Ai Group celebrated World Standards Day last week by presenting awards to outstanding achievers.
From 10 peer nominations, Chris Burgess, of Dux, won the Ai Group Standards Development Award and Daniel Nathanson, of NHP Electrical Engineering Products, received the Ai Group Standards Next Generation Award.
Mr Burgess was praised for being “a voice of reason with strong arguments based on science, fact, data and pragmatism” while Mr Nathanson was recognised for being “instrumental in introducing and adopting the IEC 62745 standard for cableless control systems of machinery”.
World Standards Day, celebrated on October 14, highlights the essential role standards play in promoting innovation, ensuring product quality and enhancing safety.
In a speech during the awards presentation, Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said standards were the “invisible scaffolding upon which innovation, trade and industry build their structures”.
“They operate behind the scenes and underpin the nation’s economic progress,” he said.
“To the untrained eye, standards might appear mundane, yet they are the silent architects of progress.”
Ai Group is the leading contributor to the development of standards in Australia.
“We have 261 representatives (a number that varies weekly) sitting on Standards Australia’s technical committees, covering diverse topics from child restraints to artificial intelligence,” Mr Willox said.
“Many representatives also sit on the equivalent International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) committees to ensure Australia’s voice is heard.
“More than 20 of our representatives also chair the committees they sit on, testimony to the expertise they hold and the respect they are held in.
“Ai Group estimates our members’ contribution in time to standards development is over one million dollars annually which is magnified many times over with the impact of the standards they develop on the Australian economy.”
October 14 was specifically chosen to mark World Standards Day as it was on this date, in 1946, when delegates from 25 countries first gathered in London and decided to create an international organisation focused on facilitating standardisation.
Even though the ISO was formed the following year, it wasn't until 1970 that the first World Standards Day was celebrated.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
