IEC e-tech - September 2009 Edition

The first video interview in a series entitled IEC Global Visions has just been released. The interviews feature world opinion leaders, both from government and industry, talking on a variety of themes such as better access to electricity, frameworks for innovation, climate change, energy efficiency and so on,

The first IEC Global Visions interview with the CEO of Schneider Electric, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, describes how his company is helping governments and industry meet energy efficiency challenges. By 2050 we need to halve our greenhouse gas emissions and yet energy consumption is expected to double. Putting two and two together, our generation, transmission and consumption will need to be four times more efficient, Tricoire states.

A second interview with Keith Williams, President & CEO of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), on "Green Safety Facilitating Global Trade", has already been completed and will shortly be made available. (more)

Ronnie Amit, IEC General Secretary and CEO, visited ANSI (the American National Standards Institute) on 22-23 July 2009. ANSI is the IEC NC of the United States and its President is Jim Matthews. Amit met with members of the Board of Directors, Officers and Council Members of the US NC and members of the senior staff. He also spoke to ANSI’s Executive Committee.

During his presentation to the Executive Committee, Amit discussed some of the issues and opportunities facing the IEC. He outlined work on producing more efficient processes and tools for developing International Standards; providing further training to industrializing nations; creating special groups dedicated to specific standardization work on strategic areas such as the Smart Grid. (more)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference on Business Engagement in Standards and Conformance is one of many events organized in the context of APEC which, in 2009, is chaired by Singapore. It was part of the APEC SCSC (Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance) meetings which brought together more than 100 business leaders and policymakers from all 21 APEC Member Economies.

Speakers from industry, trade and government bodies included representatives from the United States of America, Asia, Australia and South America, as well as international bodies including the IEC and ISO. Dennis Chew, Officer in Charge, IEC-APRC (IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre), presented the IEC's new video series Global Visions and gave the first public showing of the interview with Jean-Pascal Tricoire of Schneider Electric. (more)

The second ISO & IEC Marketing & Communication Forum is to be held on 3-4 December 2009 in Geneva. Entitled Surfing on Hot Topics, it is to be organized very much along the same lines as the previous successful event, held in December 2006, which was attended by over 120 standardization experts from more than 50 organizations around the world. (more)

On 7-8 December 2009, the Kingdom of Bahrain, one of the latest countries to join the IEC, is to host an international conference on standardization and CA (Conformity Assessment) in electrotechnology.

Bahrain, under the patronage of the Industry and Commerce Ministry, is the venue for the GICSE (Gulf IEC – IECEE International Conference for Standardization and Conformity Assessment in Electrotechnology).

The event is being organized by the GSO (GCC Standardization Organization), together with the Bahraini Industry and Commerce Ministry, the IEC and the IECEE. (GCC stands for Gulf Cooperation Council.) (more)

Following the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directives for electrical and electric equipment, many countries are now introducing legislation which makes it essential for manufacturers to demonstrate compliance of their products.

The IECEE HSTS (Hazardous Substances Testing Services) provide an effective way to identify and verify concentrations of hazardous substances in components and materials using globally-approved measuring procedures (IEC 62321). The relevant IECEE HSTS Statement of Test Results and test reports issued by a Certification Body provide a reliable basis for the technical construction file of the final product.

The IECEE Certification Management Committee recently elected to use the HSTS in place of the RoHS first introduced in 2008. The IECEE HSTS have been developed in response to a need for reliable tools to verify and demonstrate the level of Hazardous Substances in electrical products. They cater for the varying requirements relating to hazardous substances around the world; the differing test methods used by laboratories with their ensuing results and increasing market surveillance on the use of HS.
(more)

IECEx, the IEC System for Certification to Standards relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres, is making rapid progress in setting up its Certified Persons Scheme.

Certification programmes for personnel already exist in industry, in particular in the service sectors. Healthcare personnel, safety professionals and financial planners, to name but a few, are regularly submitted to independent assessments of education, training, experience, knowledge and skills to demonstrate their professional abilities and be granted certification.

The IECEx Certified Persons Scheme is the world’s first international scheme for the certification of persons associated with equipment, installations and servicing used by Ex industries, e.g. oil and gas, coal mining, chemical plants and so forth. (more)

IECQ certifications have become an integral part of the whole process for environmentally-conscious manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region. IECQ is the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components.

IECQ component certification started in Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in 1982. Over the years it has become widely accepted by international component manufacturing companies competing in the global market.

With the launch of the IECQ HSPM (Hazardous Substances Process Management) Scheme in 2005 at the TEEMA (Taiwan Electrical & Electronic Manufacturers’ Association), IECQ is fast becoming a household name. As the primary source of electrical and electronic components worldwide, manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region have embraced IECQ HSPM, as well as other IECQ certifications, to demonstrate their commitment to the restriction of hazardous substances in consumer products.
(more)

Wireless communications have well and truly arrived in the industrial arena and considerable effort is now being put into integration and the writing of standards. This introductory article by an independent journalist, considers some of the many benefits and a few of the drawbacks of wireless technology in an industrial environment. (more)

The IEC has developed a dedicated and unique web portal that provides one-click access to the many key standards which form the starting point for building safe and efficient Smart Grid projects.

