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NEWS SPECIAL


Governance review to strengthen the role of national members in IEC decision-making


The UK is playing a central role in a fundamental review of the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) governance system as a member of a special Task Force set up to carry out the review this year. As a representative of a leading IEC national member organization, BSI Director of Standards Scott Steedman was invited in January to join the IEC Governance Task Force (IGTF) chaired by the IEC President, Dr Shu Yinbiao. Scott will drive the governance review


and work with consultants KPMG to develop recommendations for revisions to the Statutes and Rules of Procedure that defi ne the role of the members, the offi cers and senior executives, and the structure and management of the organization. BSI is the UK’s national member of the IEC and its regional counterpart CENELEC, responsible for providing access for UK expert voices to be heard in the technical committees covering the development and management of close to 7,000 standards in the fi eld of electrotechnical and electronic systems.


IEC cooperates closely with ISO on


standards development in areas of joint technical interest through Joint Technical Committee 1 (ISO/IEC JTC1), which covers emerging information and communication


technologies (ICT) such as artifi cial intelligence, blockchain and distributed ledger technologies and information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection. Scott Steedman said, “The IEC is no longer an organization purely focused on fi xing issues of electrotechnical safety, as it was when it was created in 1906 – it is a service organization for its members and their stakeholders, delivering best practice, market-led business information. “To deliver its purpose in today’s world, the IEC needs to be member-centric with a robust governance system that delivers effi cient and effective decision-making based on core principles of transparency and accountability. The governance system of the IEC needs wholesale modernization.” “It is critical that the national members are at the heart of the decision-making process alongside industry and other stakeholders. This is because the IEC must now draw on policy areas covering technical, fi nancial, commercial, legal, conformity assessment and strategic issues, to fulfi l its mission. We see industry and national members working together, with industry bringing the market leadership and the national members bringing organizational leadership.” The fi rst IGTF meeting took place on


11 March. Working with KPMG, the group agreed the timeline and approach to creating


a new set of Statutes and Rules of Procedure tailor-made to meet the needs of the IEC community, in alignment with international best practices.


During April the consultants interviewed IGTF and IEC Council Board members. “We set out a strong case for change covering the purpose and scope of the IEC, the role and accountabilities of members and the reasons why we need a modern, transparent and accountable governance system,” said Scott. “We also set out what we consider to be the fundamental governance principles for successor arrangements.” KPMG gave feedback to the IGTF and


many of IEC’s national members at a two-day virtual forum of the National Committees, originally planned as a physical meeting hosted by BSI in London.


Scott Steedman speaking at the NC Secretaries’ Workshop at the IEC General Meeting in


Shanghai in 2019


Many members spoke up to support the


core principles of transparency and member engagement in decision-making. These principles were at the heart of two further days of debate at an IGTF meeting that followed the forum on the object and nature of membership and the priorities for reform of the governance model.


Strategic policy advice is being provided to Scott Steedman in his role on the IGTF by the members of the Electrotechnical Standardization Strategic Advisory Council (ESSAC) and in particular by Rodney Turtle, Schneider Electric, chair of ESSAC and the UK IEC Council Board member. ESSAC is BSI’s top-level stakeholder committee covering the long-term standardization needs of the sector.


Find out more about ESSAC.


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