How To Cooperate With Universities And National Standards Institutes

Transcription

1 Cooperation between National Standards Bodies and Universities ISO/KATS regional workshop Bali, Indonesia 7 9 May 2012 Proceedings

2 Table of Contents Preface Background Standards and education Cooperation between standards bodies and universities Objective and content of the report Existing cooperation Forms of cooperation Obstacles Key success factors Lesson learned from the workshop Examples of good practices Republic of Korea Indonesia Lessons learned from the examples and from the discussion Recommendations Overview Good practices for NSBs Regional and international cooperation ANNEX

3 Preface One of the expected outputs from the implementation of the activities under ISO's Action Plan for developing countries aims at better integrating the subject of standardization in educational curricula. In line with this objective, ISO is organizing a series of regional events aiming at supporting developing countries in defining programmes targeting universities and at developing or strengthening courses on education about standardization in their countries. The final outcome of this process will be an ISO publication highlighting guidelines and good practices for introducing/supporting educational programmes on standardization in universities. It is important to underline that cooperation between National Standards Bodies (NSBs) and universities is not only relevant in developing countries and in countries in transition, but in industrialized countries as well. ISO hopes that the publication, to be developed building on the input of several ISO members and universities, will provide a useful contribution to the establishment or improvement of cooperation between NSBs and universities in all countries. The first workshop "Enhancing collaboration between national standards bodies and academia", was organized in Bali (Indonesia), on 7-9 May The workshop covered the South Asia and South-East Asia regions, and was co-sponsored by ISO and the national standards body of the Republic of Korea, KATS. This document provides a summary of the outcome of the workshop a first step for the development of a general ISO publication describing guidelines and good practices on the matter. To support the preparation of the workshop, ISO asked the Chair on Standardization of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University to carry out a study to describe good practices applied by national standards bodies in various regions of the world to support and promote cooperation with universities. The study was used as a working document for the workshop and a summary of the study is attached as Annex 1. ISO would like to thank the NSBs and universities who participated in the workshop in Bali 1 for their contribution, along with all the NSBs 2 and universities who provided feed-back on the current forms of cooperation and contributed to the development of the study. Special thanks must go to the project leader, Prof. Henk de Vries, Associate Professor Standardization, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Department of Management of Technology and Innovation, to his student assistant Joey Veurink and PhD student Basak Manders, as well as to the ISO project team (Beer Budoo, Daniele Gerundino, Jennifer Grosfort, Sari Rajakoski and Reinhard Weissinger). Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the Annex are those of the authors and, wherever explicitly referenced in the study, of the persons who contributed to the study with their input. This input was used to provide a basis for exchange of information and discussions in the framework of the ISO / KATS workshop ISO does not endorse these opinions participants from 17 countries, including over 10 university professors / researchers and a number of representatives from ministries of education or agencies affiliated to ministries of education and science 2 In total, NSBs from 73 countries and 25 universities contributed to the study. 2

4 1 Background 1.1 Standards and education Standards are a vehicle for sharing knowledge, technology and good practices. The nature, role and importance of standards (and in particular of international standards) in technology, business operations, trade, societal issues and legal matters, is in itself a subject which may be incorporated into curricula of universities and of other schools and it is indeed increasingly recognized in education programmes around the world, covering a variety of fields. ISO and National Standards Bodies recognize the fundamental contribution that universities and, more in general, education institutes, can give to standardization in terms of: teaching what is and what can be achieved through standardization: in specific technical fields, or from a more general perspective (contribution of standards to economic efficiency, public welfare, economic development and trade, sustainability) developing academic studies and research work aiming at investigating the multi-faced relation between standards and innovation, international trade, business strategy, public welfare, sustainable development and other matters participating in the development of standards, providing the valuable contribution of academia s work on the cutting edge of research and technology. ISO and NSBs are therefore keen to raise awareness on the importance of standardization and on supporting education institutions in addressing standards matters in the framework of their activities. Moreover, many education institutions consider standardization an interesting topic and are potentially interested in cooperation with standards developing organizations because: it can make it easier to teach this matter (through the availability of teaching materials, standards publications, qualified lecturers and other resources) it can facilitate research on standards-related topics (through direct access to relevant information, access to a broad network of stakeholders, funding or other forms of support). 1.2 Cooperation between standards bodies and universities Achieving recognition of the nature, role and importance of standards for technology, economy and society within education programmes is an important objective of NSBs and ISO. Students of all school levels can benefit from the understanding of basic concepts regarding standards and standardization, and increased familiarity with such concepts would help standards development, dissemination and use. It is also important to underline that universities are the educational institutions that have the maximum potential for interaction with the standards world. Moreover, students at (technical) universities, business schools and other institutions of higher learning, are the potential business managers and professional experts of the future. Regardless of their chosen discipline, which may be engineering, law, economics or a number of others, they are bound to be the ones who will decide on the future role and importance of standardization. Considering these aspects, the limited resources and a number of experiences well established or at an initial stage in several countries, it was decided to focus the attention of ISO's initiatives on universities, at least in a first phase. The workshop "Enhancing collaboration between national standards bodies and academia", organized in Bali (Indonesia), on 7-9 May 2012, was therefore focused on the relation between NSBs and universities. 1.3 Objective and content of the report Participants at the workshop had the opportunity to share the information, gathered by the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands), describing good practices 3