In addition to providing information about Smart Grids, regional differences and the purpose of Smart Grid Standards, it also offers a comprehensive catalogue of interoperability standards, technical design and specification publications and performance standards.

The portal is the latest addition to the IEC's special web-page zones. It allows utilities and distribution/transmission operators to document their requirements and enables system engineers to integrate new devices from a wide array of different providers worldwide with huge legacy systems, while ensuring that future upgrades remain possible. (more)

In late August, the IEC participated in the 13th Annual Dinner of the AIE (Asociaci�n de la Industria El�ctrica-Electr�nica), the Electrical and Electronics Industry Association of Chile. This traditional gathering is one of the big business and technology events of the year. It was attended by more than 270 representatives from industry, academia and the media.

Jean-Jacques Duhart, Undersecretary of the Chilean Ministry of Economy, emphasized the important role played by technology in Chile's business relations, particularly when it concerns SMEs, an important element of the country's national strategy.

Amaury Santos, Regional Manager IEC-LARC spoke of the relevance of IEC International Standards, particularly for Chile in view of the efforts undertaken by the AIE in setting up a Chilean NC with the aim of applying for IEC membership in the future.
(more)

In August 2009 the IEC Affiliate Country Programme announced that the IEC had created a new category of participation for those developing countries that are already using the Programme to its fullest extent.

"Affiliate Plus" status may only be granted to countries who have invested fully in the Programme and made a commitment to support it. Countries need also to have shown through the adoption of at least 50 IEC International Standards as their own national standards that they are intent on becoming an active participant in the world of international standardization.

In addition to offering 400 copies of IEC International Standards for national adoption as opposed to the 200 normally granted by the Programme, "Affiliate Plus" status opens up the possibility for a country to receive special support and mentoring on a case-by-case basis to enable it to participate more fully in IEC technical work. (more)

At the request of the IEC SMB, two of the SMB advisory committees, ACOS (Advisory Committee on Safety) and ACEA (Advisory Committee on Environmental Aspects), established a JTF (Joint Task Force) to advise on an issue raised by IEC TC 108: Safety of electronic equipment within the field of audio/video, information technology and communication technology. The issue concerns the introduction of external small flame ignition requirements into IEC International Standards.

The group underlined the degree of "contradiction" that exists in satisfying requirements both for safety and for health issues. What is recommended in order to achieve maximum safety from fire in the home may not necessarily satisfy environmental requirements. By the same token, using non-hazardous materials may not always offer an optimum level of safety. (more)

IEC TC 111: Environmental standardization for electrical and electronic products and systems, has elected its new Chairman, Yoshiaki Ichikawa, a Senior Manager with Hitachi Ltd., Japan.

Ichikawa has won various awards, including the Electronics Goes Green 2008 Award for his commitment to environmental protection and inspiring ideas concerning sustainable development in technology and business solutions. In 2007, he received the IEC 1906 Award, and in 2006 the EcoDesign Best Paper Award. He has published a number of articles, in particular on ecological and environmental issues. (more)

IEC Subcommittee 45A: Instrumentation and control of nuclear facilities, has published a third edition of its IEC 61226, Nuclear power plants - Instrumentation and control important to safety - Classification of instrumentation and control functions. The publication is fundamental to all safety systems in NPPs (nuclear power plants) and an essential standard when dealing with nuclear instrumentation. The third edition replaces the previous version of 2005.

Responding to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) NS-R-1 Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design Safety Requirements, requirement 5.1, it classifies NPP I&C (instrumentation and control) systems on the basis of function and significance with regard to safety. (more)

Electrotechnologies evolve at different speeds. Some technologies are no sooner developed than replaced. Others remain in place for decades and experience relatively few technological evolutions. So it is with the relevant International Standards written by IEC experts to support those technologies. A quick look at the history of IEC Webstore publications reflects very different rates of progression and provides an interesting historical view of technology throughout the ages.

The IEC Webstore is now set up so that publications that have either been replaced or withdrawn can still be purchased for a variety of purposes, just like any other current International Standard. (more on how to find those publications )

The August 2009 e-tech announced the imminent publication of one of the IEC's best-selling publications, IEC 61000-4-8, Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part 4-8: Testing and measurement techniques - Power frequency magnetic field immunity test.

The influence of magnetic fields and EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) phenomena is such that the IEC is now issuing this publication in parallel as an IEC Standards+ Redline version, S+ IEC 61000-4-8.

IEC 61000-4-8 relates to the immunity requirements of equipment. It establishes a common and reproducible basis for evaluating the performance of electrical and electronic equipment for household, commercial and industrial applications when subjected to magnetic fields at given power frequencies. (more)

To modify your subscription to these messages alerting you to new articles posted on the IEC website, please click here and follow the instructions given on the page.

If you have any questions and/or comments, please contact Philippa Martin-King at [email protected].