatisfaction post-delivery andcustomerredress.It bilities), importantaspectsofdelivery, to confidence inthemarketplace. greater customer greater satisfaction the supply ordemandside supply the will benefit all, whether on “ Reduced and complaints of the services offered.” services of the These standards’ key purposeis COPOLCO’s pastrecommenda- , July-August2005) Quality Management –Cus- Quality management –Cus- ISO Management Systems (e “Complaints (see , This inturnwillbe , andexternal ISO Focus Quality Quality Qual- under

com- ,

initiatives Future projects and ing itsimportancetotheUKpublic. great dealofinteresttherebyhighlight- wide mediacoverage andgenerateda (BS 8463:2005). The standardreceived standard forcustomerbillingpractice and abusive. for serviceinterruptioncanbearbitrary equate oreven nonexistent. Conditions anisms forclientredressareofteninad- question, problemoradispute,mech- even inaccurate,andwhenthereisa thermore, thebillsinsomecasesare for theprovision oftheseservices.Fur- the transparency ofinformationonbills in many countrieshave struggledwith important work inthisarea.Consumers Consumers International,isalsodoing opment. OneofCOPOLCO’s liaisons, lennium GoalsforSustainableDevel- nications, andtheUnitedNationsMil- electricity, gas,water andtelecommu- zation ofservicessuchasprovision of eral worldwide trendtowards privati- work istimelyinthelightofgen- ices billing. The committeefeelssuch and very topicalissue : network serv- a proposalforstandardizationonnew BSI recently published a national BSI recentlypublishedanational COPOLCO hasnow completed

© ISO sia, inMay2006. to take placeinKuala Lumpur, Malay- at thenext plenarymeeting,scheduled product recall. These willbediscussed ment, e-commerceandtheenduser, and standardization : compliancemanage- which have implicationsforservices impacting onmarket confidence and International Standardsforotherareas CO isalsostudyingthefeasibilityof thereby give betterservice.COPOL- lic orprivate, toadoptfair practicesand work forutilityproviders, whetherpub- wide, becauseitwould give aframe- help deliver consumerprotectionworld- for asustainableworld 10) ices offered. the supplyordemandsideofserv- satisfaction willbenefit all,whetheron Reduced complaintsandgreatercustomer provide byraisingthebarstillfurther. pete onthequalityofservicesthey allow businesses tocontinuecom- ity ofservicesworldwide. Itwillalso evidence, willraisethebaselinequal- ardization ofservicesbasedonsound a significant difference. initiatives alreadyunderway willmake dards. of globallyrelevant InternationalStan- consistent andmulti-sectorcollection one strategic objective : developing a action towards realizing ISO’s number in servicedelivery. Itisanimportant promoting competitionandinnovation ity andperformanceofserviceswhilst challenge toraisebaselinesafety, qual- cy, ISO/COPOLCO,hastaken upthe of itsCommitteeonConsumerPoli- Raising thestakes ISO Strategic Plan 2005-2010 : 10) An InternationalStandardwould Further accelerationinthestand- ISO, withthestrongsupport Ifimplementedbybusiness, the Service sectors turn turn sectors Service ISO

Focus to January 2006

standards Standards 11 Main Focus Facilitating business relations a chance for services standards by Holger Muehlbauer, Secretary of ISO/TC 222, Personal financial planning © ISO

prominent feature of the current trend, standardization is also extending • avoidance of state regulation by estab- structural change in economy and its range beyond its traditional, techni- lishing rules at the sectoral level; Asociety is the growing significance cal fields to the services sector. • creation of rules in respect of market of the services sector in terms of competi- access; tion and the labour market. It is reflected The undeniable benefits of • definition of minimum quality; by the growing share of services in both comparison and protection the gross national product and employ- • preparing reference documents for ment in almost every country. At present, the uptake of stand- public invitations to tender; ards in the service sector lags consider- Active participation in this struc- • implementation of syndicate aims; tural change presents a great challenge. ably behind its importance in the econo- • Services are, and will continue to be, a my. In addition, the added value result- establishing defined qualification crucial factor in international competi- ing from service standards by the elim- profiles; tion for markets and locations. Commis- ination of trade barriers and the foster- • establishing certification fundamen- sions for services will not be restrict- ing of competitiveness is undeniable, but tals. ed by national frontiers. Globalization remains unrealized. This is partly due Against the background of intan- and regionalization describe a process to a lack of understanding of the nature gible political benefits, the economic ben- in which global presence is linked with and process of standardization and the efits of service standardization cannot be the delivery of services individually tai- benefits it can bring. calculated in the same way as the savings lored to meet local needs. In line with this Existing standards provide either a description of the service by means on materials, since purely mathematical of typical parameters and definitions of calculations are difficult to make. About the author procedures, or by specifying the require- Regardless of the industry, the ments to be met by the company offering structure and content of a standard must Dr. Holger the service, for example, regarding the (within the context of ISO rules) meet the Muehlbauer is technical equipment needed to deliver a needs of the interest parties participating Secretary of ISO/ in a project and of those parties that will TC 222, Personal service or the recommended qualifications of the staff performing it. ultimately use the standard. The multiplic- financial planning ity of the service industry means that a dif- and is involved Service users, for example, the ferential approach also needs to be adopt- in several ISO purchasers of services or service clients, projects, may see a great benefit in being able to ed in standards practice. Market research including use standards to compare the work of services require a different approach from exhibition possible different providers and to assess cleaning services, for instance. services, the level of service received. Consum- ISO/IEC advisory group on security, ers, more specifically, may benefit from Definition and market research services. Trained as a an increased level of consumer protec- lawyer, Dr. Muehlbauer is currently Sector tion as a result of standards that concern classification Manager for standards for consumer products and services at DIN Deutsches or incorporate safety issues. Service standardization consti- Institut für Normung, ISO member for In contrast to product standardi- tutes the specification of requirements Germany. He is also Secretary of several zation, with its focus on preferred tech- to be fulfilled by the following: organi- working bodies of the European Committee nical solutions, other motives for serv- zational procedures, processes, perform- for Standardization. ice standardization include : ances and measuring methods in the con-

12 ISO Focus January 2006 text of a service; resources and facilities Service sectors turn required for the service, without prescrib- The European to standards ing detailed product require ments; quali- approach fications required for the service; terminology used in the context of the service; to service and, information to be submitted to the For these and other reasons, pro- addressee of the service. standardization motion of the services sector has become These standards can be placed into a top priority on the EU agenda for the two groups – either industry-related serv- European Commission (EC). ice standardization or consumer-related Service standardization is not com- service standardization – and diversified by Lars Flink, CEO of the pletely new to the European Committee into the following set of standards: Swedish Standards Institute and for Standardization (CEN). Numerous aspects in existing standards already relate • Vice-President of CEN tendering (cleaning and security serv- to services, which are generally integrat- ices); resently, growth in the economy ed in product standards. However, until • certification (market research and is essentially driven by services, recently, standardization exclusively in translation services); Pwhich account for 70 % of gross this field was tentative and ad hoc, rather domestic product (GDP) and employ- than based on consistent lines of firmly • information (logistics terminology); ment in the majority of European Union grounded and shared policies. • quality and performance measure- (EU) member countries. The value add- Thus, in view of the importance ment (quality measurement in clean- ed by the service sector in the EU grew of the service sector for its internal mar- ing services); at an average rate of 3.1 % per annum ket, CEN needs to further develop its between 1991 and 2001. Small and current work in service standardization, • other (storage and postal services). medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are as well in new areas where it is needed The examples are taken from the major contributor in the service sec- and feasible. ongoing national, European and inter- tor, accounting for approximately 66 % national standardi zation. of the private employment and 57 % of 1) Data from the European Commission, value added in the EU.1) Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General. Raising awareness Throughout the service standards projects managed at ISO and the Euro- pean Committee for Standardization (CEN) so far, the existing standardization rules and procedures have shown themselves to be adequate, practical tools for designing standards. There is no readiness on the part of industry to accept abstract horizontal guidelines or to provide human and financial resources to support such activities. Standardization organizations should continue to direct their efforts towards attracting the interest of industry to service standardization. Through public relations and specific branch-related projects, the emphasis must be made on the benefits standardization brings to this sector. However, the demand for standardization must emanate from the interested parties themselves, in order to create the impression that rules are being made ex officio. Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, 2004. Krieger © ISO, P.

The European standard for the language travel industry defines minimum requirements for the language course providers and the language travel industry.

ISO Focus January 2006 13 Main Focus

Improving services for Among the published standards in travelling learners the service sector, CEN developed standards on terminology for travel agencies Some 30 CEN documents are Available CEN and tour operators (tourism services), available to support service standardi- standards guidelines on the preparation of con- zation. Given the nature of the service Current activity in the service sec- tracts (maintenance services), measure- sector, which varies from one indus- ments of service quality (postal services), try to another, it is difficult to give an tor is being developed in six technical committees (CEN/TC’s), and six as well as service requirements (transla- overall formula for the standards being tion services). developed in this area. They cover sub- task forces of the technical board (BT/TF’s) including : The current work in service stand- jects from terminology, guidelines for ardization includes further development contract drafting, quality of service and • CEN/TC 319, Maintenance of 43 CEN service standards in the exist- measurement systems to service require- • CEN/TC 320, Transport ing committees. ments. For example, in the tourism indus- services The growing number of service try CEN developed a European standard standards reflects market needs, which are • CEN/TC 328, Cleaning services for language study tours. The industry moving towards a service based economy. • CEN/TC 329, Tourism services amounts to up to 1.5 - 2 million “ trav- For example, Universal Product Code, elling learners ” a year in major foreign • CEN/TC 331, Postal services Shell and IBM are active participants in language learning destinations such as • CEN/TC 348, Facility the facility management work. European England, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy management and international federations, for exam- and Germany. • BT/TF 139, Funeral services ple, ETOA – European Tour Operators The new European standard for Association, EUATC – European Union • BT/TF 138, Translation services the language travel industry defines min- of Associations of Translation Compa- • imum requirements for the language BT/TF 142, Healthcare services nies, UPU – Universal Postal Union, as • BT/TF 167, Security services well as public administration are initiat- About the author • BT/TF 179, Cinematographic ing projects at European level. services Lars Flink • BT/TF 180, Real Estate services Results of public enquiry is the CEO of the Swedish At the beginning of Septem- Standards ber 2003, CEN launched a large scale Institute (SIS) enquiry into the need for service stand- course providers and the language trav- where he is also ards across the EU. The enquiry was a Board Member el industry. In our “ fast speed ” world made publicly available on the CEN Web of the Eco- of communication, there is definitely a site, as well as sent to all the national Labeling group considerable need for uniform and con- standards bodies (NSB’s) members of and Chair of sistent specification. The standard will CEN, over 150 federations and asso- both the SIS therefore help to protect the customer’s ciations, European Chambers of Com- Forum and the SIS Publishing groups. interests in business to customer rela- merce, European Info Points, and con- He is currently Vice President at CEN tions but also help to avoid contradic- tacts in the service sector. and a Board Member of the American tory specifications in business to busi- The input received by the public Society for Testing and Materials ness relations. enquiry, showed that both further devel- (ASTM). In fact, the customer, the tour opment for current work in service stand- Mr. Flink has centred his career on the operator as well as the schools will find ardization, as well as development of new international trade of technical products it easier to compare the transparency, areas is needed and feasible. and services. Prior to joining SIS in provision and fulfilment of contracted Recognizing the growing impor- 2000 as CEO, he held company execu- services respectively of services they tance of standardization for services, in tive positions, notably that of CEO and are likely to contract. 2003 the EC also addressed the first pro- President for Sandblom and Stohne (a Concerning market relevance and gramming mandate in the field of services quoted trading company) and of Execu- the impact, the European standard is like- to CEN, European Committee for Elec- tive Vice-President for a subsidiary of ly to enhance the competitive position of trotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) ABB, after having held financial positions companies using them, thus increasing and European Telecommunications Stand- in both Sweden and Italy for the Fläkt job security, promoting deregulation and ards Institute (ETSI). With this first man- Corporation, an ABB company. hence reducing expenditure, all of which date, a strong political support was shown He has an MBA in accounting and contribute to the benefit of standardiza- for service standardization and its need finance from the Stockholm School of tion of our service industry as a whole and importance for the smooth function- Economics. as well as for the individual. ing of the internal market.