5 applied by national standards bodies in many countries of the world to support and promote cooperation with universities (attached as Annex 1). The case of the Republic of Korea, one of the most successful to date, was also presented in some detail, along with information concerning the positive experiences of the host country, Indonesia (both are summarized under Section 3). Finally, and probably most importantly, the workshop allowed all the participants from NSBs and universities from the South Asia and South-East Asia regions, to present and analyze experiences from their respective countries, and discuss approaches, successes, failures and problems, aiming at identifying examples of good practices and at considering possible regional or international initiatives to improve cooperation between standardization and education. This report describes the outcome of the workshop, providing a summary information on: the existing forms of cooperation between universities and NSBs from the region, obstacles to the set-up or further development of cooperation, key success factors; lessons learned from the workshop, in particular in relation to examples of successful models of cooperation; recommendations regarding good practices that can be implemented by NSBs and actions that ISO or other bodies (e.g. regional organizations) can take to support the development of such cooperation. 2 Existing cooperation 2.1 Forms of cooperation The 10 forms of cooperation most frequently mentioned by NSBs and universities who contributed to the Erasmus university's study are listed below (more details can be found at Annex 1): Participation of academics in standards development activities Visits of students to NSBs offices NSBs' employees give guest lectures Students participate in internship projects within standards institutes NSBs facilitate contacts between academics and committee member experts (who can provide guest lectures and materials) Standards and education is an element of the national standards strategy Organization of conferences / workshops to support or stimulate education about standardization Universities provide technical expertise for studies carried out or commissioned by NSBs Selected NSB staff members have been assigned specific tasks to promote and support education about standardization by universities Standards are provided to universities for free or for a reduced fee. Forms and levels of cooperation between NSBs and Universities differ significantly from country to country among the participants at the workshop. In general terms: university professors participate in standards development activities (at least in some fields) in nearly all countries; visits of students to NSBs offices, lectures given by NSB staff members and committee experts and facilitated access to standards, are also forms of cooperation in place in most countries. Some countries have implemented additional forms of cooperation, including: funding the participation of university professors in standards development activities organization of conferences / workshops covering the theme of standards and education (in some cases funding the participation of university professors) 4

6 various forms of award / recognition for professors participating in standards work with successful achievements and for students with outstanding performances (typically through competitions) development of teaching materials usually for lectures covering standardization issues in selected technical fields. However, with a few notable exceptions, 3 for most of the countries participating at the workshop, the existing forms of cooperation are rather informal and not structured. The cases of Korea and Indonesia, which follow a structured approach and have been presented and discussed as examples of possible models of good practices, are summarized under section 3 (Lessons learned). 2.2 Obstacles Several obstacles to the development of cooperation between NSBs and universities have been identified and discussed during the workshop. The most important ones are indicated below. The theme of standards and education is often not recognized / considered a priority (or even an important matter) by many NSBs. And, in any case, most NSBs do not have dedicated staff persons to develop and support relations with universities The importance of the relation between standards and education is often not recognized by stakeholder groups (including governments) NSBs' lack financial resources to support programmes / initiatives targeting universities Universities are often not interested (or have a very limited interest) in standardization Competition to include new topics in university curricula is fierce and standardization is no exception Lack of Government support Lack of suitable teaching materials Limited availability of experts (from industry or NSBs, to contribute to standards-related programmes) Limited availability of professors / researchers interested and able to drive standardsrelated programmes Depending on the various countries' conditions and NSBs' experiences, these obstacles can be more or less severe. However, participants at the workshop agreed that all NSBs can address them effectively and make progress in establishing or expanding cooperation with universities. 2.3 Key success factors Two aspects were identified as most critical for the development of cooperation between NSBs and universities: Universities need to be convinced of the attractiveness of education programmes involving standardization i.e. to find value in them NSBs need to consider the relation between standards and education a priority issue and act accordingly better if this is explicitly stated in the framework of the national standards strategy. A line of action concerning standards and education needs to be associated with specific responsibilities and supported by dedicated resources Several actions should and can be undertaken to achieve the above. The key factors of success identified by the participants at the workshop concern: development of a strong link with and obtainment of support from the Ministry of Education engagement of stakeholder groups, getting input and support from them 3 mainly Korea and Indonesia, which have in place formal arrangements since several years, and Malaysia and Vietnam, which have recently started this approach. 5

