is the online magazine of BSI Group, highlighting the vital role that standards play in today's business environment by helping organizations improve quality, save money, reduce risk and be more sustainable. Features include interviews with leading business figures, as well as news on the latest developments in management systems, standards, testing, healthcare and certification.
Big ideas
30 Nov 2009
Topics: Innovation, Nanotechnology, Biometrics, Knowledge management, Risk management, BS 31100, Carbon footprint, PAS 2050, Regen medicine, Kitemark®
"Innovation is important. It creates value through helping businesses become more competitive and profitable," says Lord Drayson, UK Science and Innovation Minister. "It also benefits society through developing products and services that address the needs of business and consumers."
Innovation is also about investing in research and development. And it includes the creation of new business models, as well as the processes that support them. In a fast-changing world, stresses Lord Drayson, the need to embrace innovation is greater than ever.
"The business environment is changing dramatically. The impact of the recession and increasing global economic competition, the need to make our patterns of living more sustainable and resource-efficient, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and the needs of an ageing population will drive significant change," he says.
And, he warns, organizations that fail to innovate could face a bleak future: "The businesses that survive and prosper will be those that are capable of adapting, innovating and finding new ways of creating value. Those that do not build their capacity to innovate will be overwhelmed by these drivers of change." The UK Government is taking this view to heart, launching the iawards to celebrate and emphasize the need for innovation.
Held in London's Science Museum in November 2009, the iawards are the first of their kind to be backed by government and will showcase cutting-edge British science and technology. The award scheme is run by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), with categories covering everything from life sciences and digital communications to high-tech buildings and green energy.
Backing innovation makes economic sense: in the slump years of the 1930s, for example, Britain's then new electrical and automotive industries flourished while traditional businesses went to the wall. But by its very nature, innovation can be a risky business. And that's where standards can help.
"Standards enable the diffusion of innovation into the marketplace and the innovative development of products and services by setting out ground rules, common terminology, development methods and measurement techniques, such as biometrics," says Lord Drayson. "They can help to propagate innovations, and hence to enable economic benefit to be derived from them. They do so by spreading acceptability of an innovation in the market, and by enabling other suppliers to incorporate the innovation in their own products."
Small beginnings
Nanotechnology, which manipulates matter at the molecular and atomic level, is a case in point. It's at the heart of a growing range of innovative products and systems, with applications in everything from cosmetics to computing, medicines, medical devices, food and energy storage.
According to some estimates, global revenues from the nanotech sector could hit £1.5trn in the next six years. By 2015, four per cent of all output in the manufacturing and materials sector could incorporate nanomaterials. The impact is set to be even greater in specific sectors: 16 per cent of medical devices and 50 per cent of electronics and IT equipment could be nano-enabled within five years.
Nanoparticles are minute - one nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre - but the commercial potential of the innovations that spring from nanotechnology is huge. Today, there are about 1,000 nano-enabled products on the market and the number is growing rapidly.
But in this technological Klondike, there are dangers too. A recent report on seven Chinese workers suffering from lung disease that may have been the result of exposure to nanoparticles prompted speculation and concern when it was released. Media coverage of the report ranged from the level-headed - including analysis of the mitigating factors involved, such as the extremely poor industrial hygiene conditions - to the inevitable tabloid fodder.
The ability to address the environmental, health and safety risks associated with nanotechnology is of critical importance.
Standards help businesses to make sense of nanotechnology and to manage the risks involved, beginning with a commonly agreed vocabulary. BSI's pioneering nanotech standards include a series of Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) documents that provide comprehensive guidance on the terminology associated with nanotechnology.
"This enables people to have a dialogue with each other," explains Marcus Long, head of external affairs at BSI. "Whether that dialogue is between suppliers and customers, fellow researchers or businesses and regulators, if they can understand what they're talking about, they can have a sensible conversation about managing that risk."
BSI is also helping organizations to manage the physical hazards associated with microscopic particles. PD ISO/TR 12885:2008 provides authoritative guidance on preventing adverse health and safety consequences, while PD 6699-2:2007 provides information on risk assessment, control and disposal of nanomaterials.
In tandem with providing industry-specific guidance, BSI provides organizations with the tools they need to cope with the challenges common to all businesses. Risk management is one of those challenges. BS 31100 Code of practice for risk management offers a framework for developing effective risk management strategies. Standards help prevent potential problems, and businesses that implement a standard are better placed to exploit new opportunities.