14 ISO Focus January 2006 The first programming mandate, inar helped establish further relations Service sectors turn although written generally, was meant with stakeholders interested in Europe- to standards to ensure that all possibilities regarding an service standardization. standardization for services be given due With regards to the progress of consideration. CEN accepted the program- service standardization, the need for more ming mandate at the end of 2003. coordination among the CEN members Once it has been accepted, the CEN was identified. Therefore, a horizontal strategy in service standardization will Service standardi- be launched. Raising awareness working platform on zation, was established in February 2004. The CEN strategy will focus on As part of its new approach and The first meeting took place in Brussels individual service areas, which do not strategy towards the development of in April. A majority of CEN members, benefit from service standardization. A service standardization, CEN carried CEN associates (ANEC, ECOS, NOR- prioritization of service areas not using out several activities throughout 2004 MAPME and TUTB) 2), CENELEC and standards will be done, and the barriers aimed at the development and promo- the EC were present. The large number in these areas will have to be identified tion (awareness raising) of services and of participants and the interest shown in (e.g. trade barriers, legal barriers). service standardization. the discussion, revealed a high aware- Subsequently, an analysis and With regards to the promotion of ness of the importance of services and proposal of service standards, to address service standardization, from the perspec- service standardization for the inter- these barriers, will follow. Service tive of both the EC and CEN, further col- nal market. standards shall be proposed as a way laboration took place with DG Enterprise Additionally, throughout 2004 to increase transparency in the market in organizing the EC workshop on Euro- CEN continued the traditional launch and the confidence of service buyers, pean Standardization for Services (March of bottom-up projects, generated by the as well as to ease regulation. industry, establishing The proposed CEN strategy the CEN committee on will : security services. – take account of the needs of industry, government and society ; Focus on – indicate the areas in which standard- individual ization might be most appropriately service areas pursued ; In 2005 most – identify any barriers to the standardi- of CEN’s activities in zation of services and propose solu- the service sector were tions to removing such barriers ; directed at the newly – take account of the different types of formulated strategy on standardization products available ; service standardization. – identify service standardization projects The EC also recognized in new service areas. the importance of the New initiatives, among others, concern real strategy proposed by Similar to 2004, throughout 2005 estate and human resource services. CEN, stating that “ the strategy for serv- CEN continued the traditional launch of 2004). On this occasion CEN presented ices standardization should be based on bottom-up projects, generated by the its current standardization programme a combination of sectoral and horizontal industry, establishing the committee on in tourism and facility management, and standardization activities, as well as generic cinematographic services, and initiat- explained to the audience (over 250 serv- management system standards, and qual- ing projects on real estate and human ice providers and users), how a project is ity standards. Horizontal standards could resource services. initiated and then followed through at the provide a foundation, and a number of For more information, see www. European level. building blocks, that would simplify the cenorm.be Further, realizing the need for task of constructing standards aimed at more transparency and communication the needs of specific sectors.” in explaining service standardization to To further reinforce the political 2) ANEC The European Consumer Voice the service providers and users, CEN support towards service standardization in Standardisation, ECOS European organized in May 2004 an open day in the EU, the EC addressed the sec- Environmental Citizens Organisation for for service standardization for Europe- ond programming mandate in the field Standardisation, NORMAPME European Office of services to CEN in June 2005. Cur- of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium- an federations and international organ- sized Enterprises for Standardisation, TUTB izations. More than 30 federations and rently the mandate is being discussed European Trade Union Technical Bureau for organizations were present, and the sem- at the national level by CEN members. Health and Safety.

ISO Focus January 2006 15 Main Focus From e-business to e-records : financial services evolve to meet the needs of the digital age by Mark A. Zalewski, Chair of ISO/TC 68, Financial services

he financial services industry serves a wide range of custom- Ters, including consumers, small

businesses, large business, domestic © ISO and global corporations, brokers/dealers, government institutions, interme- focus on trade automation has contribut- diaries, custodians and each other. As ed to a neglect of back office-processing, About the author the Internet increasingly becomes an particularly as it concerns cross-border integral part of commerce, many busi- trade. With the increase of trading vol- Mark A. Zal- ness transactions are conducted entire- umes and the continued consolidation ewski is ly in electronic form. Financial service process of cross-border mergers and Director of providers too are investing in ways to acquisitions, back office processing has e-Standards at the American reduce costs, eliminate errors, diversify remained fragmented. Financial revenues and attract customers by whol- The explosive growth of the Services Asso- ly electronic alternatives. Internet-based retail brokerage, which ciation. Mr. This paradigm shift to straight- can be defined as the use of the Inter- Zalewski, prin- through-processing compounded by the net to collect and channel retail equity cipal of the Aurora Group in Blue- social needs and, in some countries, by orders, has been the most conspicuous mont, VA, has held various executive domestic and federal laws, to protect the sign of the Internet impact on the secu- positions in product, software devel- privacy of the customer and the institution’s rities market. opment, telecommunications systems financial information is at the forefront of and global business development dur- today’s challenges for ISO technical com- “ Over USD 222 billion in ing his 20 plus years experience in the mittee ISO/TC 68, Financial services. losses were sustained to financial retail services industry. Consumers have been warming the global economy as a He has been involved in product inno- to electronic payment systems for years, vation for new market penetration and partly in an attempt to save time, avoid result of identity theft.” expansion for start-up and mature clutter, and eliminate human errors. These organizations. He has been an officer customer-based electronic delivery systems The Internet is considerably more at Marine Midland Bank (HSBC), have been the result of ISO/TC 68 stand- than a networking protocol and a set of com- Goldome Bank, National Data ards focused on customer authentication, munication standards. It is a broad envi- Corporation, GTE Spacenet, CyberCash customer verification, data protection of ronment which encompasses both technical Inc. and Longitude Systems. such taken for granted services as auto- and business architectures. It implies the He is Chair of ISO/TC 68 and Chair mated banking machines, wireless point blurring of boundaries between process- of X9C, the American National Stand- of purchase, and Internet payment deliv- ing and communications. Its impact is not ard (ANS) subcommittee responsible ery schemes. But the business-to-business only technical, but economic. for consumer credit. Mr. Zalewski transactions have lagged behind when it By increasing the availability of holds a BS in Education, an MBA in comes to making payments in electronic information, lowering transaction costs Finance and Marketing and is a gradu- form. Certain business-to-business trans- and enlarging the span of potential rela- ate of the Graduate School of Retail actions cry out for simplification, in the tionships, the Internet creates a strong Bank Management at the University of securities industry, for instance, where the demand for new forms of intermedia- Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.

16 ISO Focus January 2006 tion. The Internet and related technolo- risk protection profile efforts currently in Service sectors turn gy provide both a network infrastructure development, demonstrate the significant to standards and a flexible set of tools to develop and effort ISO/TC 68 has put forward to fend deploy new transaction systems. the trends in cyber crime and the intrusion Financial services are a crucial attacks attempted on computer servers application area for such systems. If one worldwide. To put this threat into perspec- protocol, a messaging standard developed peers into the core business of financial tive for the digital age, over USD 222 bil- for the real-time electronic exchange services, it reveals that transactions are lion in losses were sustained to the global of securities transactions and SWIFT – the basis of international business rela- economy as a result of identity theft.1) Society for Worldwide Interbank Finan- tionships. Financial services are focused cial Telecommunication, a supplier of on the movement of financial information “ Crimes such as theft, secure messaging services and interface of the organizations and their custom- fraud and extortion can software to wholesale financial entities. ers. Transactions in the form of products These efforts are generally driven by are exchanged, interchanged, and set- occur in great magnitude communities of users looking to drive tled over networks. ISO financial serv- within a matter of down cost in support of specific finan- ice standards are used as the common seconds.” cial business processes. Despite the com- business language to bridge differenc- plexity these multiple activities present es in technology, language, regulations This is not just confined to finan- and to avoid duplication and to provide and economies. cial services served by the ISO commu- consistency and interoperability across nity. With the growth in outsourcing, the multitude of standards and solutions wireless usage, applications, blended developed, ISO/TC 68 and the United Fend the trends in cyber threats and the organized and dynamic Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and crime approach to hacking that various crimi- Electronic Business, International Trade nal syndicates have taken in recent years, and Business Processes Group Team 5 The financial services technical Finance Domain (UN/CEFACT TBG5), standards focus on transaction-oriented other standard development bodies see the critical need for economic security. entered into an agreement to investigate work and the multitude of related services and develop a common message stand- that surround the transactions. Transac- ardization framework. tions rely upon commonly defined codes Maximizing industry With the increasing business and definitions, the historical basis of the involvement complexities to improve quality, reduce work of ISO/TC 68. In today’s technical Numerous initiatives are actively costs and achieve better time to market market place, these standards more and (Straight Through Processing- STP) and more move into the digital environment. addressing standardization of international financial information flows and the pro- contending with multiple types and vari- Digital technology enables the world to eties of financial transactions, the agree- become increasingly interconnected as tections of that flow, such as, FIXML – Financial Information eXchange (FIX) ment is an attempt to maximize indus- an entire economy becomes reliant on try involvement and rid the development a single network infrastructure. While process of special interest groups. this offers tremendous opportunities, it can also be a cause of concern if security © ISO issues are improperly addressed, or even Building block for neglected altogether. Heinous crimes such interoperability as theft, fraud and extortion can occur in Realizing the interplay between great magnitude within a matter of sec- financial services and other industry onds. The new network-mediated econ- sectors, the agreement uses ISO 20022, omy paradoxically presents unparalleled Financial services – UNIversal Financial opportunities for the creation of good out- Industry message scheme (UNIFI), as the comes, or the perpetuation of bad ones. foundation building block to involve cross As the network infrastructure spans across industry sectors, such as transportation, industry borders, so too, does the critical in an attempt to provide interoperability need for electronic security. across the financial services industry and In an effort to mitigate these types other intersecting industry sectors. of threats, ISO/TC 68 has assembled finan- The joint initiative, begun in Jan- cial industry expertise on data security uary 2005, uses a formal approach in to produce an array of data protection the ultimate creation of a global online and privacy standards to protect financial data stored and transmitted Online. 1) Aberdeen Group June 2003 Report on the These standards in combination with the Economic Impact of ID Theft.

ISO Focus January 2006 17 Main Focus repository. The process involves the use of business modling-based standards as the core development tool to analyze and define business processes. The methodology results in identifying requirements and constraints and the collaborations that ultimately are turned into messages and their content. By preparing message formats and applying syntax specific design rules, XML schemas result from the technical design and business case implementation. The XML schemas may then be registered in a global Inter- net accessible repository for all industry sectors to view and use.

Bright future for financial services The financial services industry continues to evolve with market changes influenced by a global economy and domestic laws. Cross-border mergers and cross industry acquisitions have created an opportunity for the financial service providers to use new technological developments to compete in new markets and avail their customers’ products and services, regardless of domestic laws and reg- Six decades, 1948, under the title of banking. Since ulations. Technological advances in wire- its creation, the committee’s title changed less telecommunication, infrared com- but who’s from banking to financial services, with munication, Internet connectivity, faster the overall aim of being inclusive of all computing and file sharing impose new counting ? aspects of the global banking and finan- challenges for financial service standards cial services industry. development initiatives where similar ISO in the financial Consumers of financial services include the public consumer and cor- needs arise from cross industry sectors. The industry is moving more toward elec- services sector porate/business clients (called custom- tronic solutions where one may view the ers or clients). The corporate/business migration, from paper-based systems to clients include services provided within electronically stored information, or from by Cynthia Fuller, Secretary the industry –this generally consists of e-business to e-records to e-evidence. The of ISO/TC 68, Financial services larger banks or financial firms offering increased use of electronic communica- services to smaller firms. tion improves the efficiency of commer- hen we speak of ISO’s grow- Clearly, the industry is inclusive cial activities, enhances trade connections, ing into the services sector, we of traditional banks, as well as non-bank and allows new access opportunities for Wmay be using the wrong term retail service providers including secu- previously remote parties and markets, as ISO has been involved in the servic- rities firms, insurance companies, audi- playing a role in promoting both domes- es sector for some time now – nearly tors/consultants and financial governing tically and internationally. six decades ! bodies. As banks have grown and have Our challenge in the years ahead As suggested by the article’s title, reshaped either by charter or by legis- will be to provide the financial services ISO has been involved in service sector lative permission, they have moved into industry commonality through interop- standardization for a very long time, various business sectors including retail erable standards to increase productivity, and now, that segment of its “ business ” services – cards, securities, private bank- reduce costs, access information, main- is expanding and will continue to do so ing, insurance, corporate banking and tain privacy, and retain legal transparency very rapidly in the next decade. much more. while protecting the security and reliabil- ISO technical committee ISO/TC ISO/TC 68 members view the ity of the financial infrastructure. 68, Financial services, was formed in industry as modern banking in all its