7 identification of specific areas (related to professions and functions within organizations) where there are needs or potential interests for standards' education. Markets and communities served by universities need to be analyzed, existing or potential "customers" of universities (i.e. providers of jobs for students) need to be involved and universities need to be engaged in the dialogue ability to exploit the standards community network (access to experts, stakeholder groups, international connections) 3 Lesson learned from the workshop 3.1 Examples of good practices The experiences of two countries, Republic of Korea and Indonesia, have been presented and discussed as examples and possible models of good practices. 3.2 Republic of Korea Similarly to other recently industrialized countries or developing countries, Korea has followed a top-down, government-led approach to national development and innovation. Korea s efforts in standards education are in alignment with this top-down approach and can be characterized as an outcome of public sector leadership. Two organizations, KATS (Korean Agency for Technology and Standards) and KSA (Korean Standards Association), have played key roles in planning and implementing standards education activities in Korea. KATS is a government agency under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), whose key mission includes national standards, conformity assessment, accreditation, national membership in ISO and IEC, product safety management, legal metrology, and management of the WTO/TBT inquiry point ( KSA is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, a so-called public organization in Korea, and its scope encompasses standards development, KS/ISO/JIS certifications, quality control and management, and education/training services ( The Korean standards education initiative, led by KATS and KSA, has followed five major steps: 1. Set-up of a national strategy on education about standardization 2. Securing a stable source of funding and development of a long-term plan 3. Assignment of overall responsibility to a specific organization 4. Building cooperative networking with the education community 5. Maintaining continuous improvement / innovation. Korea s standards' education initiative was launched in the framework of the 1st National Standards Master Plan published in , which emphasized the importance of human resources development. It was then confirmed and extended within the 2nd Plan ( ), which described a more detailed strategy for "increasing awareness about standardization and strengthening education activities for professionals and in all levels of schools". In line with the national standards strategy, KATS was able to secure government funding for long- term standards education projects and empowered KSA to take the lead in developing a long-term plan named "Life-long Standards Education", including on-site education on standardization for primary schools, the Standards Olympiad for teenagers, the university education program and the training program for industry. The implementation of standards' education projects started in Clearly defined strategic objectives and the stable flow of government funding, allowed KSA to allocate resources to develop, implement and improve standards' education projects in a sustainable manner. KSA has therefore been able to: allocate dedicated staff persons to the programme develop teaching materials targeting various school levels grant limited funding (to cover some of the costs) to participating schools 6

8 Over time, KATS and KSA have strengthened their relationship with the Korean Ministry of Education, local education authorities, education institutions, and the Technology Teachers Association in order to embed standards education modules into formal education curricula. Such cooperative networking is essential to facilitate the inclusion of various types of standards contents into formal education curricula. A substantial part of the effort has been dedicated to universities, in particular to the University education program on standardization (UEPS). UEPS started in 2004 and concerned primarily the development of standardization courses embedded in curricula for university faculties covering a plurality of disciplines (such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, information and communication technologies, and so on). Courses designed through the UEPS programme cover one-semester class (for a total of 32 to 48 lecture hours, corresponding to 2 to 3 credits). A unified textbook was developed to provide a common basis for teaching standardization, complemented by case studies covering technology, company and sector specific issues, and by student visits to relevant sites / organizations (such as research institutes, companies, laboratories). The results so far have been impressive. Between 2004 and 2011 the UEPS programme has generated, on an annual basis, between 64 and 96 courses adopted by 40 to 50 universities and followed by a number of students varying between and Indonesia In Indonesia, the importance of the relation between standards and education has been clearly recognized several years ago and the efforts to establish and promote cooperation with universities (and schools of other levels) have been driven by the national standards body, BSN. (BSN is a non-departmental government institution whose main responsibility is to develop and conduct standardization activities in Indonesia.) The approach of BSN has been focused on the development of MoUs (Memorandums of Understanding) between BSN and universities. These MoUs provide a clear description of the objectives, scope and responsibilities concerning cooperation on standards and education, which, in general terms, cover the following aspects: education, training and promotion of standardization participation of university experts in standards development exchange of information laboratory development research on standards-related topics BSN makes a significant effort to communicate the value of standards, involving representatives of the Ministry of Education and Industry, and provides various forms of support including training of lecturers, development of teaching materials and limited funding (e.g. for attending trainings or participating in workshops). The programme of cooperation with universities was launched in 2005, with the development of the first MoU with UNPID (Diponegoro University), a state university located in Semarang, considered one of the best universities in Central Java, renowned for being at the forefront of engineering and technological knowledge. Since then, BSN has actively promoted cooperation with universities using a variety of means, including the organization of events (including international workshops organized in 2009 and 2010 and the ICES/WSC conference hosted in 2012), raising awareness on the importance of 7

