Standards can be as good as the quality of people and the diversity of inputs that go into the standardization process. If the quality of people and the diversity of experiences and backgrounds in the relevant field that they come from are not good, then the standardization process will have an output that is not world class. So also, the inputs that are considered while formulating a standard at its various stages to validate assumptions and assimilate complex practical situations that will be encountered in actual field implementations, then the standardization process will not be world class.
In India, the standardization process that is driven by BIS has a general mandate to follow the IEC / ISO standards, especially after the WTO rounds for removing trade barriers and it is felt that country specific standards create trade barriers. This has resulted in a general trend towards adopting IEC standards in totality as Indian standards. However whether it removes trade barriers or create new trade barriers is a question that only time will answer.
To be able to make best of this prevailing situation requires Indian standardization efforts to reach new level from where it is today, by actively participating in International standardization efforts as a voting member, creating a culture within Indian Industry and Universities to actively participate in such activities, creating a mechanism for frequent interactions and ensuring that the right people are given the right platforms so that we have a culture that transcends time and drives the next round of growth of this country.
It is important to be a voting member of all committees of ISO / IEC, since being in a globalised wolrd, there is rarely a standard that does not impact India and hence we have to be part of what-ever is happening around the world. We have to send representatives from India for all discussions / conference meetings etc., and ensure that in all technical committees of the International bodies, an Indian representation is present.
It is important for us to participate actively in standardization efforts, drive the requirements, be testing ground for new standards and also ensure that our industry and university are in synchronization with what is happening in the committees. For this we have to ensure that, there is a domestic standardization activity that is robust and active, that creates a platform for our best people to participate, debate and form a community that is able to share ideas, bring together good minds to the effort, and make available forum's for standardization debates in the various conferences that happen in India. This brings to the front a set of people who can actually be our representatives in International standardization activities. Like the western countries, we need to work towards a target of having a dis-proportionate number of our representatives in the standardization committees.
If we are able to work on these goals, we will be in reality be laying the foundation for a culture that enables our country to contribute to the global standardization effort commensurate with our capabilities as a nation, and also create a positive environment that helps the country internally in its various other efforts.
Prasanth
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sorry state of Indian Standards - II
Can Standardization and India ever go hand in hand?. Or can a developing country make a standard?. Does it have the technological and process maturity to define a standard?. Does WTO definition of follow the IEC/ISO for reduced entry barrier actually create more entry barrier for developing countries?. Is the fault of the same lies actually with the developing countries?.
I am sure many of these questions are controversial and many people would like it to remain un-answered. Can India ever have a mature and competitive environment which fosters standard creation?. I was attending the BIS National Mirror Committee for IEC TC57. The interaction during and the general feedback we received from the BIS as well as the other participants were indicative of the maturity of Indian standardization. Our major effort still focuses at copying the international standards as it is, and if required add a few small variants to suite Indian conditions and publish as the Indian standard. At least under the TC57 efforts, our national committee participation is very poor, there are very few companies who want to be in the national committee and those who are members rarely attend. The national committee also does not have a program to promote the standards, elicit feedback from user communities and evolve a discussion and mechanism that ensures that standards actually gets popularized and used, that goes beyond the draft circulation and request for comments. The end result, at-least in the power sector, we do not have very advanced standardization initiatives.
This can be directly linked to the low level of push from the Indian industry, both the suppliers and customers in the power industry, who are more and more happy with using what is used else-where rather than investing time, effort and energy in understanding, adapting and creating a local market that is mature and competitive. The low level of participation in these efforts implies the utilities are not aware of and the impact of standardization. There are very few people within the Industry who track standards. The end result is an adoption, rather than an adaptation; Even though we are a big user community we are still not able to contribute or change the direction of the standardization to suite Indian conditions; We are not able to evolve a robust and active discussion and information sharing mechanism on the standardization itself; resulting in a poor standardization culture overall.
At BIS, i also see rarely national or internationally renowned experts in the National Committee's. The focus is more on organizations. Globally experts on standards committees are also well sought after consultants the subject and there-by make a living out of the standardization itself for themselves or as brand ambassadors of their organizations. A far cry from the situation in India.
Indian Power Industry is still system integration or manufacturing oriented with technology and IP coming from outside to a great extent, but very little product or own IP oriented. Until we are able to change the scenario in this Industry, with the fraternity who actively develop products and technology and who are visionaries and drive forward standardization for global and domestic competitive advantage, we will have to live with a standardization effort that is another department in the government, whose primary importance is what matters to the general public. Quality of food and civil supplies, and maybe the global wars of IBM, Microsoft and Sun fought in Indian shores, and in Indian ministries. Not the basic intent and interest to build an ecosystem that fosters standardization.
If we in India do not realize the importance of standardization and actively participate in it, and BIS becomes a nodal agency that promotes such interest, rather than ending up as being a secretariat that conducts meetings, and set itself targets for its various sectional or national committee's to achieve specific objectives every year, future of Indian standardization in power is very bleak.