18 ISO Focus January 2006 Security is a primary requirement Service sectors turn for financial services. It is not simply to standards the movement of data from point-to- point that is a security risk, but the storage, archival, management and distri- bution of information that must also be Standards have enabled the protected. Protecting and managing the development of the retail card transac- ever growing levels of electronic finan- tion business, debit and credit cards, as cial data require strong encryption, its the entire card processing infrastruc- appropriate application and defined risk ture is built upon ISO standards, includ- management systems. ing the personal identification number (PIN) – ISO 9564-1: 2002, Banking – Personal Identification Number (PIN) The desire to improve management and security – Part 1: operations and customer Basic principles and requirements for relations online PIN handling in ATM and POS systems and transaction communication Standards have helped the finan- standard ISO 8583 and there are many cial services companies grow from batch- more standards in this area. oriented processes to real-time operations. And processing using automated workflow management allowed integra- “ Standards have tion of systems across all tiers to obtain helped the industry a single, consistent view of transaction to fully achieve global status at any one time. Further, standards have helped interoperability.” the industry to fully achieve global inter- One single ISO standard is used © ISO operability, grow the Straight Through Processing – STP of information and to transact billions of dollars in retail dimensions, including retail (credit/debit transactions, reduce the manual interven- card business annually – ISO 8583-1: cards), corporate banking, securities, data tion and allow compliance with emerg- 2003 – Financial transaction card orig- and information security (as related to ing market standards. In fact, ISO/TC inated messages – Interchange message financial services), insurance and other 68 would claim that the banking and specifications – Part 1: Messages, data consumer, corporate services. financial services industry is built upon a foundation of standards. Although one can argue that not About the author Burgeoning of e-banking all of this foundation is composed of ISO Although electronic communica- or even financial standards, many seg- Cynthia Fuller tions began in banking in the 1950s, in ments of the global industry rely heavily is the Executive one form or another, it was the arrival upon ISO and national standards. The Director of the Accredited of the Internet that opened new worlds number of standards users is growing Standards in e-banking on a global basis. And, as as developing countries look to build or Committee X9, the industry moves from its brick and rebuild banking systems from the Inter- Inc. (ASC X9, mortar buildings, to electronic channels national Standards (or select national Inc) – Financial and e-banking, so do the standardization standards) currently available. Industry Standards, needs. As services industries expand To make or “ transact ” a finan- a 350 member further toward electronic communica- cial exchange, parties to and within organization tions technology, so does participation the transaction need to communicate nationally ANSI accredited developer in service standardization – including with one another. And, within these of financial standards (www.x9.org). financial services. messages or communications format, ASC X9, Inc. is the USA – technical Financial Standards allow the parties form and functionality play a key role. advisory group to ISO/TC 68, services and its subcommittees 2, 4, 6, and involved to communicate electronically The major drivers for standardization 7. Mrs. Fuller acts as Secretariat staff to with less interface or manual processing within the industry are the desire to ISO/TC 68 and ISO/TC 68/SC 2, Security standards. And, as transactions become a improve internal operations, customer management and general banking 24-hour by 7-day a week service, flaw- relations and straight through process- operations under ANSI’s auspices. Mrs. less communication is crucial, and thus, ing with all parties within the indus- Fuller is the Secretary to the ISO/TC 68 the need for standards. try sector. 20022 Registration Management Group.

ISO Focus January 2006 19 Main Focus elements and code values. This stand- What is often not recognized is with financial transaction card originat- ard allows all of the various parties to a that all of the changes mentioned can ed messages, the growing number of retail transaction to complete the trans- likely be positively influenced by stand- groups and organizations working on action within seconds. Additionally, the ards. Mergers and acquisitions, for exam- the same activities were at odds, and well known PIN standard (ISO 9564) ple, can go more smoothly as a result by diverging in different directions, is used for initiation of card operations of standards if the merging companies led to a slowing of the adoption of all and customer security of card transac- have standardized operations. And, glo- standards by the sector. tions. The PIN is used millions of times bal banking/financial services expan- The industry became aware of globally each day. These are but a few sion becomes less burdensome if the the overlapping, complex and repeti- examples of standards used in this serv- organization is merging into a market tive direction it was taking and, start- ice sector and ones that are easy for most where the global standards are widely ing in the year 2000, sought a new consumers to comprehend. applied and adopted. path. This change is today redirecting In the securities side of the finan- the industry and its financial transac- cial services business, standards form tion standardization energies to ISO the basis of the communication of infor- From chaos to 20022 (UNIversal Financial Industry mation, known as electronic banking, harmonization message scheme – UNIFI) – an evo- including those for coding and num- As mentioned previously, the lutionary standard originally borne to bering the securities (ISO 6166) and financial services sector is very mature serve the securities industry as it moves those that transact securities movement in its use of and development of stand- from “ flat file ” or “ fixed ” transaction (ISO 15022). ards. In the 1990s, as various business messages to a more fluid messaging Financial industries are consum- areas in this sector organized to work direction. The flexible framework in ers and users of standards developed together to resolve specific interop- ISO 20022 allows financial message and built within other ISO communi- erability, processing and associated development and registration of busi- ties and it is critical for them to recog- problems, what was loosely known as ness requirements and definition of nize the unique needs of not only the the “ standards landscape ” grew and message sets according to an interna- financial services sector, but other serv- became increasingly more complex, tionally agreed approach. ices sectors. Some of the unique needs complicated and competitive – some are worth mentioning. would even say chaotic. “ One single ISO standard As the number of standards devel- is used to transact billions Challenges and changes oping organizations, or those organi- of dollars in retail card go more smoothly with zations developing specifications grew, the outcome or the resultant specifica- business annually.” global standards tion was, more often than not, a prod- The financial services industry, uct standard backed by only a handful Overall methodology and for- like many industries delivering serv- in the industry. In addition, standards mat specifications for inputs to and ices, faces a constant array of chal- became a competitive issue. This was outputs from the ISO 20022 reposi- lenges. And, the pressure to deliver a in complete contrast to the position held tory standard could be the key to har- customer/client service quicker, better previously which viewed standards as monizing financial industry stand- and more reliably is a key component a means to allow broad communica- ardization as this developing stand- of industry needs. tion and serve a broader constituency ard has wider adoption possibilities. A partial list of challenges of the industry. And, from the prior chaos in develop- affecting financial services business ment of standards arise a “ UNIFI’ed ” includes : financial institution merg- “ The entire card processing direction under ISO in financial servers and acquisitions, global banking/ infrastructure is built upon ices and in financial services standardi- financial services expansion, non-banks zation rather than the previous chaotic offering bank-like products in compe- ISO standards.” complex direction. tition with traditional banks, the real- This change and redirection dem- onstrates the services sector’s need for ity of a 24/7 service day, outsourcing In some cases the specifications global standards and once again that operational areas, the move from the became a proprietary product, while the industry is directing its energies traditional brick and mortar building some others were more open stand- toward broader, more open and inter- to electronic banking, continued direc- ards – but competitive. Rather than the operable standards. tion from manual processes to straight more traditional and complicit devel- through processing, the growth of the opment that lead to the agreement for Internet, dependency on technology, ISO 9564, dealing with the management changing security requirements and and security of banking personal iden- governmental regulation. tification numbers or ISO 8583, dealing

20 ISO Focus January 2006 Service sectors turn to standards

Proposal initiated by certified financial planners An International Standard for financial planning will provide simplification for the client by formulating requirements that make for neutral and client-oriented financial advisory services. A certificate on the basis of the standard is intended to promote client confidence. This was the motivation for establishing ISO/TC 222, which held its inaugural meeting in Atlanta, the USA, in February 2001. “ An International Standard for financial planning will provide simplification for the client.”

The committee was initially set © ISO up following a proposal from the inter- purposes, and to prevent being cheated national organization, Certified Finan- A global by the more advanced Egyptians. In the cial Planners. It is comprised of repre- benchmark law, the Hammurabi code 1) was set forth sentatives of financial planners, banks, centuries ago literally in stone. consumer protection bodies and research for financial Now, in a relatively short peri- organizations. They were joined by finan- od, we have a new profession and the cial planners, also known as personal planners ISO technical committee ISO/TC 222, financial specialists, as well as regula- Personal financial planning, was called tors and educators. upon to produce a unique and pioneer- Experts from Australia, Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, (China), France, by Stuart Kessler, Chair of ing standard. The problem is the same the world Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, ISO/TC 222, Personal financial over : private clients are overwhelmed Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sin- planning, and Holger by the ever growing variety of invest- gapore, South Africa, Sweden, the Unit- Muehlbauer, Secretary ment schemes, the frequent changes ed Kingdom, and the USA, attended the of ISO/TC 222 to the legal framework, and the risk of meeting – making this a truly interna- misinvestment. They need comprehen- tional undertaking. hile the business professions sive, competent and objective advice. The committee used its first meeting of law and accounting have But which financial planner can they to establish four working groups (WGs) : Wbeen in existence, in one form trust in financial matters ? How can they • or another, for thousands of years, per- compare the different schemes and tech- WG 1 : Process of Personal Financial sonal financial planning can only look niques being offered ? Planning ; back on a four-decade history. Some • WG 2 : Competency of a Personal claim accounting dates back to the year Financial Planner ; 1000 BC when the commercially oriented 1) The Code of Hammurabi is known for demanding punishment to fit the crime with a • WG 3: Ethical requirements ; Phoenicians invented a 22-character pho- different treatment for each social class, and was netic alphabet, probably for book-keeping established by Babylonia’s king 1728-1686 BC. • WG 4 : Continuing Competency.

ISO Focus January 2006 21 Main Focus

Each WG was assigned the task of • Developing and presenting the finan- • Ethical decision-making capabili- developing aspects of the standard relevant cial plan ; ty, confidence and integrity develop to its own sector, and after much discus- • Implementing recommendations ; with experience and implementation sion, the draft International standard (DIS) in a range of often challenging situ- • was published in four parts in 2004. Monitoring the plan recommenda- ations. At the end of the inquiry peri- tions. od, during which the document was “ To be effective, available for public review, many use- Competency of a consumers must have ful comments were submitted and later personal financial planner processed. The most significant subse- confidence in their quent modification was the merging of Competency is defined and pro- personal financial the four parts of the draft standard into vides illustrations, including require- planner.” a single document. ments for competency in each of the The standards project involved above process areas. Additionally, the This part of the standard sup- experts representing very different view- characteristics for the demonstration ports and is fully integrated with the points and opinions, coming from a great of initial competency are defined and other parts. The detail of application variety of legal, economic and cultur- assessment methods set forth. will depend on the particular context al backgrounds. They have authored and factors involved in a specific case a unique and pioneering goal-orient- Ethical requirements and therefore more prescriptive require- ed standard. ments have been avoided. Ethical behaviour is at the core A personal financial planner Process of personal of the personal financial planner’s prac- has a responsibility to develop specif- financial planning tice. Recognizing, valuing and applying ic practical solutions within the frame- ethical principles on a daily basis are work of this standard. Generally the personal financial fundamental to professional life. planning process includes six steps : This section of ISO 22222 pro- • Establishing the client/planner rela- vides a limited number of key ethi- Continued competency cal principles that apply broadly to all tions ; To remain compliant with the ISO aspects of the personal financial plan- • standard, personal financial planners Determining goals and gathering ning process. data ; will be required to demonstrate contin- • Ethical behaviour presumes and goes uing competence. They will be respon- • Analyzing and evaluating the client’s beyond compliance with applicable sible for ensuring that their continuing financial status ; rules and regulations ; education programme covers the topics necessary to maintain professional competence and records of their learning or About the authors relevant activities are kept.

Stuart Kessler Dr. Holger is the Chair of Muehlbauer is ISO/TC 222, Secretary of Conformity assessment – Personal financial ISO/TC 222, an important issue planning : Personal He is a Certified financial One of the last hurdles the techni- Public planning and is cal committee had to overcome was how Accountant at involved in and who should assess the competency American several ISO of the professionals providing this serv- Express Tax projects, ice to consumers. The experts involved & Business INC. including in establishing the standard would like exhibition services, ISO/IEC advisory to see it form the basis for independent group on security, market research certification procedures. services. Trained as a lawyer, Conformity assessment of per- Dr. Muehlbauer is currently Sector sonal financial planners is a complex Manager for standards for consumer products and services at DIN Deutsches task requiring access to specialized Institut für Normung, ISO member for knowledge, skills and experience. ISO/ Germany. He is also Secretary of several TC 222 strongly believes that accredit- working bodies of the European ed, independent, third-party certifica- Committee for Standardization. tion, provides the most reliable meth-

22 ISO Focus January 2006 od of conformity assessment and thus Service sectors turn protection for consumers. to standards Therefore, it recommended that consumers seek the services of personal financial planners, who can demonstrate that they have undergone conformity assessment by independent third- party certification bodies, which have been accredited according to requirements set out in ISO/IEC 17024, Con- formity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.

