创造价值标准能带来更大效益——本刊独家专访ISO秘书长罗博·斯蒂尔

创造价值标准能带来更大效益
——本刊独家专访ISO秘书长罗博·斯蒂尔

Creating value,standards bring more benefits
Exclusive interview of ISO Secretary General Mr.Rob Steele from Q&S

Along with the societal and economic development,standardization activities have been playing an increasingly important role in the fields of public service and societal management.Today,the exchanges and cooperation in international standardization have been more and more extensive and in-depth.How to further improve public service,innovate societal management,and create more values for enterprises with the methods of standardization?With these questions,Quality and Standardization(Q&S)had an exclusive interview with ISO Secretary General Dr.Rob Steele who was visiting Shanghai.

Q&S:Shanghaiisaimingtobeinganinternational metropolis,is committed to the exploration in the standardization research and practices in public service and administration management.In order to help Shanghai government become service-oriented,highly efficient and more transparent,we have developed such local standards as the Administrative Approval and the Administrative Service Center,and have obtained successful results.What is your opinion on this issue?

Mr.Steele:I know in many parts of the world,local government is not particularly well served by the standards community.I think the idea of having relevant standards either adapted or put together to provide guidance for local authorities and local governments is really a good idea.

Q&S:We notice that ISO Strategic Plan(2011-2015) mentions that,ISO will support the demand of the public authority in standard development,and enhance the value of standard supporting public policy,which is one of the Seven Key Objectives to Achieve Global Vision.What will ISO do to achieve this objective?

Mr.Steele:ISO doesn’t have many standards around local government at the moment.So I think this is a very interesting idea for ISO to achieve and develop more.I think it is something we should look at more to be better coordinated and to identify and meet the needs.

And I think it is a combination of new standards perhaps, perhaps taking some of the standards you have developed, maybe other parts of the world have developed,as well as taking some ISO standards.Because I think local administration relies on its environment as well.So how can we use,how can we improve if you like the whole supply chain,the whole value chain that local authorities use and rely on.

Q&S:The value of standard lies in implementation.What is your suggestion about the promotion of the standard implementation?

Mr.Steele:I think simply publishing the standard and telling people the standard is available is not good enough. Having relevant case studies,or areas which clearly show the value of standards to local authorities,is a way to help implementation.We have to have case studies to show thevalue.And we need to do a better job about publicizing them.

Q&S:Shanghai is a large and most cosmopolitan city.Security of the societal operation has always been the stressing focus of the government.During the development of national standards such as City Anti-emergency Plan Draft Guide,we felt it a bit difficult to apply the ISO safety standards,due to that security issues are closely related to the management mechanism and local culture which differs from normal technical issue.In that case,what’s your opinion?

Mr.Steele:I think the standard is voluntary.So it’s up to the country whether it wants to use it or not.Here in China,if you have cultural issues with the standard,then it’s up to you to implement it or not.In terms of publicizing the standard itself,and trying to get people engaged and to use it,I think ISO has the means but could work more closely with those who administer and approve the use of the standard.By that I mean the regulators.

Q&S:SME is the basis with regard to the economic development and social stability.Shanghai standardization information service always pay great attention to the promotion and implementation of standards to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs).So what is your suggestion on the acquirement,implementation and involvement of SMEs with standardization activities?

Mr.Steele:First of all,I think it is great what you are doing to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs)to gain access to the information and the value in the standards that you have,so that they can buy the right standard.This is an area where ISO has also done a lot of work.

We have launched a part of the ISO website,specifically for SMEs,where we have put together the information and the guides of the standards that we think would be most useful for SMEs.These are all available on one place now.And people can use the ISO Online Browsing Platform(OBP)to look at the outline of a particular standard.You can see the scope,and the type of content so people have a much better idea of what they want to buy.

We are also looking to how we can provide training to ISO members around how they might get better engaged with industry including SMEs.This is got to include communication around the value of standards.So we have published some very short case studies about SMEs.They show the value of standards to SMEs.

I think SMEs around the world focus very much on the cost of standards.I think we need to do,as standards organizations,we need to say basically,look,if you pay for a standard,whatever it is,you get huge value for that. And the value of that is the significant multiple of the list price.In my country,New Zealand,I used to get this all the time.I used to turn around to the builder,the plumber,or the electrician,and say,come on，for the price of two packs of cigarettes,you are getting a standard, something that’s going to add huge value to your business.

Q&S:We totally agree with you about the value of the standards.Actually,one of the purposes of Quality and Standardization is to enhance SMEs’awareness of standardization,through articulation of the value of the standard.

Mr.Steele:I think that is also what the panels downstairs have said.The market will pay for what something if it sees it has a value.And I think it is up to us to very clearly articulate what the value is.We need to show very straight-forward and very compelling reasons why what we do has value.And I think your panels downstairs have shown that absolutely and very clearly,standards bring value to those who use them,be that in the past,and especially in the present and the future.

