The nation observed World Standards Day with a ceremony at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on Oct. 12 with hundreds of people from government, academia and standards-related industries in attendance.
Among those on hand at the ceremony were Prime Minster Kim Hwang-sik,; Vice Minister for Industry and Technology Yoon Sang-jick of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE),; Lee Hee-beom, president of the Korean Employers Federation,; Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry,; Administrator Seo Kwang-hyun of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards,; and Chairman Kim Chang -ryong of the Korea Standards Association .
Prime Minister Kim said in his speech at the ceremony, “With the unifying of the global market through globalization, taking the lead in owning standards will lead to a path toward conquering the global market, and with the fast spread of free trade agreements, customs-oriented trade restrictions are gone, but technology restrictions, including standards, have emerged as new trade barriers.” He added that countries around the globe are devoting themselves to making their own technologies the global standard on top of developing new technologies and raising competitiveness, and Korea needs to redouble its efforts to cope with international standards issues in order to become a global top 10 country and not be left behind in the standards competition.
The government has raised the 2012 R&D budget for standardization by 22 percent and has established a pan-government comprehensive implementation system to ramp up connectivity among R&D, patents, and standards so as to make homegrown original technologies the international standards. The government plans to overhaul duplicated and irrational restrictions related to standardization and certification in a bid to cope with international standards emerging as new trade barriers.
World Standards Day dates to the Oct. 14, 1946 meeting in London in which global leaders from 25 countries agreed on the establishment of a new international body committed to promoting cooperation in international standards. And 167 member countries of the world’s three international standards bodies°™ the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)°™ hold their respective World Standards Day anniversary events each year on Oct. 14.
The theme of the 2012 World Standards Day is “Less Waste, Better Result°™ Standards Increase Efficiency.”
The international standards organizations define efficiency as the ability to achieve objectives by implementing processes to develop products or services of optimal quality with minimal waste, expense, or unnecessary effort. Efficiency helps organizations maximize profits and meet their goals, and is crucial for success in today’s challenging and competitive economic environment.
Diverse awards were presented to individuals and organizations that have contributed to the development of the nation’s industrial standards.
Among the award-winners was Prof. Kang Byung-gu of Korea University, who was honored with the Order of Service Merit, Hongjo, for his contribution to nurturing standardization manpower and the establishing of national standards. The Service Merit Medal, Geunjeong, went to Prof. Lee Hae-sung of Jeonju University for becoming the first Korean to establish the printed electronics technical committee of the ITEC.
Among the prize-winning groups were Korea Testing Certification (KTC) (President Sim Yoon-soo) and Techsphere, both of which won the Presidential awards. KTC was praised for its leading roles in national standardization by making and revising 347 national industrial standards through the 26 Korean Standards specialization committee for the recent three years. The institution has been credited with submitting such international standards as the one on ondol beds with the IEC while serving as a leader of the technical committee on international standardization in 24 sectors.