Inspiring consumer confidence International Standard ISO 22222:2005 has been drawn up with the objective of achieving and promoting a globally accepted benchmark for individuals, who provide the professional service of personal financial planning. ISO 22222 will be the first truly non-technical ISP service standard for financial services. Personal financial planning is a process carried out by personal financial planners to enable consumers to achieve their personal financial goals. To be effective, consumers must have confidence in their personal financial Exhibition in Tokyo displays specific initiatives in sustainable buildings in Hong Kong, China. planner. As already mentioned, ISO 22222 will specify the ethical behaviors, competences and experience required of Billion-dollar ous market partners to provide a unique a professional personal financial plan- opportunity for personal contact. This is ner, as well as describe and address exhibition industry the only marketing platform that allows various conformity assessment meth- the full exploitation of all five senses in ods and requirements applying to each stands to gain an environment of face-to-face interac- of them. tion. Exhibitions are therefore, an excel- from future lent way to promote, launch and sell one ISO standard company’s products and services. According to the Global Asso- ciation of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the worldwide exhibition industry is by Winston Wong, Secretary worth at least an estimated USD 60 billion per year. More than 30 000 exhibi- of ISO/TMB/WG, Exhibition tions (with the size of at least 500 square terminology metres each), attracting more than 350 million visitors are organized in different he history of exhibitions goes as corners of the world each year. Despite far back as Ancient Egypt, Greek such impressive figures, there are cur- TCivilization and the Roman Empire, rently no International Standards for the when journeying traders met local pro- industry. ducers in market places and bazaars.1) In today’s global economy, exhi- 1) Source : UFI, The Global Association of the bitions continue to bring together vari- Exhibition Industry. © Courtesy of NASA/JPL/UMD Artwork by Pat Rawlings ISO Focus October 2005 23 Main Focus About SPRING Singapore breaks Singapore “ We are honoured that the new ground Singapore Standard has been accept- (Standards, ed as the basis for the development of While the exhibition industry Productivity and an International Standard in exhibition in Singapore has a relatively short his- Innovation Board) terminology,” said Mr. Teo Nam Kuan, tory of about 30 years, the country has SPRING’s Group Director for Quali- SPRING works to enhance the risen to be a premier world-class destina- ty and Standards. “ The local small and competitiveness of enterprises for tion for exhibitions in Asia. In the proc- medium-sized companies in the exhibi- a vibrant Singapore economy. The ess, Singapore-based enterprises expe- tion industry have played a significant focus is to champion enterprise train- rienced considerable challenges due to role in initiating the development of this ing and growth – through a network the inconsistent use of exhibition termi- International Standard. This has allowed of valued relationships and resources nology, resulting in misunderstandings Singapore to play a greater role in the – to nurture a host of dynamic and amongst exhibitors and visitors from international exhibition industry.” different countries. innovative Singapore enterprises. To address this problem, SPRING works with its part- SPRING Singapore (Standards, Pro- ners to build a pro-business environ- ductivity and Innovation Board) formed ment that encourages enterprise for- a working group in 1998, comprised mation and growth, and facilitates of members from the Singapore Asso- the growth of industries. It also help ciation of Convention and Exhibition to improve the productivity and Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS), innovation of enterprises, as well as the Singapore Exhibition and Conven- increase access to markets and busi- tion Bureau (SECB) and SPRING, to ness opportunities. For more infor- develop a national standard on exhibi- mation see: www.spring.gov.sg tion content.

“ The worldwide exhibition programme 2) have to meet the guide- industry is worth at least lines laid out in the Singapore standard. SACEOS has also developed a training an estimated USD 60 programme to facilitate the implemen- billion per year.” tation of SS 505: 2003.

The result of their work was the Leading the development publication of a technical reference on of the future ISO standard exhibition content in 2001, which was 2) The programme was launched with the subsequently reviewed and published as The successful implementa- objective of developing Singapore into the a full Singapore standard in 2003. This tion of SS 505:2003 in Singapore, as premier location for holding international trade was a significant boost for the Singapore well as the growing regional interest for exhibitions. It aims to attract and nurture trade exhibition industry as it was a world’s first its internationalization prompted Singa- events, grow existing trade events and raise standards of the EMS sector. standard for the exhibition industry. pore’s submission for the development The SS 505: 2003, Exhibition of an International Standard. SPRING, terminology and audit procedures, pro- the national standards body for Singa- About the author vides clear definitions for a core set of pore, and a member of ISO, with the standardized terminology commonly support of SACEOS and the SECB, ini- Winston Wong used in the Singapore exhibition indus- tiated and submitted to ISO a new work is the Secretary try. It has helped to reduce ambiguities item proposal to develop an ISO stand- of ISO/TMB/ and uncertainties caused by the differ- ard on exhibition terminology. WG, Exhibition ent understanding and usage of exhibi- ISO’s technical management Terminology. He tion-related terms. board (TMB) formally accepted Singa- is a manager The exhibition industry in Sin- pore’s proposal in February 2005. This with the Stand- ardization gapore has shown strong support in the is a significant milestone for Singapore Department of implementation of standards. Exhibition as the national standard will be used as SPRING Singa- organizers who are interested in apply- the initial working document for the pore (Standards, ing for grants from the Singapore Exhi- development of the first ISO Interna- Productivity and Innovation Board) and bition and Convention Bureau under tional Standard for the global exhibi- manages the standardization projects for the International Exhibition City (IEC) tion industry. the exhibition industry in Singapore.

24 ISO Focus January 2006 Leading the development of “ After two rounds of working Service sectors turn the future ISO standard is Stephen Tan, group meetings, we have come closer to standards Chief Executive of Singapore Exhibi- to achieving our goals in the standardi- tion Services Pte Ltd. With more than zation of exhibition terminology. Those 20 years of experience in the exhibi- in attendance at the meetings have been tion industry, Mr. Tan is well suited to active in contributing as a team, and with used in the global exhibition industry be the project leader and convenor of the continuation of this spirit, I am con- by providing a reference basis. the working group on exhibition ter- fident that the working group will be During the marketing of exhi- minology (WG ET). He has also held successful in meeting the deadlines,” bitions, for example, exhibition organ- prominent positions as the Vice Presi- said Mr. Tan. izers advertise the size of their shows. dent of UFI, The Global Association of This can be misleading to both exhibi- the Exhibition Industry and the Presi- tors and visitors because of the uncer- dent of SACEOS. The future International Standard – ISO 25639 – will provide a dictionary of core tainty of whether the size refers to wall- terms for the exhibition industry. to-wall space, or actual exhibition space occupied by the exhibitors. The future ISO 25639 will address the issue by defining exhibition space as either gross exhibition space, which refers to wall-to-wall space ; or net exhibition space, which only takes into account the actual content of the exhibition excluding the peripherals such as corridors and gantries. “ A standardized set of terminology will provide a basis for objective comparisons and evaluations across exhibitions all around the world.”

There are currently 12 participat- Solving ambiguity, The use of a standardized set ing (P) members in the working group : confusion and of terminology will also provide a basis Canada, China, France, Germany, Ita- misunderstanding for objective comparisons and evalua- ly, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, tions across exhibitions all around the Singapore, South Africa, United King- The future International Stand- world, and help prospective exhibitors dom and the USA. The three observ- ard on exhibition terminology – to be better ascertain the quality of the exhi- er (O) members are Poland, Spain and referenced as ISO 25639 – will pro- bitions being held. This in turn will Sweden. The International Association vide a dictionary of core terms for the enhance the exhibitors’ decision-mak- for Exhibition Management (IAEM) exhibition industry. This means that ing process of which exhibitions they and UFI are also participating as liai- when a person uses a term found in will participate in. son organizations. The working group the standard, the exhibition industry The future ISO 25639 will serve reports directly to the ISO TMB. in the world will know exactly what as a reference for the explanations given The first meeting was held in is being described and what they can in publicity brochures, definitions given Singapore from 25-27 July 2005 and expect. in show statistics and media publicity ; the second meeting in Berlin, Germany, So far, the working group has and business-to-business communica- from 16-18 November 2005. identified and defined about 50 terms. tions. Exhibition organizers, exhibitors, The working group also referred Some of the key terms include : gross attendees, visitors and service providers to documents submitted by other members exhibition space, net exhibition space, and many more stand to benefit from the in the deliberation of the terminology. Doc- exhibitor, visitor and attendee. future International Standard. uments were received from UFI and coun- The future ISO 25639 will help ISO 25639 is expected to be try members from Canada, France, Italy, to solve the problem of ambiguity, con- published by the end of the second quar- Germany, United Kingdom and USA. fusion and misunderstanding of terms ter of 2008.

ISO Focus January 2006 25 Main Focus © ISO, P. Krieger © ISO, P.

(Above) Tourists in a village near Djerba, Tunisia and (Insert) in the Plaza Mayor, ISO technical Madrid, Spain. committee for tourism brings transparency standards and certification body, in association with the national tour- to the industry ism industry and its central administration, backed by a shared com- by Elena Ordozgoiti de la mitment to continuously improve Rica (AENOR) and Amel Ben the quality of tourism in Spain. AENOR is joined in this Farhat (INNORPI), endeavour by the Tunisian stand- Secretaries of ISO/TC 228, disparities between the product offered ardization institute, INNORPI, which Tourism and related services and what is actually provided. has made similar commitments to promoting national tourism, and has also SO technical committee ISO/TC expressed to ISO its interest in interna- 228, Tourism and related servic- Broad scope tional standardization for the sector. I es, is aimed at standardizing terminology and specifications across The scope of ISO/TC 228’s activ- the industry, so that choosing between ities is intended to reflect the breadth of Expectation and benefits tourism products becomes more trans- the tourist services sector it will serve parent, as well as ensuring, for exam- by developing : The challenge for ISO/TC 228 ple, that holidays match their sales will be to fulfil a number of important Standardization of the terminol- description. expectations in standards for tourism ogy and specifications of the services With the creation in January 2005 activity and services. Key among these offered by tourism service providers, of ISO/TC 228 tourism service provid- are greater transparency for the custom- including related activities, touristic ers and their customers can expect to er, better marketing of tourism prod- destinations and the requirements of benefit from standardization of termi- ucts, improved communication between facilities and equipment used by them, nology and specifications across the companies and enhanced environmen- to provide tourism buyers, providers industry, leading to greater clarity and tal protection. and consumers with criteria for mak- transparency in the marketing of tour- Thus, the resulting standards are ing informed decisions. ist products. expected to make it easier for tourists The objective is to make selec- The technical committee is the to discern the differences between one tion easier for the end user, and reduce initiative of AENOR, Spain’s national product and another, and reduce pos-

26 ISO Focus January 2006 sible misconceptions and disappoint- the industry itself should be entrusted with Service sectors turn ment by ensuring that what is offered drawing up any standards for the sector, to standards is accurately reflected in what is actu- particularly in promoting the quality of ally provided. the services it provides. The proposed standards will aim There are also arguments that to facilitate communication between pro- standardization, and by implication, stan- viders and their customers, i.e. those com- dardized conditions, could be detrimen- demands of users of tourism services, panies that market tourist products, set tal to the visitor’s perception of cultural whose stated priorities are safety, secu- guidelines for management and encour- diversity in different destinations. rity, accessibility and hygiene. age good service rewards. They should It will also be necessary to con- also serve to protect and promote the “ Standards are expected to sider EN/ISO 18513:2003, Tourism serv- environment, as well as the cultural and ice – Hotels and other types of tourism gastronomic wealth of each area. ensure that what is offered accommodation – Terminology, an exist- is accurately reflected in ing standard that contains definitions of a number of terms commonly used in Twinning what is actually provided.” the tourism industry, and is designed to The AENOR-INNORPI partner- facilitate understanding between users The ISO technical committee must ship is another example of ISO’s “ twin- and providers of tourism services. work with these issues in mind to ensure ning ” policy whereby a standards body In addition, ISO/TC 228 will also that the standards developed reflect the from a developed country with much discuss the adoption of the European div- interests of all parties and serve to offer experience in standardization forms a ing standards as International Standards quality and transparency to the user, team with one from a developing coun- at its forthcoming first meeting. without endangering the individuality try to make it easier for the latter to gain But the main contribution to the of each destination. experience in the management of com- work programme is to come from mem- mittee secretariats, subcommittees or However, the conclusions of the bers, who have been invited to send their working groups. ISO/COPOLCO, committee on consum- proposals by mid-January, to prepare for er policy, tourism group should inspire the first meeting that will take place in “ The scope of ISO/TC the work of ISO/TC 228 in reflecting the Tunis on 27 and 28 March, 2006. 228’s activities is intended to reflect the breadth of About the authors the tourist services sector.” Elena Amel Ben The task ahead is a challenge for Ordozgoiti de Farhat is a civil both bodies, since there are no previous- la Rica, is Head engineer and has ly documented models on which to base of the Services been a standard- the innovative twinning system of col- Unit of AENOR, ization and prod- laboration. AENOR and INNORPI have the Spanish uct certification entered into a Memorandum of Under- national stand- manager within standing, the main pillar of which is train- ards and certifi- INNORPI since cation body. 1987. She has ing INNORPI personnel in the standard- Asociación also worked as a ization functions described above. Española de consultant for Normalización y Certificación (AENOR) the National Programme for Upgrading Genova 6 Quality of Tunisian industry. Amel Ben A good start E-28004 Madrid Farhat is currently responsible for training ISO/TC 228 is off to a good start, Spain department within INNORPI and is also a and responses to its initial proposals Tel. + 34 91 432 60 57 qualified quality management Certifica- have been extremely positive. Current- E-mail [email protected] tion auditor. ly, 42 countries on five continents have Web www.aenor.es Institut national de la normalisation et de expressed their intention to participate la propriété industrielle (INNORPI) (32 in the category of P-members and Rue 8451 no 8 par la rue Alain Savary 10 as O-members). BP 57, Cité El Khadra However, there has been opposi- TN-1003 Tunis tion from the tourism sector in Europe. Tel. + 216 71 78 59 22 Voices representing some European hotel, E-mail [email protected] bar and restaurant interests maintain that Web www.inorpi.ind.tn