9 standardization in the framework of the National Quality Month 4, developing a variety of publications and so on. The programme has rapidly expanded, and 5 to 9 new MoUs with universities have been signed on an annual basis, reaching a total of 29 in May Starting in 2007, BSN and partner universities have cooperated on the development of a curriculum for standards education and later on the development of a textbook. As a result, six universities have introduced courses on standardization which, so far, have been followed by about students. Hundreds of lecturers have attended workshops and training sessions on standardization organized by BSN and universities, the number of university experts involved in standards development has significantly increased and more than academicians have become members of SNI Online (the information service on standards provided by BSN). 3.4 Lessons learned from the examples and from the discussion Based on the analysis and discussion of the proposed examples of good practices and of their own national experiences, participants agreed on the following: following a structured approach (based on clearly stated principles and a plan, including the allocation of resources and indication of responsibilities) is extremely important the approaches of Korea and Indonesia while differing in scope, execution and available resources are both structured and based on a strategic view. They are considered useful models for the countries in the region considering market demand is key and universities pay a lot of attention to their "customers" (organizations who offer jobs to students) universities (at least those from the region) are also significantly influenced by the views and actions of public authorities (which may comprise strategic orientations and funding for certain types of activities) sharing information, ideas and deliverables between NSBs and universities (within and across countries) is extremely useful Participants also agreed that: each country has the possibility of making an easy start (no matter how primitive the relations between NSBs and universities might be today), defining, maybe, limited but reasonable and achievable objectives to move forward, a structured approach is really needed, including a specific strategy and an action plan 4 Recommendations 4.1 Overview The last section of this report summarizes the workshop's recommendations regarding good practices that can be implemented by NSBs and actions that ISO or other bodies (e.g. regional organizations) can take to support the development of cooperation between NSBs and universities. 4.2 Good practices for NSBs As noted under section 3.4, each country has the possibility of making an easy start. University professors participate in standards development activities in almost all countries: this is in itself an important starting point. All NSBs can find ways to engage professors participating in standards development in the definition of forms of cooperation with their universities (as a start, 4 In Indonesia, the World Standards Day (14 October) celebrations and theme are used as a basis to set the National Quality Month (in November of each year), which involves a variety of events, awards and other communication initiatives aiming at creating awareness about the importance of standardization. 8

10 this can just be one or more lectures on standards-related topics that fit with university programmes). The experiences in countries where the links between standardization and education are more advanced, but also in others at an earlier stage of development, have shown that this is a very important enabler. Establishing, over time, a core group of academicians (in particular those who show a high level of interest, enthusiasm and commitment) willing to dedicate some time and effort to education about standards, to provide input and advice on possible initiatives and to pioneer implementations, will help NSBs to set-up a specific interest group focused on the issue. In more general terms, to make significant progress, NSBs are invited to: define a strategy and an implementation plan for education about standardization allocate resources to support the implementation plan (assigning specific responsibilities and tasks to NSBs' staff even if these can be part-time assignments) engage university professors possibly through a core group, as outlined above set-up an Advisory Group on Education, involving university professors and representatives of interested stakeholder groups, in particular from government (Ministry of Education and / or other levels), from industry and other groups that may be able to offer jobs to students with qualifications in standards' matters achieve consensus and support from the advisory group look-out proactively for possible sources of funding, seeking: o Government funding (although this may not be easy to achieve, especially at an early stage) o private sector, that might be able to contribute in various forms (donations, grants, internships for students, etc.) o donor agencies (from the regional or international communities) refine objectives and priorities and set the scope of cooperation consistently with available resources take advantage of existing assets (at national, regional and international levels), in particular: o teaching materials o pool of experts o companies, institutions, laboratories willing to contribute (for student visits, internships, etc.) formalize agreements with universities through MoUs or similar instruments Memorandums of Understanding or Cooperation Agreements between NSBs and universities are considered the most appropriate framework to define this, because they allow to define clearly: who does what (scope and activities of the cooperation and related responsibilities) who pays what (terms of financial commitments / responsibilities regarding the activities covered by the agreement) legal responsibility (re: activities, intellectual property and other aspects) Formalized agreements help to ensure sustained commitment from both parties and allow easier monitoring and reporting. Participants also agreed that particular attention needs to be dedicated to the needs of professors and students. Professors have a critical role and they need to be supported in the best possible way. The following aspects were underlined: it is important to recognize the personal contribution of professors and to reward their commitment and enthusiasm (whenever possible, this may involve limited financial contributions e.g. to cover travel costs to participate in relevant events -- as well as other forms of recognition, such as awards) 9

