the Speech of GSO on the Occasion of the Arab Standardization Day 2022
GSO joins Arab Standards Bodies in celebrating the Arab Standardization Day, which falls on March 25 of each year. The Arab standardization bodies, members of the Arab Supreme Committee for Standardization of the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization (AIDSMO), have chosen the theme “Standardization is a tool for an Arab sustainable digital world” as a theme to celebrate this occasion.
The selection of this theme came as a realization of the importance of digital transformation in the field of standards, which plays a prominent role in providing easy solutions that enable everyone to obtain services in easy ways, in a short time and with high quality, thus supporting the quality of life in our communities, and providing safety for all.
Digital technology has revolutionized our societies in far reaching ways, and today it is one of the most exciting trends. On the other hand, standardization plays a pivotal role in scientific discovery, innovation, industrialization and international trade, improving the quality of life, protecting the global environment, and achieving sustainable development goals.
The Corona pandemic underlined the role of standards in strengthening institutional capacities to confront crises and limiting their adverse effects, and highlighted the strategic priorities for human health and safety in the first place, business continuity and information security, as well as ways to enhance standards for digital transformation and benefiting from it in crises. This has called for the necessity of accelerating the digital transformation in government and private services as an important step in developing the standardization process and raising the efficiency and usability of standards, bearing in mind that standards are the password that guides technology as a prelude to sustainable development, raising the level and efficiency of performance, and assuring worldwide citizens of their rights to obtain high quality services in the fastest time and with highest degree of safety, and pursuing unconventional solutions to overcome crises and recovery from them, in addition to enhancing the role of digital solutions in meeting the consequences of the Corona pandemic.
It also highlighted the need for the importance of advancing the development of digital infrastructure, building confidence in digital technologies, increasing the percentage of standardization work devoted to environmental sustainability, health care, road safety, establishing smart cities and communities, and benefiting from the increasing demand for technology.
In this regard, GSO, national standardization bodies, and regional and international standardization organizations are working on preparing and adopting standards and technical regulations that contribute to providing a digital environment that makes optimal use of technology to maintain safety, public health and the environment, saving time, effort and money, and with the aim of achieving development goals.
GSO 2025 strategy involved focusing on new sectors that meet the needs of member states in new areas such as the 5th generation, the Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), to meet emerging industrial and societal needs, and accelerating investment in the field of digital technologies to improve efficiency and transforming many businesses and services, and helping in achieving sustainable development goals.
Coinciding with our celebration of this occasion, I seize this opportunity to announce the launch of the “Standardization Ambassadors Initiative”, which is a voluntary initiative that aims to activate community participation by inviting specialists and those interested to contribute to spreading the culture of standardization and raising awareness of the importance of standardization and its connection to our daily life, as well as contributing to building their knowledge capabilities in the areas of Standardization by giving them the opportunity to participate in seminars and public events related to standardization. This is because of GSO strong belief in the role of all walks of society in contributing to spreading awareness of standardization. Everyone can register in the Initiative by visiting the GSO website.
In conclusion, I would like to hail the great efforts made by international, regional, and national organizations in the field of standardization, and extend sincere thanks to AIDSMO. I also extend my thanks and gratitude to all those working in the fields of standardization and its various activities in the Arab standardization bodies, and all those who support GCC standardization and its activities.