ISO Focus January 2006 27 Main Focus Never get out of your depth : Scuba diving standards by Holger Muehlbauer, Secretary of ISO/TC 222, Personal financial planning

cuba diving is a fun sport that anyone in good average health, Swho meets the age requirements, can participate in. However, it is complex and cannot be understood in one lesson and requires careful forethought and planning. Scuba divers must decide on a suitable location, ensure that they have the correct equipment – whether buying or hiring – and if they are diving for the first time, they will need to take lessons, since approximately sixty percent of all diving accidents happen during a diver’s first 30 dives. Good theoretical “ Standards aim to ensure The standards specify the level and practical instruction and supervi- that the recreational of expertise that a scuba diving instruc- sion can therefore alleviate the dangers tor ought to achieve. Only if a potential of diving. diving sector benefits from instructor has sufficient practical expe- better training, improved rience as well as theoretical knowledge and fulfils certain health requirements customer service, more can he be awarded an instructor’s certif- Making the deep blue safer safety and consumer Customers frequently find it diffi- confidence.” cult to make the right choice from numer- About the author ous service providers in the recreational diving sector. Today, critical consumers mittee for Standardization (CEN) tech- Dr. Holger expect reliable assessments of quality nical committee CEN/TC 329, Tourism Muehlbauer is Secretary of ISO/ and qualifications, and scope of servic- services, working group (WG 3), Rec- TC 222, es provided. Standards and the quality reational diving services. Personal certificates based on such assessments Throughout Europe, the scuba financial now play a major role in this decision- diving sector has implemented these planning and is making process. standards and is currently using them as involved in Standardization is important for a benchmark for its training programmes. several ISO recreational activities, such as diving, in Some countries, like Malta and Greece, projects, which training and experience are essen- have incorporated them into national including tial for the participants to be able to carry legislation. exhibition services, ISO/IEC advisory out the activity safely. Although recre- The aim of the standards is to group on security, market research services. ational diving is potentially hazardous, diminish the risks to an acceptable level Trained as a lawyer, Dr. Muehlbauer is currently Sector Manager for standards for the risks to the participants can easily be by establishing a series of specifications consumer products and services at DIN reduced to acceptable levels by the adop- for safe practices and the provision of Deutsches Institut für Normung, ISO tion of appropriate precautions. services. These specifications deal with member for Germany. He is also Secretary Recreational diving services were minimum requirements for the training of several working bodies of the European first developed by the European Com- of scuba instructors. Committee for Standardization.

28 ISO Focus January 2006 icate from a training organization. This tional diving services – Safety related Service sectors turn document qualifies him as professional minimum requirements for the training to standards instructor and entitles him to train scu- of scuba instructors, specifies the com- ba divers. petencies that a scuba instructor has to These standards, covering require- have achieved in order for a training ments common to the provision of train- organization to award the scuba instruc- ing and certification of divers and instructor certification indicating that he has tors, aim to ensure that the recreational met or exceeded scuba instructor level 1 diving sector benefits from better train- and specifies assessment of these coming, improved service for customers, petencies. It also specifies conditions more safety and more consumer con- under which training has to be provided, fidence. They do not, however, place in addition to the general requirements requirements on consumers. for recreational diving service provision according to ISO/DIS 24803. A call for International Standards A number of non-European countries expressed interest in ISO standards for scuba diving services. Interested parties have agreed to support an initiative to advance these standards to an international level, which would ensure a high quality and safety for scuba divers anywhere in the world. The suite of European standards on recreational diving services were submitted to ISO and are now at Draft International Standard (DIS) stage. Standards are important for com- paring the quality of many services internationally and enable diving instructors and schools to bring their services up to a uniformly high level, thus improving market transparency. For example, it will be easier for certifiers to promote certification based on standards developed by ISO, which is known and accepted globally. ISO/DIS 24801, consists of three ISO/DIS 24803, Recreational parts under the general title, Recreation- diving services – Requirements for rec- al diving services – Safety related min- reational scuba diving service provid- imum requirements for the training of ers, specifies the safety practices and recreational scuba divers, and distin- requirements for diving schools or dive guishes three levels of diving instruc- centres. Service providers are obliged tion: Level 1 is for instructors teaching to follow demands in the fields of rent- basic diving knowledge, level 2 covers al of diving equipment, organized and teaching of advanced divers and level 3 guided diving for certified divers and awards instructors teaching dive lead- training and education. It is therefore ers. A certified instructor for example required that a risk assessment is con- needs to be able to recover casualties ducted before every dive, which includes from depth, to perform First-Aid and the underwater visibility, pollution and apply oxygen in emergencies as well emergency action plans. It also specifies as being able to demonstrate the neces- which emergency equipment has to be sary diving skills. available and which emergency proce- ISO/DIS 24802, consists of two dures are to be put into place. parts under the general title, Recrea- © All photos courtesy of Aqua Lung Ltd.

ISO Focus January 2006 29 Main Focus

pliers, which in turn helps governments enhancing the level of quality in tour- Global trade strengthen environmental standards, by ism services, such as accommodation, in services – promoting increased competition, gen- restaurants, sport and leisure facili- erating foreign exchange, income and ties, tourist attractions, destinations, New challenges employment. tour operators, transportation, etc. in On the other hand, trade in serv- order for the country to be able to com- for international ices can also have a negative impact on pete with other destinations in the glo- standardization social and environmental sustainability. bal competitive market nowadays. If tourism is not properly planned and managed, it can have an adverse impact Thailand as a quality both environmentally and socially, for destination by Dr. Sasithara example, depletion of forests and cor- Pichaichannarong, Director- al reefs, misuse of natural resources, There is no doubt that tourism General, Office of Tourism change of community structure, etc. – with its links to a wide range of sec- Development, Ministry of Without increased environmental tors – is an important industry for eco- Tourism and Sports of Thailand and social responsibility in the tourism nomic and social development of our sector, the expansion of tourism trade country (Figure 1), that provides vis- resently tourism is seen as a trad- services might exacerbate these trends. itors with experiences and activities, able global service, which brings It is important therefore, that the stand- such as accommodation, tour opera- Pwith it numerous debates on the ardization for tourism be adopted, in tors, transportation services, restau- pros and cons of this industry. Some of order to be prepared for the liberaliza- rants, infrastructure, guide services, the positive effects of tourism include tion of trade in tourism services. handicraft/local craft shops. There are facilitating access to environmental serv- Having tourism standards is not a number of benefits for the country, ices. Trade is increased through a larger only good for protecting the envi- including generating foreign exchange, market access to external service sup- ronment and community, but also for jobs and income generation opportu-

30 ISO Focus January 2006 nities, diversifying the local economy than increasing its product and serv- Service sectors turn and increasing entrepreneurial oppor- ice quality. to standards tunities. Thus, the Thai government con- Development process sidered tourism as one of the country’s of Thailand’s tourism major economic-driven industries and standards also cover the restrooms in tourism des- set the goal of becoming a “ Quality tinations. Presently our government has Tourism Destination ” by 2008. In order to enhance the qual- provided a budget for improving public ity of tourism products, services and restrooms at major destinations. The need and human resources and to be prepared The national tourism standard will significance of tourism for liberalization of tourism servic- be used as a voluntary instrument pro- es, the Thai government realized the viding tourism companies/destinations standards importance of and the need for tour- with a greater scope for the improvement In order to achieve this goal, ism standards that should be in place, of environmental performance, product there is a need to enhance our compet- and established the national tourism quality and social improvements rather itive advantage in every tourism sec- standards committee to be respon- than being mandatory, i.e. government tor (products, services, human resourc- sible for developing standards for a control. The application of standardiza- es and the destination itself). Howev- wide range of tourism sectors in the tion in companies/destinations can help er, one of the challenging issues for country. improve tourism products to reach high- Thailand is the lack of standards to ensure a high quality of tourism professionals, products and services. It is always the case in tourism, which is a highly competitive market, that tourism-related business would reduce its prices and therefore quality as a strategy for maintaining its market rather

About the author

Dr. Sasithara Pichaichan- narong has been the Director-Gen- eral of the Thai Office of Tourism Development since 2002. Before joining this office, she was Deputy Director-General of the Department of Phys- ical Education of the Ministry of Education

from 1998-2002 and Deputy Permanent © ISO Delegate of Thailand to UNESCO from Figure 1 : A wide range of sectors in the Thai tourism industry. 1996-1998. At the international/regional level, she has been actively involved in the Under the national committee, er standards and consequently quality tourism field through her chairmanship of six subcommittees were established to assurance of the tourism industry, which the World Tourism Organization Committee deal specifically with standards for des- is an important element to create experi- on Sustainable Development of Tourism and tinations, activities, tourism services, ences, highly rated by visitors, enhance her chairmanship of various ASEAN task accommodation, professionals and also tourism’s recognition in the country, forces and working groups related to tour- increase national competitiveness, cre- ism, including the ASEAN Task Force on public restrooms. We have been work- Tourism Standards and the ASEAN Working ing closely with the Ministry of Public ate a positive image in international mar- Group on Tourism, Coordinating Committee Health and Department of Local Admin- kets and ensure that tourism operation/ on Services. Dr. Sasithara has a PhD in istration to improve the hygiene, cleanli- development does not deplete the qual- contemporary literature from the Université ness and safety of public restrooms for ity of natural and cultural resources of de la Sorbonne, France. users. Standards for public restrooms will the country.

ISO Focus January 2006 31 Main Focus

Future plans and sanitation). Presently there are beach areas, historic parks, etc. Our a number of home stay services in goal is to provide good quality serv- • Develop national standards for tour- Thailand, which have been encour- ices, environmental friendliness and ism sectors, in order to enhance the aged to participate in our programme. energy-saving facilities. quality of our tourism industry and The certified home stay will be mon- to get ready for global trade in tour- itored on a regular basis, in order 3. From the examples mentioned ear- ism services ; to ensure that it meets the required lier, the Thai government is plan- • Use standards in the ‘ Tourism Invest- standard at all times within the val- ning to diversify tourism attrac- ment Zone ’ (designated areas to idation period. tions/activities, in order to accom- encourage foreign tourism invest- modate the increasing number of ment in which incentives are pro- We are now in the process of tourists coming to the country and vided) in services such as, hotels, launching the programme and working the region. There are a number of food and beverage, tour operators, with the Agriculture and Cooperative attractions and large areas that are tour guides and public restrooms ; Bank to give certified home stay a loan owned by government authorities for improving its operation and services, like the military, Ministry of Natural • Develop standards at the regional level for example, by buying life jackets and Resources and Environment, Minis- through the ASEAN Tourism Stand- safety equipment. This will be seen as try of Culture and local administra- ard Task Force, which Thailand cur- one of the major incentives provided in tion authorities. Apart from these, a rently chairs. order to encourage home stay participa- zoning scheme will be enforced in tion in the certification system. the areas to be designated for tourism activities, accommodation, residential Figure 2 : Advantages of tourism standards. for locals, fishing etc. Domestic and foreign investment will be encour- aged in the zoning areas and all tourism-related activities taking place in these areas will be required to follow national standards set for each tourism sector such as hotels, food and beverage, tour operators, public restrooms, destinations and also tourism activities. The application of tourism standards will help to ensure that activities occur in a way that does not create any adverse impacts on natural and cultural resources and the local community. This will help us reach our goal to become a sustainable tourism destination. One of the main lessons learned from the tsunami disaster in Decem- ber 2004, was the lack of preparedness. Therefore, tourism standards can be used as a tool to better control tourism devel-