11 professors should be helped in adopting effective approaches to promote standards-related topics in university courses, e.g. by: o proposing "soft" entries (i.e. lectures that do not impact university curricula, but provide opportunity to enrich existing courses) o with minimum cost (ideally zero-cost for the university, with efforts that can be just shared by professors themselves and the NSB) o emphasizing the benefits for the university (e.g. helping to make courses more attractive to students, to receive company and / or government recognition and support) NSBs should provide easy access to existing assets (teaching materials, pool of experts, student visits, and so on.) Students are, in the end, those who determine the success or failure of university courses. To meet the needs of students, the following lines of action should be followed: identifying job opportunities and highlighting how knowledge about standardization may help to achieve them is very important the attention and motivation of students should be captured and nurtured e.g. through high quality content, innovative ways of teaching, etc. the student's perspective (usefulness and attractiveness of courses, difficulties, support, ) should always be considered, and students' attitude regularly monitored students' commitment and performances should be stimulated and rewarded (e.g. through students' awards) 4.3 Regional and international cooperation Cooperation between NSBs and universities at regional and international levels are considered very important and helpful. Regional and international cooperation brings value in terms of: exchange of information and experiences, allowing NSBs and universities to take advantage of ideas and approaches followed in other countries development and sharing of teaching materials development of extended, across-the-border pool of experts helping to enrich national events and initiatives bringing an international dimension facilitating the establishment of university networks (providing additional opportunities for students and academicians and increasing the attractiveness and status of education about standardization in universities) Some of the workshop's participants have already cooperated at a bilateral level and at a regional level in particular in the framework of the APEC 5 Committee on Trade and Investment, Sub- Committee on Standards and Conformance (CTI-SCSC) Strategic Education Program for Trade Facilitation. The programme, launched in 2006, has published Education Guidelines for developing standardization curricula and a basic common reference Textbook on standardization. It has also developed an information repository listing a variety of publications s and teaching materials covering standards-related matters. Participants also welcomed the recent initiatives undertaken by ISO in this domain, notably the organization of annual conferences in partnership with IEC, ITU and ICES, the development of a repository of bibliographic information on teaching materials for universities and the Masters' programme developed in partnership with the University of Geneva (Switzerland) on Standardization, social regulation and sustainable development. Participants agreed that regional and international cooperation should be encouraged and expanded. 5 APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, is an economic forum involving 21 Pacific Rim countries 10

12 In this respect, it was recommended to consider the possibility of establishing an ISO body or standing project / initiative dedicated to standards and education. It was indicated that the existence of such an entity would help to raise awareness on the importance of the matter by ISO members in developing countries and facilitate the set-up of Advisory Groups on Education within NSBs (which could be regarded as "national mirror committees" to that ISO group). 11

13 ANNEX Study on the Cooperation between National Standards Bodies and Universities, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands), April

14 Table of Contents 1 Introduction Research approach Response Structure of the report Overview of findings NSB perspective University perspective Teaching materials NSB develops and provides teaching materials Cooperation between NSB and universities to develop and provide teaching materials Lectures NSB employees give guest lectures Committee members provide guest lectures NSBs set up and/or provide courses Participation of academics in standardization activities University professors can join our standardization committees for free University professors can join our standardization committees for a reduced fee NSB promote and support participation in standardization Involvement of students in standardization activities Visits to NSB Joining committee meetings as observers Internships in NSBs Awards for students Awards / Recognition for professors Award for professors for their contribution to standards development Getting contributions to the authoring of standards recognized by institutions Arrangements for access to standards Standards for free Standards for a reduced price Special collections of standards Standards available in NSB office and/or libraries Financial support for academic education or research Financial support to develop and/or run standardization courses Financial support for standardization research Special chair for standardization Cooperation frameworks

15 11.1 Memorandum of Understanding or Cooperation Agreement between NSB and universities National network of university people to exchange ideas about standardization education and/or research Education in the framework of national strategies and policies Inclusion of standardization education in the national standardization strategy (if any) Inclusion of standardization in the national strategy / policy for academic education (if any) Inclusion of standardization education in the national industry policy (if any) NSB resources / initiatives dedicated to education NSB staff capacity for academic education on standardization Training of university staff Conferences/workshops to support or stimulate standardization education Academic education at NSB website Web communities Other NSB initiatives University support for NSB University provides testing services University provides expertise for NSB surveys/studies University provides research for and/or advice to NSB to improve its services University provides training for NSB staff University provides training for committee members University professor teaches in courses organized by NSB Research and other forms of cooperation Cooperation in research projects Other forms of cooperation Organizing cooperation Conclusion and indications for discussion

