World standards day – recognising the unsung heroes protecting you

13 October 2022

World Standards Day gives us a moment to consider the crucial role standards, and those that develop them, play in making the world a better place.

World Standards Day 14 October 2022

In your life

You’re surrounded by them and you barely give them a second thought. They are hidden behind every door, within the plasterboard walls, in the joins of the timber, in the concrete under your feet. Put the kettle on, they are there. Flick the light on, they’re there. Drive to work, they’re there.

They underpin every facet of our daily lives and yet you only notice standards when they aren’t there. They help to harmonise specifications of products and services, break down barriers to trade and reassure consumers that products and services are safe, efficient and environmentally responsible.

That’s why every year on 14 October across the world, organisations acknowledge World Standards Day and the value standards bring.

It began as a collaboration between the world’s three largest standards development bodies: the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Setting aside a day to celebrate standards was part of a campaign to empower the global community – and that includes you – to join the movement.

And a movement it is. Creating solutions for the sector by the sector.

Made by people

While standards bodies are needed to drive, manage and maintain the integrity of agreed standards and the consensus-based process of standards development – the real heroes at the heart of standards are people. There are thousands across the world testing, drafting, discussing, sharing.

Look behind the good-practice guidance and conformance criteria and you’ll find subject matter experts giving hours of their time, contributing many years’ worth of knowledge, to determine that content. Standards aren’t documents left on a shelf or tucked in a folder, they are collaboration embodied, the collective knowledge of a sector agreeing on the right way to do something.

We welcome anyone to put themselves forward with an expression of interest – join the hundreds of New Zealanders who have already played a part for their sector.

Become involved in standards development

Standards New Zealand protecting standards for you

Anyone can create something called a ‘standard’. But without the independent governance and oversight of the consensus model, without the checks for inclusion of diverse viewpoints, or against monopolies or dominance by commercial interests, it’s good to ask: whose standard is it?

The tried and tested process Standards New Zealand and other standards bodies across the world use gives interested parties, along with anyone through public consultation, a say in shaping standards that might impact them.

As a national standards body we vigorously protect the integrity of the content, so you know what you are using is as agreed by a cross-section of interests on the development committee.