© ISO opment in destinations. In the tsunami affected areas, we have developed the Tourism standard in 2. We emphasize the need for standards following measures to : for public restrooms that deal with con- services : From planning • Build at least 50 metres back from venience, health, safety and hygiene. to practice the coast ; In a tropical country like Thailand, 1. Home stay is one of the tourism sec- health and hygiene are very impor- • Re-plant ; tors for which we have developed a tant issues. Currently, the Thai gov- • Not build bedrooms on the ground standard, in view of its popularity ernment provides special funds for floor of hotels and other accommo- in Thailand and in the region. Our the Office of Tourism Development dation ; standard emphasizes safety (structure (OTD) so that public restrooms meet of the accommodation), guest serv- the required standard in major tour- • Establish sand dunes and walkways ices and hygiene (cleanliness of food ist destinations such as natural parks, along the beaches ;

32 ISO Focus January 2006 • Build refuges higher than 12 metres, Service sectors turn accessible within 15 minutes ; The challenge to standards • Build warning towers and a warning of standardizing system ; water services • Run disaster management drills ; SO entered a new area in the provision of service standards when ISO/ • Widen roads and footpaths for rapid ITC 224, Service activities relating evacuation ; by Laurence Thomas, Secretary to drinking water supply systems and • Develop human resources ; of ISO/TC 224, Service activities wastewater systems - Quality criteria • Give occupation training for beach relating to drinking water supply of the service and performance indica- service providers and zoning. tors was created in 2001. This technical systems and wastewater systems committee was one of the first to deal – Quality criteria of the service with service standards and remains a Thailand tourism and performance indicators pioneer in this field. standards and global trade in services Given the fact that our government has a policy on liberalization for Where are we today ? tourism services, we are now focus- The following three draft standards are being devel- ing on increasing our standards for all oped according to a single scheme and contain common tourism sectors, including destinations, elements mainly related to the evaluation of service and services and tourism-related enterpris- performance indicators : es, in order to get ready for global trade in services. In addition to the develop- ISO/CD 24510, Service activities relating to drink- ment of national tourism standards, we ing water and wastewater – Guidelines for the improvement have been supporting the establishment and for the assessment of the service to users ; of the ASEAN tourism standards and ISO/CD 24511, Service activities relating to drink- the task force responsible for developing water and wastewater – Guidelines for the management ing ASEAN tourism standards with a of wastewater utilities and for the assessment of wastewa- roadmap, whose ultimate goal will be ter services ; and, to become an ASEAN Economic Com- munity (AEC) by the year 2010. ISO/CD 24512, Service activities relating to drinking water and wastewater – Guidelines for the manage- Thailand also supports the estab- ment of drinking water utilities and for the assessment of lishment of an ISO technical committee drinking water services. and has a national committee for tour- ISO/CD 24510 is directed at users and defines the ism standards. We realize the impor- following elements of the service: tance of standards on tourism services • which can help us to be more compet- description of the components of the service for the itive in global trade. With an increas- user ; ing number of visitors to Thailand, • objectives of the service based on the user’s needs and our tourism policy emphasizes not expectations, considered to be globally relevant at the only income generation and foreign broadest level (such as access to water and sanitation exchange, but also the preservation of services, provision of services, contract management resources and quality services. and billing, relationship with users, environmental protection, water quality, etc.) ; • guidelines for the actions to be taken in order to satisfy the user’s needs ; • service assessment criteria ; • range of possible performance indicators linked to the criteria, that may be used for assessing performance of the service. ISO/CD 24511 and ISO/CD 24512 focus more on the management of drinking water services and wastewater services. ISO Focus January 2006 33 Millennium Main Focus development goals The UN Millenium Declaration was adopted by 189 world leaders at the Beyond the globalization of the UN Millenium Summit in Septem- ty’s general organization and manage- services market, several factors bring to ber 2000, who committed to “ free ment of their utilities. the forefront the need to have tools at an all men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing condi- international level to improve the gov- Assessing and improving ernance of water services : tions of extreme poverty ” by 2015. One of the eight development goals services • water has become a major worldwide for this purpose is to reduce by half challenge, in terms of managing avail- Performance indicators are critical the proportion of people without sus- for assessing and improving services and able water resources, the provision of tainable access to safe water. access to drinking water and sanita- ensuring the proper monitoring of imple- tion for the world’s population ; mentation. Stakeholders may establish an appropriate number of performance • the world consumer movement is • define quality q alit assessment criteria indicators (PI’s), a possible tool used for increasingly demanding and con- and performance indicators enabling improvement, or other methods for check- cerned with the quality of water serv- the results of the service delivered ing compliance with requirements. The ice and more sensitive to the transpar- to be measured and compared with stakeholders may select the PIs from giv- ency of the management and quality/ the objectives agreed upon between en examples or develop other relevant PIs, price ratio of the service ; stakeholders ; which consider the principles described • several local initiatives or surveys • facilitate the monitoring of perform- in the standards. The methodology does were carried out, like the develop- ance within a water utility. not impose any specific indicator or any ment of French standards published minimum value or performance range; between 2000 and 2002, describing it respects the principle of adaptability good practices and a methodology Globally relevant, locally to local contexts, thus facilitating local for assessing the quality of service applicable implementation. provided to users and the efficiency The standards being developed by of the management of drinking water ISO/TC 224 are different from the usual Relationship with ISO and wastewater systems. product or analysis methods standards. management systems These various elements, com- They are intended to be used by water standards bined with the will expressed by ISO services operators as well as by all stake- Implementation of ISO/TC 224 to develop international standardiza- holders. This implies that many differ- standards does not depend on the adoption in the field of services, led ISO’s ent stakeholders participate in this work, tion of ISO 9000 for quality manage- French member, Association française such as representatives from national ment and/or ISO 14000 for environmental de normalisation (AFNOR), to propose water authorities, local water authori- management. Nevertheless, these guide- in 2001 the establishment of a techni- ties, consumer organizations, NGOs. cal committee, for preparing ISO stan- National mirror committees of ISO/TC dards supplying guidelines for service 224 participating member bodies have activities for drinking water supply sys- been invited to broaden the representa- About the author tems and wastewater systems. About fif- tion of their stakeholders. teen countries expressed interest in the ISO/TC 224 is developing, in Laurence work and management of ISO/TC 224 accordance with ISO’s global relevance Thomas, holds an MSc in Inno- while leadership of the TC was allocat- policy, standards that permit the broad- vation (materials ed to France. est possible use of them, while respect- option), joined ing cultural, socio-economic and cli- The objectives of the technical AFNOR in matic variations in different countries committee are to : December 1987 and regions of the world. The organiza- as a standards

• facilitate dialogue among stakehold- tion of water utilities falls within a legal engineer. From ers including users, local or national and institutional framework specific to 1990 to 2004 water authorities, public or private each country. The standards are designed she worked in the field of environmental water operators, non governmental to be flexible enough to allow them to analysis and more particularly that of organizations (NGOs) etc., so that the be adapted by authorities that may be water. During this time she was in charge users’ expectations are better taken involved in the provision of water serv- of standardization of water quality at French national, CEN and ISO levels, and into account and the management of ices at regional, national or local lev- was Secretary of ISO/TC 147/SC 5, Water water utilities by the relevant author- els. Therefore, they do not prescribe the ities is more transparent ; quality – Biological methods. Since Janu- respective roles of various institutions/ ary 2004, Ms. Thomas has been Secretary • specify good practices for better man- stakeholders nor define required proc- of ISO/TC 224, while continuing to deal agement of water resources and the esses. More importantly, these standards with all aspects of microbiological analy- patrimony of services ; do not interfere with the local authori- sis of water.

34 ISO Focus January 2006 lines are consistent with and supportive Service sectors turn of ISO’s management system standards. to standards Implementation of an overall ISO 9001 and/or ISO 14001 management system may facilitate the implementation of these guidelines, and conversely, these guidelines may help achieve the technical provisions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for organizations choosing to implement them. It has also to be noted that these guidelines are consistent with the principle of the “plan-do-check-act” approach, which proposes a step-by-step process, from objectives to assessment.

Bringing onboard all stakeholders ISO/TC 224 work is progressing well and arousing a growing interest within the international community. The number of participating countries has increased since 2001 ; the numerous comments received during the enquiry stage (about 350 pages) show the interest taken in this work. Several international organizations such as the department of Economy and Social Affairs of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Interna- tional Water Association and Consumers International are involved in the discus- sions. Professional international organizations like the Inter-American Associa- ers and workforces, which can lead to tion of Sanitary and Environmental Engi- Going public – misunderstandings or breakdowns, like neering (AIDIS) and the African Water in the major water contracts in La Paz- Association (AfWA), were mobilized and a Consumers El Alto, Dar-es-Salaam, and Buenos now play an important role in this work. Aires. Over 40 % of private water con- A topic session devoted to ISO/TC 224 International tracts are currently ‘distressed’ and pri- activities, organized by AIDIS and ISO/ viewpoint vate investment is running at about half TC 224 will take place at the 4th World of 1997 level, intensifying public skep- Water Forum in Mexico in March 2006, ticism over their suitability. with presentations of successful local action based on these draft or proposed by Robin Simpson, Consumers Secondly, to achieve the Millen- ISO guidelines. International representative to nium Development Goals, (see box on These standards establish a general page 34) represents a global commit- framework, which responds to all existing ISO/TC 224, Drinking water and ment to putting the goals into practice. situations, but which will require further wastewater services. There is a real worry that governments development to meet local specifications may only meet 50% of the water and san- here are essentially two reasons, and needs. ISO draft standards will be itation goals, unless a more progressive in my opinion, for the develop- tested in large cities in developing coun- approach where everyone benefits from tries. One or several specific documents Tment of a General Agreement on some kind of improvement “some for all public services (GAPS). of application for developing countries are not more for some” is undertaken. expected to be produced. The ISO suite of Firstly, to address imbalanc- standards for drinking water supply sys- es between the global scale of some There have been 11 UN declara- tems and wastewater supply services is funders and providers, such as compa- tions since 1990 on the right to water, expected to be published in 2007. nies, and bi- or multi-lateral donors and but these need to be turned into practi- the local scale of governance, consum- cal steps, which is a reason for my par-

ISO Focus January 2006 35 Main Focus ticipation in ISO/TC 224. Political com- commitments in sewerage but mainly in GAPS would attempt neither to impose mitment is also required for implement- engineering contracts and consultancy a structure of ownership nor of tariffs ; ing guiding principles. rather than in service provision. • Priority on service extension as the most effective way to help the poor ; What about GATS ? So what should a GAPS • Equitable management of supply, where it exists ; The World Trade Organization include? (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Consumers International has pub- • Contracts for provision capable Services (GATS) is restricted to cross- lished a document called “ Bridging the of being understood by the world’s border trade in services, and services Gaps ”, about its work to develop a new illiterate population (one sixth of all provided under government authority international General Agreement on Pub- adults) ; are excluded (Art 1.3). The point where lic Services (GAPS), together with a coa- • Transparency and disclosure of GATS provisions and WTO rules govern- lition of civil society organizations. information for consumer education, ing government procurement overlap is Discussion of proposals for a clear public reporting, trust-building unclear. Concession contacts may come GAPS should include consideration of between service providers and the pub- under GATS while management contracts the following : lic, protection against corruption, self- would come under government procure- reporting of information, since many • Signatories : the list could include ment rules, but this has yet to be tested. services are unsure of how they oper- 1) consumers, governments, funders (eg GATS depend on “ positive listing ” , ate and spend their own resources. where governments choose which sec- multilateral or bilateral donors), work- tors to offer up for commitments to lib- ers, investors and environmental pro- A clear statement of fundamen- eralizing, resulting in a limited impact. tection etc. ; or should it be restricted tal consumer rights regarding water and No commitments have been made under to governments ? sanitation, electricity and telecommunications with the ultimate goal of promot- GATS for drinking water. There are some • Legal standing : options range from ing universal service. moral commitments to increasingly 1) Under a positive list, a sector is not included in binding instruments like standards, [email protected] commitments unless it is specifically listed. loan conditions, WTO reference [email protected] papers, etc. ; www.gapscampaign.org “ International Standards See www.consumersinternational. Below are some ideas discussed in org for a free copy of “ Bridging the must be developed for Bridging the GAPS. We envisage that a water services.” GAPS ”.

About the author

Robin Simpson is Senior Policy Adviser at Con- sumers Interna- tional – a federation of consumer organizations with a membership of over 250 organizations in 115 countries. He is a member of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 224 and is involved in dialogues with businesses and trade unions in this sector, including the multi-stakeholder ‘ scoping review ’ of private sector participation in the water industry. He is currently advis- ing the World Bank and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on utility issues.