16 1 Introduction 1.1 Research approach This project encompasses two elements: making an inventory of cooperation between NSBs and universities, and providing a basis for developing best practice for such cooperation. Current practices can be observed from two sides: the NSB and the university. Therefore, in order to investigate these practices we have prepared separate questionnaires for both sides For the NSB side, ISO approached the CEOs of its members in 161 countries. Additionally, the members of the CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Joint Working Group on education about Standardization were informed. These are people in European standards bodies responsible for education matters. In order to collect materials from universities, we used the following channels: (1) EURAS and SIIT mailings lists (383 members), (2) the members of the Standardization Education Committee of the American National Standards Institute ANSI (58 members), (3) universities that had applied for the ISO Award on Higher Education in Standardization and the first author's own university contacts (87 academics), and (4) representatives of other organizations from the first author's contact files (82 people). Moreover, ISO asked its members to contact universities in their country so we do not know the total number of university people that received our letter. NSBs were asked if they cooperated with universities. If yes, they were then asked to answer the following questions: 1. Importance. Do you consider this an important contribution to increasing or improving standardization in your country? Please rate this on a five point scale (1-very low importance, 2-low importance, 3- medium importance, 4-high importance and 5-very high importance). 2. Cost-effectiveness. How does the cost compare with effectiveness? What ratio would you apply? (not cost-effective at all / hardly cost-effective / a bit cost-effective / quite cost-effective / very cost-effective) 3. Do you think the cooperation is a success or failure? What do you see as major reasons for failure or success? 4. Can you please list the universities in your country with which you have applied one or more of the forms of cooperation described below? 5. Please provide us with all additional information you think helps to understand this form of cooperation and the lessons learned. Universities were asked almost identical questions. 1.2 Response In total, we received answers from NSBs in 73 countries (out of 161, so 45%) and from 26 universities. Some countries have no activities in place. NSBs in Bhutan (BSB), the Republic of Congo (ACONOR), Mexico (DGN), and Saint Lucia (SLBS) informed us that currently they have no form of cooperation with universities but are considering taking this up in the near future. Seychelles (SBS) would like to establish such cooperation. The NSB in Gambia (GSB) has just begun discussions with the University of Gambia about cooperation. Many other NSBs have a form of cooperation. 1.3 Structure of the report Chapter 2 gives an overview of the findings from the questionnaires. The next chapters provide more detailed information about practices. Citations from the respondents are presented as separated, indented paragraphs. In each section we start providing the NSB perspective and subsequently that of the university, whenever available. In the final chapter we provide conclusions and input for discussion. 2 Overview of findings 2.1 NSB perspective Figure 1 shows the forms of cooperation most frequently mentioned by the 58 NSBs having completed the online questionnaire. It can be noticed that for most NSBs these concern participation of university staff in standardization committees and relatively simple forms of cooperation. Less NSBs are engaged in more 15

17 sophisticated forms of cooperation (e.g. universities providing technical expertise in in surveys/studies carried out by NSBs). Figure 1: Top 11 forms of cooperation NSBs have with universities, out of 58 respondents We promote and support participation of academics in standards Groups of students can visit our organization to familiarize with University professors can join our committees for free NSB employees gives guest lectures Students do internship projects in our organization We bring universities into contact with committee members who We included standardization education in our national We organize conferences/workshops to support or stimulate Universitiy provides technical expertise in surveys/studies carried One or more of our staff memebers has specific tasks stimulating Universities get standards for a reduced fee Confirmation of cooperation University perspective We also asked university professors about their experiences. Here we got less responses, 28 universities completed the university version of the online questionnaire. Figure 2 shows the forms of cooperation they mentioned most. Interestingly, a significant proportion of respondents seem to be engaged in more sophisticated forms of cooperation. However, given the limited number of responses, university professors with high involvement in standardization-related work are probably over-represented. Figure 2: Top 11 forms of cooperation universities have with NSBs, out of 26 respondents. NSB promotes and supports participation of academics in Groups of students can visit NSB to familiarize with what it My university provides research for and/or advice to NSB to My university provides technical exptertise in surveys/studies NSB included standardization education in our national University professors can join standardization committees for The NSB organizes conferences/workshops to support or One or more NSB staff members has specific tasks NSB employees give guest lectures in my courses Professors of my university teach in courses organized by NSB Students do intership projects in NSB Confirmation of cooperation Teaching materials A first form of cooperation between NSBs and universities concerns teaching materials. NSBs may develop and/or provide these, or this may be done in cooperation with universities. From the examples given in the next sections it can be learnt that cooperation is the better option. The NSB may contribute with expertise, professional and/or financial resources. 3.1 NSB develops and provides teaching materials The Lithuanian Standards Board (LST) intends to prepare training modules. BPS (Philippines) is involved in a huge programme to promote standardization education including the development of teaching materials, 16