随着社会、经济的不断发展，标准化在公共服务和社会管理领域的技术支撑和基础保障作用日益凸显。在国际标准化交流合作广泛深入的今天，如何运用标准化理念和手段来进一步完善公共服务、创新社会管理，更好地为企业创造价值？带着这些问题，本刊对来沪访问的国际标准化组织（ISO）秘书长罗博·斯蒂尔（以下简称“Steele”）进行了独家专访。

本刊：上海以建设国际化大都市为目标，致力于在满足公共服务与行政管理需求层面进行探索与实践，例如为提高公共服务透明度和行政效能，先后研制了行政审批、行政服务中心等方面的地方标准，取得了很好的效果。您对此如何评价？

Steele：据我所知，世界上很多地方，地方政府并没有接收到来自标准方面的支撑。但是我认为，采用标准或将标准汇编起来给地方政府以及行政管理部门提供指导，是一个非常好的想法。

本刊：我们了解到，《2011～2015年ISO战略规划》明确提出，在标准制定中支持公共权力机构的需求，将提高支持公共政策的标准价值作为实现“全球愿景的七个关键目标”之一。ISO将如何实现这一目标？

Steele：目前，ISO没有许多关于地方政府的标准。对于ISO而言，这将是一个十分有趣的领域，值得我们在这个领域里制修订更多标准,从而更好地协调、更好地发现和满足需求。

我认为这将是一种集成，可能ISO会采纳你们已经制修订的标准，可能会采纳世界上其他地区制修订的标准，也可能会采纳一些ISO的已有标准。我们需要关注在地方行政管理层面，如何使用和改善我们的全供应链和价值链。

本刊：标准的价值在于应用。ISO对推动这些标准的实施有什么建议？

Steele：我认为如果是仅仅发布标准，然后告诉大家有这些标准了，还远远不够。我的想法是通过一些十分清晰的案例、或者一些能够向地方行政管理部门显著地展现标准价值的领域，来切实推动这些标准的实施。当然，我们还需要更好地宣传它们。

本刊：上海作为一个特大型城市，城市的安全运行一直是政府重点关注的问题。我们近年来在承担《城市应急预案编制指南》等多项国家标准研制工作时感觉到，转化ISO安全标准有一定的困难，主要是由于“社会安全”不同于一般的技术问题，与管理体制和本土文化等有密切关系。您对此有什么看法？

Steele：首先，我认为标准具有自愿性。例如在中国，如果在标准实施过程中遇到一些文化方面的问题，由你们自己来决定是否继续实施这个标准。其次，从宣传标准以及促使人们参与并实施标准方面来讲，我认为ISO正在努力和那些能够决定或同意标准使用的管理者建立密切联系，但还可以做得更好。

本刊：中小企业是推动经济发展、促进社会稳定的基础力量。上海标准化信息服务始终对中小企业的标准应用推广非常重视。在更好地推动中小企业获取、实施和参与标准方面，您有什么建议？

Steele：我十分赞赏你们帮助中小企业获取标准信息、了解标准价值，进而帮助他们买到正确的标准。从ISO角度而言，这也是一个我们投入了大量人力的领域。

我们在ISO网站上发布了一个专门针对中小企业需求的服务专栏，在这个服务专栏中，包含了所有我们认为适用于中小企业的信息和指南，这些都能通过在线浏览平台（OBP）集中获取。企业可以看到某一个标准的大纲、具体内容和适用范围，从而帮助企业更好地了解他们想买的标准。

我们在考虑向ISO成员国提供一些更好地帮助中小企业的培训，这些培训也将围绕着标准的价值展开。我们还发布了一些与中小企业有关的案例，专门向中小企业展示了标准的价值。

全世界的中小企业都十分关注购买标准需要花费的成本。作为标准机构，我们需要告诉他们：“如果你购买了一份标准，你就获得了这份标准所创造的巨大价值。”在我的祖国新西兰，我常常向一些建筑工人、管道工、电气工程师这样说：“仅仅花费买两包香烟的钱，你们就将获得对你们的工作带来巨大价值的东西。”

本刊：我们十分赞同您关于标准价值的观点。实际上，《质量与标准化》的办刊宗旨之一就是通过展现标准的价值，提高中小企业的标准化意识。

Steele：从你们的标准化浮雕墙可以看到这种理念。我总是在重复地讲标准的价值，是因为市场最终会认可那些它认为有价值的东西。我们需要采用一些非常直白和有说服力的方式，来讲述为什么我们的工作是有价值的。我认为你们的标准化浮雕墙恰好十分清楚地展现了这一点，标准为其使用者带来了价值，无论过去、现在抑或将来。