36 ISO Focus January 2006 Service sectors turn to standards

and governments, and make doing busi- Can insight ness, virtually impossible. be standardized ? Market research by A new ISO Spend per capita the numbers Country standard for USD per capita Market research is a fast-grow- United Kingdom 39.86 ing global industry. By 2004, the indus- market, opinion try was worth USD 21.5 billion. This and social Sweden 34.77 14% increase from the previous year of France 30.52 USD18.9 billion, represents an estimated research Switzerland 25.47 real growth of 7.5 %, when adjusted for inflation and currency exchange. Market Germany 25.26 expenditure per capita in the most devel- USA 24.89 oped countries is above USD 30 billion. by Enrique Domingo, Chair Finland 24.63 The United Kingdom heads the list with of ISO/TC 225, Market, Opinion USD 39.86 (see Table 1). The distribu- and Social Research Denmark 23.34 tion of market shares is highly concen- Australia 23.11 trated at 86 % in Western Europe and ow would our modern information Norway 21.48 North America (see Table 2), although society, institutions and businesses growth is expected to be concentrated in Hfunction without market research? New Zealand 20.87 developing markets (see Table 3). In all its forms, market research contrib- Netherlands 20.81 utes to the functioning of modern life, “ This standard will be from products we buy, to how we vote Ireland 19.87 and nearly every aspect of our behaviour Canada 16.96 a huge step towards and thought processes. Belgium 15.83 repositioning this service Individuals and organizations sector.” speak different languages. Market research Austria 13.2 is a privileged feedback mechanism, Italy 11.68 It is also estimated that the top which reveals the desires and preferences Spain 11.49 1 000 companies account for 80 % of of consumers, and makes their opinions world expenditure, in terms of invest- Singapore 10.62 and motivations understandable to organ- ment in market research. Three quarters izations, thereby facilitating the interplay Japan 10.14 of projects are country-specific in scope, between supply and demand. and international multi-country projects Without this mechanism, deci- Table 1 : Top 20 countries with highest market account for 26 % of turnover. sions based solely on intuition, for exam- research spent per capita. The number of research serv- ple, would be too risky for companies Source : ESOMAR 2004 – Global Market Research Study ice suppliers in the industry is becoming

ISO Focus January 2006 37 Expected growth Main Focus Country for 2005 % 2003 2004 Venezuela 30 Turnover in USD million Share of Share of Argentina 25 Turnover and market share Turnover in recalculated global global per region USD million Russian Fed. 25 with 2004 market % market % exchange rate Ukraine 20 15 European member 8 391 42 8 827 41.1 Poland 19 countries (EU) Turkey 17 New EU member 270 1.4 299 1.4 Kenya 15 countries Lithuania 15 Other Europe 483 2.4 534 2.5 Mexico 15 Total Europe 9 144 45.7 9 660 44.9 Singapore 12.5 North America 7 173 35.9 7 853 36.5 Brazil 10 Central and South America 723 3.6 830 3.9 Cyprus 10 Asia Pacific 2 689 13.4 2 863 13.3 USA 9.5 Middle East & Africa 271 1.4 294 1.4 Slovenia 8 Total World 20 000 100 21 501 100 Czech Rep. 7.5 Estonia 7.5 Table 2 : Regional market shares at constant Slovakia 6 2004 exchange rate more concentrated, with the top 25 com- Source : ESOMAR 2004 – Global Market Research Study panies accounting for 62 % of total turn- Bangladesh 5 over in 2004. “ The systematic El Salvador 5 collection and Setting standards Hungary 5 treatment of market in the intangible world Latvia 5 data is used as Two dimensions intermix to make Nicaragua 5 feedback for sound the sector’s self-perception more com- Portugal 5 plex and difficult to deal with from a decision-making.” standardization point of view. On the Romania 5 one hand, the systematic collection Spain 5 and treatment of market data is used About the author as feedback for sound decision-mak- Germany 4 ing (the control function). On the oth- Enrique Honduras 3.5 er hand, the analysis and interpretation Domingo is Australia 3 Chair of ISO/TC of this feedback, in relation to the envi- 225, Market, ronmental or competitive circumstances Denmark 3 opinion and of the client’s activity, is used to gain social research. insight, ideas and inspiration in order Italy 3 He is CEO of to find a better way forward (the inno- Japan 3 Synovate Iberia vation function). and a member The latter is a critical and grow- Switzerland 3 of the Board and ing demand from the client, especial- Greece 2.5 Vice President of EFAMRO. With a back- ly when the discovery factor becomes ground in political sciences and sociolo- imperative to the continual and rapid Peru 2 gy, and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa, Mr. Domingo began his career consumption and dilution of new product Netherlands 0 in market research twenty years ago. He ideas, initiatives and information for the is a member of several market research markets. This creative analysis phase of associations and has published numerous each project is the key to the industry’s Table 3 : Growth expectations for 2005. conference papers within the industry. successful delivery of its services. Source : ESOMAR 2004 - Global Market Research Study

38 ISO Focus January 2006 The creation of the new ISO Service sectors turn standard for market opinion and social to standards Building upon relevant research is challenging for the indus- background try, which is repositioning itself around International self-regulation in market knowledge management in order to research (MR) goes back more than 50 answer its own client’s expectations. years with the appearance of the ICC/ For some people, standardization con- ESOMAR Code of Conduct 1) after tradicts the intangible dimension of the World War II. Fully in line with this industry; however, the sector has been tradition, an Interviewer Quality Con- able to develop ISO 20252 Market, trol Scheme (IQCS) was developed in opinion and social research – Vocabu- the 1980s in the United Kingdom and lary and service requirements, which was at the heart of a first quality stand- deals with all the factory elements of ard that began with British standard BS our production processes, and is keen 7911:1998, Specification for organi- to approve and implement it. zations conducting market research. Market research is a global indus- Various countries developed their own try with an increasing proportion of the national standards in parallel, but a expenditure dedicated to multi-country move towards an International Stand- research projects. This International ard began with the introduction of the Standard will enable research clients first research quality management prin- and service providers to work with a ciples set by EFAMRO 2) in the form single consistent standard, rather than of a European market research quality with a mass of differing national ones. standard (EMRQS) in the late 1990s, It will create transparency, facilitate following a detailed study of all exist- harmonization of standards in devel- ing national standards. oping countries, where a model will be available immediately for imple- With the full or partial adoption of the mentation, and be a huge step forward standard by a number of countries, for the repositioning of this relevant EFAMRO proposed that an ISO Inter- service sector. national Standard be developed based on the EMRQS model. In its proposal in 2001 to establish the technical committee, EFAMRO recommended that AENOR, ISO’s member for Spain, lead and provide the secretariat for TC 225. With the technical committee’s © ISO business plan drawn up – explaining the need for this International Stand- Best business ard and what value it would bring to practice for market the research service providers industry – ISO/TC 225, Market, opinion and and opinion social research was established. research A series of intensive meetings following the committee’s first plenary meeting in Madrid, Spain, in July 2003, brought together experts from all corners of by Erich Wiegand, German the world that forged agreement on delegate in ISO/TC 225, Market, the contents of the first International Standard for the industry. opinion and social research Most recently, the committee has arket, opinion and social established a new working group to 1) International Chamber of Commerce/ research is now a global indus- deal with the problems of Online and European Society for Market and Opinion Mtry with a rapidly increas- internet access panels. Research ing proportion of the money spent on 2) European Federation of Associations of research concerned with expenditure on Market Research Organizations multi-country studies. Clients need to be

ISO Focus January 2006 39 Main Focus able to evaluate the results of their stud- points will help research agencies based The result is competition based purely ies when developing their market strate- in these countries to overcome national on price instead of competition, where gies for the product and the services they barriers and participate in the interna- the quality, price and speed of research offer, and this is the reason for making tional research business. are weighed up adequately. such studies (for the same client) in dif- Regardless of whether a research ferent countries. “ Market and opinion agency is working in an international The position and tradition of mar- research plays an or national context, a number of stake- ket and opinion research, however, differ holders will benefit from ISO 20252. It from country to country. A major result- important role in the is envisaged to help a market and opin- ing benefit of the first ISO International economic, political and ion research agency improve its work, Standard for market, opinion and social social development of increase efficiency in terms of how each research – ISO 20252, Market, opinion research step is carried out, and allow it and social research – Vocabulary and modern information to provide its clients with an even bet- service requirements – will be to har- societies.” ter quality research, for the same price monize the national standards already as before. in existence. It will unify the criteria of Market and opinion research agen- The future of market and opinion the work procedures, establish the lev- cies face the problem that an increasing research depends crucially on high-qual- el of requirements of the service pro- number of studies are not commissioned ity work and the corresponding awareness vision, and that the quality of work is by research departments, but by the pur- of the research providers and clients. The the same across countries. The stand- chasing departments of their clients. As a publication of the International Stand- ard is expected to become a milestone consequence, the clients’ ability to assess ard will greatly contribute to achieving for assuring and improving the research whether a certain research proposal is fit- this goal by providing the best business quality in market and opinion research for-purpose and to understand the cor- practice for the sector. worldwide. responding differences between vari- Another benefit of the standard ous research proposals, is decreasing. is the added value it will give to developing countries. In developed countries market and opinion research has become a mature industry, while in a number © ISO of developing countries this industry is still in its infancy. In these countries an International Standard will contribute towards increasing professionalism of the research industry as well as improving the quality of the research. Both these

About the author

Erich Wiegand is Head of the German delega- tion for ISO technical committee ISO/TC 225, Market, opinion and social research, as well as Chair of the DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung working group on service requirements for market, opinion and social research. He is also Managing Director of the Ger- man Association of Market and Social Research Organizations (ADM) and Pres- ident of the European Federation of Asso- ciations of Market Research Organisations A major benefit of the first ISO International Standard for market, opinion and social research will (EFAMRO). be to harmonize the national standards already in existence. . 40 ISO Focus January 2006 Developments and Initiatives ISO offers systematic approach to security management in global supply chains by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis, Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus, ISO Central Secretariat

ith billions of dollars worth of goods moving at any giv- W en time along global supply chains, the newly published ISO/ PAS 28000:2005 for security management systems will help combat threats to the safe and smooth flow of international trade. “ The publication of ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is a major security initiative,” says Captain Charles Piersall, Chair of the ISO technical committee ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine technology. “ It is designed to enable better monitoring of freight flows, to combat smuggling and to respond to the threat of piracy and terrorist attacks as well as to create a safe and secure international supply chain regime.” Supply chain describes an overall process that results in goods being trans- ported from the point of origin to final destination and includes the movement of the goods, the shipping data, and the associated processes as well as the series of dynamic relationships. It involves many entities such as producers of the goods, logistics management firms, con- solidators, truckers, railroads, air carriers, marine terminal operators, ocean carriers, cargo/mode/customs agents, financial and information services, and buyers of the goods being shipped. For example, a company may employ more than one logistics firm, trucking companies may subcontract to operators or other companies, and vessel operating companies may divert the cargo to other carriers for various reasons. As security hazards can enter the supply chain at any stage, adequate control throughout is essential. Security is a joint responsibility of all the actors in