18 among others for students in chemistry and physics. ABNT (Brazil) has developed teaching materials, together with the National Confederation of Industries and with financial support of the Brazilian government. IRAM (Argentina) has been developing and maintaining (because of new developments) teaching materials for different universities for many years. They perceive this as a good way to make the benefits of standardization for society known and to enhance participation in standardization. In Sri Lanka (SLSI), the materials are being used in different departments of five universities having standardization in their curriculum. The Chair of Innovation Economics at the Technical University of Berlin, uses teaching materials developed by the German standards body, DIN, in its courses to teach the basics of standardization. Arfan Bakhtiar of Diponegoro University in Indonesia reports that he uses teaching materials developed by BSN. It is a success thanks to the commitment of BSN. One professor is a dissonant in this positive choir: Prof. Wilfried Hesser who, until recently, had a chair in standardization at the Helmut Schmidt university in Hamburg, Germany: He has doubts about materials developed by NSBs. According to him "NSBs believe to have the proper material but their material is not appropriate (limited usefulness) for academic education. NSBs use "academic standardization education" as a marketing strategy". 3.2 Cooperation between NSB and universities to develop and provide teaching materials BDS (Bulgaria) cooperates with eight universities to develop teaching materials. KAZMEMST (Kazakhstan) cooperates with four universities: At the moment we are preparing books with basic information on standardization for students. In collaboration with The University of Manchester, the British NSB, BSI, developed a handout which accompanies lecture slides for Standards and Standardization 1. In Jamaica, The cooperation with the University of Technology has been a success. The National Building Code (which is comprised of standards, the development of which were facilitated by the BSJ) have been incorporated in the curriculum for engineering and construction students. INDECOPI (Peru) developed teaching materials in cooperation with four universities. They developed an education programme with the Pontificia Universidad Catolica, as part of the Peruvian involvement in the standardization education project of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). SESKO (Elektrotechnical Standards Finland) develops materials in close cooperation with seven universities also because of their educational knowledge. Standards Australia writes: While Standards Australia has contributed to course material in the past, previous agreements with universities have lapsed. Ongoing cooperation in this area requires regular updates of course material. Flinders University is currently developing a course on Standards, Ethics and Compliance which is part of Flinders new syllabus for 4 th year Engineering and Computer Science Students. SPRING (Singapore) reports: We collaborate with Nanyang Technological University to develop three case studies to promote standards education and raise awareness on standardization activities and benefits. ILNAS (Luxembourg) cooperates with the University of Luxembourg and the Public research centre Henri Tudor: Cooperation is the key of success. A major reason for success is to define and support a clear national standardization strategy. The China National Institute for Standardization CNIS reports: The academic background of teachers and schools impact their understanding of standards and the related aspects. For instance, science and engineering teachers prefer to use specific standard in their teaching; while business schools focus on strategic management and production operations 1 Hampson-Jones, Newell (2011) Standardization, Standards, Innovation. London: BSI. 17