However i am sure this is good news for companies in the developed world who actively sell to India. And it is what WTO prescribes and developing countries like India have accepted to adopt, follow IEC/ISO; If it was that we follow these standards after a good debate on the same, and having a very active and contributory participation in these standardization efforts right from the beginning, i would have been happy to adopt the same. However when you do that, without such an active participation, and an internal discussion and when your standard committee does not have a detailed agenda that looks at broad-basing the efforts, what we have is a blind cut-and-paste, and that does not augur well for the future of Indian standardization.
Maybe India as a country and a developing / modern economy based on intellectual capital is still evolving and it has not reached the maturity level to address issues like standardization in its completeness. I am sure there are many who will dispute this statement, stating in many other areas and especially metering, Indian specifications are more complex and advanced. However i do not think that by extending the tolerance ranges, we are actually doing standardization, but only condoning the bad state of our distribution network and making amendments for the same in our specifications and asking manufacturers to meet those specifications. Maybe what we should be questioning is why we are having those in the first place and is it not adding to our losses in distribution sector and a national waster?. Should we not go in depth and try to improve the network rather than change the specifications?.
I am sure many of these questions are controversial and many people would like it to remain un-answered. Can India ever have a mature and competitive environment which fosters standard creation?. I was attending the BIS National Mirror Committee for IEC TC57. The interaction during and the general feedback we received from the BIS as well as the other participants were indicative of the maturity of Indian standardization. Our major effort still focuses at copying the international standards as it is, and if required add a few small variants to suite Indian conditions and publish as the Indian standard. At least under the TC57 efforts, our national committee participation is very poor, there are very few companies who want to be in the national committee and those who are members rarely attend. The national committee also does not have a program to promote the standards, elicit feedback from user communities and evolve a discussion and mechanism that ensures that standards actually gets popularized and used, that goes beyond the draft circulation and request for comments. The end result, at-least in the power sector, we do not have very advanced standardization initiatives.
This can be directly linked to the low level of push from the Indian industry, both the suppliers and customers in the power industry, who are more and more happy with using what is used else-where rather than investing time, effort and energy in understanding, adapting and creating a local market that is mature and competitive. The low level of participation in these efforts implies the utilities are not aware of and the impact of standardization. There are very few people within the Industry who track standards. The end result is an adoption, rather than an adaptation; Even though we are a big user community we are still not able to contribute or change the direction of the standardization to suite Indian conditions; We are not able to evolve a robust and active discussion and information sharing mechanism on the standardization itself; resulting in a poor standardization culture overall.
At BIS, i also see rarely national or internationally renowned experts in the National Committee's. The focus is more on organizations. Globally experts on standards committees are also well sought after consultants the subject and there-by make a living out of the standardization itself for themselves or as brand ambassadors of their organizations. A far cry from the situation in India.
Indian Power Industry is still system integration or manufacturing oriented with technology and IP coming from outside to a great extent, but very little product or own IP oriented. Until we are able to change the scenario in this Industry, with the fraternity who actively develop products and technology and who are visionaries and drive forward standardization for global and domestic competitive advantage, we will have to live with a standardization effort that is another department in the government, whose primary importance is what matters to the general public. Quality of food and civil supplies, and maybe the global wars of IBM, Microsoft and Sun fought in Indian shores, and in Indian ministries. Not the basic intent and interest to build an ecosystem that fosters standardization.
If we in India do not realize the importance of standardization and actively participate in it, and BIS becomes a nodal agency that promotes such interest, rather than ending up as being a secretariat that conducts meetings, and set itself targets for its various sectional or national committee's to achieve specific objectives every year, future of Indian standardization in power is very bleak.
However i am sure this is good news for companies in the developed world who actively sell to India. And it is what WTO prescribes and developing countries like India have accepted to adopt, follow IEC/ISO; If it was that we follow these standards after a good debate on the same, and having a very active and contributory participation in these standardization efforts right from the beginning, i would have been happy to adopt the same. However when you do that, without such an active participation, and an internal discussion and when your standard committee does not have a detailed agenda that looks at broad-basing the efforts, what we have is a blind cut-and-paste, and that does not augur well for the future of Indian standardization.
Maybe India as a country and a developing / modern economy based on intellectual capital is still evolving and it has not reached the maturity level to address issues like standardization in its completeness. I am sure there are many who will dispute this statement, stating in many other areas and especially metering, Indian specifications are more complex and advanced. However i do not think that by extending the tolerance ranges, we are actually doing standardization, but only condoning the bad state of our distribution network and making amendments for the same in our specifications and asking manufacturers to meet those specifications. Maybe what we should be questioning is why we are having those in the first place and is it not adding to our losses in distribution sector and a national waster?. Should we not go in depth and try to improve the network rather than change the specifications?.
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