ISO Focus January 2006 41 Developments and Initiatives the supply chain and requires their com- and its success marks the deep spirit of sification Societies, the International bined efforts. cooperation and energies of all stake- Innovative Trade Network, the World ISO/PAS 28000:2005, Specifi- holders,” further noted Captain Pier- Shipping Council, the Strategic Coun- cation for security management sys- sall. “It was an extraordinary effort of cil on Security Technology, which has tems for the supply chain, outlines the cooperation and proves that standards a Memorandum of Understanding with requirements to enable an organiza- can and will be accomplished to meet ISO/TC 8, and the US-Israel Science tion to establish, implement, maintain market needs ‘on time’.” and Technology Foundation. and improve a security management ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is one of ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is avail- system, including those aspects criti- several developments underway for able from ISO national member insti- cal to security assurance of the supply intermodal supply chain security being tutes and from ISO Central Secretariat. chain. These aspects include, but are undertaken by ISO/TC 8 that includes The new document is the work of ISO not limited to, financing, manufactur- the following documents: technical committee ISO/TC 8, Ships ing, information management and the and marine technology, in collaboration • facilities for packing, storing and trans- ISO/PAS 20858:2004, Ships and with other TCs responsible for specific ferring goods between modes of trans- marine technology – Maritime port nodes of the supply chain. port and locations. facility security assessments and secu- ISO/PAS 28000:2005 can be used rity plan development, which was Note: An ISO/PAS (Publicly by a broad range of organizations – small, published in June 2004, is designed Available Specification) is one of medium and large – in the manufactur- to assist in the implementation of several alternatives to fully fledged ing, service, storage and transportation the International Maritime Organ- International Standards offered by sectors at any stage of the production or ization’s International Ship &Port ISO for cases where swift development supply chain. Its implementation will Security (ISPS) Code. and publication takes priority. All reassure business partners that securi- • ISO/PAS 28001, Best practices for Publicly Available Specifications are ty is taken seriously within the organi- custody in supply chain security, will reviewed every three years to deter- zations they deal with. assist industry to meet best prac- mine if the document should be recon- tices as outlined in the World Cus- firmed as a PAS for another three-year “ As security hazards toms Organization Framework. It is period or whether it should be further expected to be published in the sec- developed to become an ISO Interna- can enter the supply chain tional Standard. at any stage, adequate ond quarter of 2006. control throughout is • ISO/PAS 28004, Security management systems for the supply chain For more information: essential.” – General guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques, ISO/PAS 28000:2005 integrates will assist users of ISO 28000. It will the process-based approach of ISO’s reference ISO 19011:2002, Guide- management system standards – ISO lines for quality and/or environmental 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 – includ- management systems auditing, and ing the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) the future ISO/IEC 17021, Confor- cycle and requirement for continual mity assessment – Requirements for improvement, as well as the risk manage- bodies providing audit and certifica- ment elements of ISO 14001:2004. tion of management systems. While ISO/PAS 28000 can be implemented on its own, it is designed to ISO/PAS 28000 is the output of be fully compatible with ISO 9001:2000 ISO technical committee ISO/TC 8, CAPT. Charles H. Piersall and ISO 14001:2004 and companies Ships and marine technology, in collab- Chair of ISO/TC 8 already using these management sys- oration with other technical committee Tel. + 717-252- 4222 tem standards may be able to use them chairs. Fourteen countries participated Fax + 717-252-4223 as a foundation for developing the secu- in its development, together with several E-mail [email protected] rity management system of ISO/PAS international organizations and regional 28000. To help users to do so, ISO/ bodies. These included the International PAS 28000 includes a table showing Maritime Organization, the International the correspondence of its requirements Association of Ports and Harbours, the with those of ISO 9001:2000 and ISO International Chamber of Shipping, the 14001:2004. World Customs Organization, the Bal- “ISO/PAS 28000, completed in tic and International Maritime Council, less than one year, was truly remarkable the International Association of Clas-

42 ISO Focus January 2006 New this month

Americas. The Task Group is chaired, ISO publishes in turn, by each of the chairpersons of the three regional groups. WorldSID : The standards are available from the world's smartest ISO national member institutes and from crash test dummy to ISO Central Secretariat ([email protected]). improve vehicle For more information : design and increase Ken Wiley WorldSID Program Manager passenger safety Principal Engineer es in side impact tests – known as the Dynamic Research, Inc. dummy’s biofidelity. It is the best of any E-mail [email protected] by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis, side impact crash dummy to date and far Tel . +1 310-212-5211 Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus, exceeds that of others. Fax +1 310-212-5046 ISO Central Secretariat “ In addition, as a major benefit of harmonization, introduction of a sin- new suite of ISO standards is gle universal dummy into regulations now available to provide the auto- and consumer testing in all regions will Amotive industry with the most enable manufacturers to focus and coor- advanced human crash test dummy for dinate resources to improve worldwide improving vehicle design and increas- occupant safety, rather than engineer- ISO releases ing passenger safety. ing different safety designs for differ- The new crash test dummy, known ent dummies.” new CD-ROM as WorldSID (for World Side Impact Developed by ISO technical com- of ISO 14000 Dummy), was developed to allow a sin- mittee ISO/TC 22, Road vehicles, sub- gle, universally-accepted test device to committee SC 12, Passive safety crash environmental be used for side impact testing in any protection systems, working group WG 5, regulation around the world. Anthropomorphic test devices, the suite management To ensure that the WorldSID is of standards results from recent advances available to the worldwide research com- in electronic miniaturization and micro standards munity, the design details have been doc- circuitry that provide the test engineer umented in ISO 15830:2005, which con- with a wide range of sensors and date sists of four parts under the general title, recording instrumentation. by Antoinette Price, Journalist, Design and performance specifications for WorldSID’s 224 sensors capture ISO Central Secretariat a 50 th percentile male side impact dummy data more than 10 000 times per second (WorldSID). This documentation, which and store the information in special memo- he collection on one CD-ROM consists of nearly 500 pages plus 400 fab- ry boards inside the dummy, making it the of the ISO 14000 standards for rication drawings and CAD files, includes most advanced (and probably the smart- T environmental management is a all of the design details, material specifica- est) crash test dummy in the world. practical tool that ISO has developed to tions, and performance standards required Edmund Hautmann explains : “ No meet the needs of businesses for a strate- for the fabrication of the WorldSID. matter how advanced and needed a tool gic approach addressing all aspects of the Designed by hundreds of engineers is, it must be available, repeatable, dura- environmental challenges they face. and scientists from over 45 organizations ble, and compatible with practical day- The CD-ROM contains 20 pub- in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas to-day use. The WorldSID meets all such lished standards of the ISO 14000 fam- with over 1 000 tests performed, World- requirements. In addition, users report ily, plus drafts nearing completion, and SID represents a major breakthrough in excellent ‘ user friendliness ’ of the dum- ISO Guide 64:1997, which deals with worldwide harmonization of side impact my and good durability during both lab the inclusion of environmental aspects occupant protection. and vehicle testing.” in product standards. Edmund Hautmann, European This first-of-its-kind project was The CD-ROM includes : Chair of the ISO task group oversee- funded by a worldwide consortium at a ing its development (ISO WorldSID cost of about USD 14 million and designed • ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 Task Group), explains its significance : by the ISO WorldSID Task Group, con- on, respectively, environmental man- “ WorldSID heralds a significant improve- sisting of experts from industry and gov- agement system requirements and gen- ment in the ability of crash dummies to ernments from three regional advisory eral guidelines, principles and system duplicate human motions and respons- groups : Europe, Asia-Pacific and the support techniques ;

ISO Focus January 2006 43 New this month

Today, the management of envi- iat of the new committee. The national ronmental aspects and impacts is a top standards institutes of 24 ISO member priority and has established itself as a countries are participating, while anoth- cornerstone of effective organizational er eight have observer status. practice alongside the management of Specific tasks before it include • ISO 14050:2002 on the vocabulary used quality, security, and health and safety developing standards for : terminology in environmental management ; issues. ISO/TC 207 was established in and nomenclature; metrology and instru- • ISO 14015:2001 on the environmental 1993 and is the committee responsible mentation, including specifications for assessment of sites and organizations. for developing the ISO 14000 series of reference materials; test methodologies; environmental management standards. modelling and simulation; and science- The new drafts include (ISO The ISO CD-ROM ISO 14000, based health, safety, and environmen- 14064 parts 1, 2 and 3) on greenhouse Environmental management, is available tal practices. gases (GHG). The underlying objec- from ISO national member institutes and ISO Secretary-General Alan tive and principles for the development from ISO Central Secretariat. Bryden commented: “The productive of these standards are to support market For more information see www. and successful first meeting of ISO/ development by providing an auditable, iso.org TC 229 augurs well for its future work credible, standardized process for faster, which will play a crucial role in facili- better, cheaper quantification and verifi- tating and sharing innovation in an excit- cation while maintaining : ing new field of technology.” • Neutrality towards specific policies ISO launches The committee tackled a full and programmes ; working agenda, including agreement • Compatibility with the UNFCCC Kyoto work on on the following initial working group Protocol rules and provisions ; and, nanotechnology (WG) structure: • Compatibility with the WRI/WBCSD – WG 1, Terminology and nomencla- GHG Protocol (Corporate and Proj- standards ture – convened by Canada ; ect). – WG 2, Measurement and character- ISO Secretary-General Alan ization – convened by Japan ; and by Roger Frost, Press Bryden commented : “ The ISO 14000 – WG 3, Health, safety and environ- series of standards offers a complete and Communication Manager, ment – convened by the USA. tool box to address the various aspects ISO Central Secretariat The committee also agreed on the of environmental management. The new following scope for its work : CD-ROM contains its latest develop- he new ISO technical committee ments in a user friendly configuration, established to develop Internation- “ Standardization in the field of including those related to the account- T al Standards for nanotechnologies nanotechnologies that includes either or ing and verification of GHG emissions. has got off to a flying start with a produc- both of the following : It is a timely contribution to assisting in tive first meeting at which it defined the 1. Understanding and control of matter meeting the challenges of sustainable scope of its future tasks and agreed on and processes at the nanoscale, typi- development.” the initial structure for the work. cally, but not exclusively, below 100 Other new drafts included are : ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnolo- nanometres in one or more dimen- gies, held its inaugural meeting on 9-11 sions where the onset of size-depend- • ISO 14025 on environmental labels November 2005 in London, hosted by the ent phenomena usually enables novel and declarations ; ISO member for the United Kingdom, applications, • ISO 14040 dealing with principles and the British Standards Institution (BSI), 2. Utilizing the properties of nanoscale requirements for conducting and report- which provides the Chair and Secretar- materials that differ from the proper- ing life cycle assessment studies; ties of individual atoms, molecules, • ISO 14044 specifies requirements and and bulk matter, to create improved guidelines on life cycle assessment of materials, devices, and systems that environmental aspects and their poten- exploit these new properties.” tial impacts throughout a product’s life Nanotechnology is the science cycle ; of engineering matter at the atomic and • ISO 14063, which gives organizations molecular scale, about 10 000 times guidance on general policies and strat- smaller than the thickness of a human egies with examples, to help improve hair. The global nanotechnology mar- internal and external environmental ket is expected to reach USD 29 bil- communication. lion by 2008.

44 ISO Focus January 2006 Coming up

Main Focus Why fine ceramics ? – Innovation and standardization examining the need for Standards stimulate innovation and pro- standards vide support for businesses from con- Fine ceramics cept to market. They have the power to are a class of shape the way sectors work by sharing very important knowledge and creating effective syn- materials, although seldom noticed by ergies that accelerate the speed to mar- the general public. They help most ket for products and services. things in life function (orthopedic joint Standards contribute GBP 2.5 per annum replacements, central heating pump to the UK economy according to a new rotors, shower faucet), support most of study published by the Department of manufacturing industry in some way Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Brit- (cutting tools, nozzles, paper making ish Standards Institution (BSI). Compa- equipment, coatings for tools and rolls), nies identified many reasons for using STEP – the standard for the exchange our security (ballistic protection), and standardization to encourage innova- of product model data. our environment (water purifiers, cata- tion to achieve product and service dif- lysts and catalyst supports), as well as ferentiation: knowledge transfer, cost The issue also reviews how creating and being the backbone of electronics (spark and risk reduction, faster time to mar- applying standards when developing new plugs, insulating substrates). products allows a business to increase ket, set expectations through high val- This article explains the importance and speed to market, shape a new market, ue innovations which then provide the historical development of standards for create interoperability and focus devel- platform for further innovation. fine ceramics, including the work of ISO opment on most valuable areas. The preferred strategy will depend on technical committee ISO/TC 206. market position, size of company, business objectives and whether the compa- Developments and ny has first-mover advantage. A good Initiatives example from the case studies is that of Arup, a company which specializes ISO prevents misuse of its name on in designing business solutions, project Internet ISO has recently scored new management and engineering consultan- successes in its fight to prevent its cy. Standardization is a key management name being misused on the Internet to tool in their efforts to create differen- mislead people into buying products or tiation in the provision of high quality services that they believe are endorsed information and consultancy. by ISO. In an exclusive interview in the Feb- The article explains the ruling by the ruary 2006 issue of ISO Focus, Arup Arbitration and Mediation Center of Chair Terry Hill, explains how stand- WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) that the following Internet ards provide the platform of informa- Information Management Security domain names, which had been regis- tion that then allows time for innova- Systems Organizations that do not tered by companies with no connection tion and creativity. take the appropriate measures to ensure to ISO, be transferred to ISO : iso1stop. flawless information security can expect The issue brings together a portfolio of com, iso9000commerce.com, isoeasy. increased financial losses and disrupted articles where standards provide support com, isoeasy.org, isoeasy.info, isonet. business operations. Thanks to the new- for innovation, from original concept net and isotraining.net. through to market, together with con- ly published, ISO/IEC 27001:2005 for crete examples illustrating how Inter- information security management sys- national Standards help to reduce costs tems, existing gaps can be filled and and associated risks. future risks avoided. Articles cover such topics as radio fre- The coming edition takes an in-depth quency identification (RFID) technology look at this new standard and how it will and bar coding, digital and audio video, strengthen an organization’s information ebXML, nanotechnologies, biometrics security system to ensure its users an effi- and hydrogen technologies as well as cient and safe working environment.

ISO Focus January 2006 Fight ﬁ res

before they break out.

ISO/IEC 27001:2005. The systematic approach to managing information security. People. Processes. Information Technology.