19 with standardization. Therefore, development of teaching materials should try to have a modular design for teachers with different backgrounds, it is best to have a case library for teaching reference. Junjun Hou of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, is not satisfied. He believes the NSB should provide more detailed samples and statistical data on standardization. Secondly, he suggests building a communication platform between researchers and NSBs. Serena Coetzee (University of Pretoria, South Africa) mentioned that financial support for creating educational materials would stimulate universities to do this. Serenkov Pavel, Chair "Standardization, Metrology and Information systems" at Belarus National Technical University,, reports: The cooperation is considered a success only because of the systematic approach. The cooperation should be systematic. 4 Lectures For universities, it can be attractive to have guest lectures from the standards body staff, business experts or other people involved in standardization. First we address guest lectures by NSB staff, then lectures by committee members. It turns out that, in some countries, NSB involvement goes even further they set up complete courses at universities and also sometimes teach in such courses this will be described in section NSB employees give guest lectures Staff of standards bodies in, for instance, Côte d'ivoire (CODINORM), Eritrea (ESI), Ireland (NSAI), Israel (SII), Kenya (KEBS), Montenegro (ISME), Nepal (NBSM), Switzerland (SNV), Serbia (ISS), Tanzania (TBS), Tajikistan (TJKSTN), Thailand (TISI), and the United States (ANSI) provide guest lectures at universities. Lectures of the Malta Standards Authority at the University of Malta focus on awareness about standards. The Ghana Standards Authority reports: This form of co-operation has worked well for us because standardization is not part of the regular educational curriculum. With these lectures we are gradually getting the lecturers more interested in standardization and hoping that very soon it will be formally included in the curriculum. Mrs. Dr.sc.ing Iveta Mezinska of the Institute for Quality Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Economy and Management, Riga Technical University, Latvia, reports: Representatives of Latvian Standard (LVS) presented lectures in study course "Management systems in normative documents" (TQM Bachelor programme). Successful cooperation and we will continue. The British Standards Institution (UK) intends to create an internal speaker network in order to be able to manage such guest lectures. In Mauritius, this form of cooperation is so intensive and tight that many of the Mauritius Standards Bureau s staff are allowed to act as part-time lecturers at the University of Mauritius, at different faculties including Engineering, Science and Management. Several Courses at the university, e.g. on quality assurance, have been initiated by MSB. In the Kyrgyz Republic, employees of the Center for Standardization and Metrology (CMS) do more than just give guest lectures. They implement programs of higher education that include "Standardization", "Quality Management", "Product Certification", "Product Safety" as subjects in the Kyrgyz Economy University, Agricultural Academy National University, Kyrgyz Technical University, Kyrgyz Architectural and Building Institute and other universities of the country. Again one critical comment: CNIS (China) emphasizes that guest lectures by NSB employees have little influence because a limited number of students can participate. This relates, of course, to the size of the country. They suggest that video lectures might be more efficient. CNIS focuses on the China Jiliang University in Hangzhou, which offers the most complete standardization education in the world (and winner of the first ISO Award on Standardization in Higher Education). 18

20 4.2 Committee members provide guest lectures Employees of BDS (Bulgaria) teach at different universities. Chinese Committee members teach at the China Jiliang University. ANSI (USA) develops a Speakers Bureau for guest lectures. ICONTEC (Colombia) reports that university professors participate in standardization committees and sometimes invite other committee members to give guest lectures. IRAM (Argentina) has the experience that such lectures are successful because the committee members are specialists on different issues. The Standards Authority of Ghana mentions: It enlightened the lecturers and students to learn that standardization is not limited to the staff of the National Standards Body. Standards Australia notices that it can be attractive for committee members to give guest lectures: Committee members gain profile with universities and students. ILNAS, Luxembourg reports: In Luxembourg, the register about standardization delegates is publicly available on our website so the national university can, if necessary, contact directly the different members of committee(s). KEBS (Kenya) reports a disappointing experience: This has been a failure as many committee members expect to be paid whenever this is arranged. The failure is simply due to logistical problems. Somehow, the NSB would be dragged in to provide the monetary logistics for such cadre of lecturers as the Universities expect this to be the NSB s burden. Since NSB operates within the limited resource allocations, this might be a distant objective not achievable for now. Dr. Lixia Mei from the Zhongnan University of economics and law in China assesses these guest lectures as successful because of the face-to-face contact. Instead of a committee member going to the university, a university professor can join a standardization committee. Junjun Hou of the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China reports: I am chosen as a member of a standard committee in my province. Some professors are invited to participate in standards development activities, which is very useful for them to get perceptual knowledge of standardization. 4.3 NSBs set up and/or provide courses SII (Israel) is developing an academic course on standardization, KEBS (Kenya) tries to do the same. In China, the Zhonghan University of Economics and Law and the NSB work together to set up courses, with NSB funding. SIS (Sweden) reports: SIS has delivered a 5 week course on the topic of Standardization, Quality Management and Construction, specific applications on behalf of the Building and Construction branch of KTH Royal Institute of Technology. DIN staff is running a course at the technical University of Berlin, Germany, for the Chair of Innovation Economics. INDECOPI (Peru) and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica prepare a post-graduate course on standardization as a tool for business strategies. ABNT (Brazil) has drafted a program for post-graduate education on standardization to be implemented at universities. Implementation awaits financial resources. ONN (Cuba) has already post-graduate education in place. Its Chairs in quality perform this education. In 2002, TJKSTN (Tajikistan), established the Department of Standardization, Metrology and Certification under the Faculty of Light Industry (now the Department of Technical Regulation and Quality Management) for the preparation of graduates (engineers) on standardization, certification and metrology for the light and the food industry. Since then, 120 university students have graduated as engineers in standardization, certification and metrology in the light and food industries. The majority exercise their specialty within enterprises, ministries and institutions, as well as directly at the Agency of Tajikstandard and its field offices. In accordance with the contract between TJKSTN and the Technological University of Tajikistan, students regularly conduct practical exercises in testing laboratories of Tajikstandard and enjoy its library. Experts of 19