New standards to be developed supporting resilience and sustainability

In the past year, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the Singapore Standards Council (SSC) have developed and reviewed over 168 Singapore Standards and Technical References, impacting 13,000 organisations.

91 of these standards were new, with close to 70% focused on emerging areas most of which were in smart manufacturing to support Industry 4.0 adoption. These efforts continue to underpin trust and confidence in Singapore’s products and services for businesses and consumers.

In 2020, beyond its efforts in new and emerging areas, ESG and SSC will also focus on addressing industry needs and national initiatives by developing standards that build sustainable and resilient industries and enterprises. These include standards that mitigate the disruptive impact of COVID-19 and bolster recovery efforts.

Building enterprise resilience through Standards

COVID-19 has brought to the fore the importance of standards that focus on resilience for businesses to adapt quickly to disruptions. It has also emphasised the importance of the need for resource sustainability. ESG’s guide on business continuity planning for COVID-19, targeted at SMEs, was developed based on SS ISO 22301.

ESG and the SSC have made available for free viewing over 40 international and Singapore standards across different areas to help enterprises mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The SSC will develop standards on business continuity and supply chain, ICT and infrastructure, and healthcare solutions to enhance resilience in enterprises.

Standards’ role in supporting new and emerging areas

As the SSC continues to develop standards that support Singapore’s industry transformation efforts, emphasis on emerging areas will continue. In 2020, green standards encompassing renewables, energy efficiency and storage will be developed to support Singapore’s shift to a low carbon future. Standards on sustainable food production will also be developed to guide enterprises on the sustainable use of environmental resources.

Currently, Singapore is leading a number of ISO and IEC Working Groups, in areas such as smart transportation by autonomous vehicles on public roads, the harmonisation of waste management terms used globally, and bunkering of marine fuel using mass flow meter.

As leaders in these areas, industry stakeholders from Singapore are involved in setting global benchmarks and guidelines to support Singapore enterprises in the global markets.

Ms Choy Sauw Kook, Director-General (Quality & Excellence), Enterprise Singapore, said, “Standards are an essential part of the global commerce infrastructure and can provide companies with a competitive edge in the international marketplace. Beyond supporting our daily lives, standards have also improved market access for many Singapore companies and enable them to retain an edge even as new innovations and technologies are rolled out.

“Today, standards support business resilience, continuity planning and sustainable practices. As we move into a new normal, close partnerships with industry, government and academia will be crucial so that we can continue to develop standards that meet business, industry and market needs, even as we gear up in our recovery efforts,” she continued.

Mr Robert Chew, Chairman of the Singapore Standards Council, said, “Our standards development efforts have changed over the years, not just creating standards after new technologies have emerged, but also developing standards alongside current advancements in science and technology. This allows the standards to plug market gaps and support the commercialisation or use of new products, services and systems.”

We encourage more enterprises to adopt standards as tools that support them, and also help develop standards in their respective fields,” he concluded.