"Risk and innovation are intrinsically linked with one another," says Long. "Risk management is part of the innovation work that any organization must do. BS 31100 takes people through principles that can be applied to the innovation of products and services, and systems as well."
Big on biometrics
Not all technological advances are as spectacular as nanotech. More often than not, innovation is an incremental process that brings together diverse strands in new and unexpected ways, rather than being a single giant leap.
Biometrics is one such development. Biometric authentication systems are used to confirm that people are who they say they are. It has become a fundamental part of many of today's secure identity systems. Applications range from passports to staff ID cards.
Biometrics is not one technology, but several. It brings together sophisticated computer hardware, complex algorithms capable of comparing millions of records and high-tech data collection apparatus for scanning unique human characteristics such as fingerprints and iris patterns.
Originally driven by massive public sector projects, such as electronic passport schemes, commercial biometric applications are expected to assume increasing importance. These include entry control systems for buildings and even access to bank accounts.
According to recent projections, annual revenues generated by the biometrics industry worldwide are set to grow from just over £1.5bn today to around £6.5bn by 2017, with compound annual growth of around 20 per cent.
Biometrics is a non-intrusive technology and biometric systems do not pose a direct physical risk to people - data is gathered using sophisticated cameras, so there's no direct machine-to-person contact.
The standards and guidance surrounding biometrics therefore address the practical and commercial challenges facing the sector - particularly the need for interoperability. That's critical for the creation of large, complex systems. Common rules help the industry to grow, simplifying integration and opening up the market for multiple vendors. Standards include the BS ISO/IEC 19794 series, which covers data interchange formats.
"Interoperability is one of the key statements we make about how standards are used," emphasizes Long. "It provides people with a basic framework to build innovative solutions. It can often be just one small element that makes the absolute difference to a product or a service. Standards can help people to concentrate on the innovative part, because the rest is sorted out for them."
The ability to share knowledge effectively is vital in the quest to create better products and services. Knowledge management (KM) plays a decisive part in this process, speeding up the generation and implementation of new ideas. And it benefits businesses of all sizes, from the smallest SME to the largest multi-national. BSI supports this process, with guidance that includes PAS 2001 Knowledge management.
The changing standard of standards
As well as underpinning innovation, standards themselves are becoming increasingly innovative. The development of the PAS is an example. A growing number of standards are now published as a PAS before evolving into fully-fledged standards. This allows businesses to get their hands on high-quality information at a much earlier stage than was possible in the past.
Guidance of this sort helps address new economic, social and policy needs. And it provides a valuable alternative to regulation as a mechanism for achieving compliance. PAS 100 Specification for composted materials is one such standard. Developed for the government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the new standard was developed in record time to meet the need for a specification to deal with recovered waste.
"Standards development is not just about innovating highly scientific new areas," notes Long. "It's also about innovation in business processes and areas such as sustainability."
For example, PAS 2050 helps organizations accurately assess greenhouse gas emissions and it highlights the way in which standards contribute to green innovation.
"This is the first substantial standard to enable organizations to measure the embedded greenhouse gas within products and services," explains Long. "In an area where people are starting to clamour for greater clarity and assurance from organizations about the claims they are making, this is an innovative standard that provides the tools to actually do this."
In a world increasingly crowded with innovative goods and services, the demand for accountability is now greater than ever. And in the realm of healthcare and medical devices - the technologies that literally touch our lives - rigorous independent technical assessment plays a vital role in protecting the patient.
BSI plays a decisive role in this arena, with groundbreaking guidance such as PAS 83 Guidance on standards, standardized methods and regulation for cell-based therapeutics, from basic research to clinical application. The PAS provides organizations at the cutting edge of medical science with a roadmap through the maze of legislation and guidance surrounding new cell-based therapies.
Although not applying to regenerative medicine, in other areas visible proof that products and service are safe is provided by BSI's trusted Kitemark®. This demonstrates to consumers and specifiers that the things they buy meet rigorous quality processes and production criteria. Kitemark® schemes cover a huge array of products and services, from healthcare and medical devices to construction, engineering and electrical equipment.
"Whether it's about helping an industry or sector from the outset, being able to communicate, providing greater interoperability or a greater understanding of what's going on, standards play a critical role in supporting innovation," says Long. "To create those standards, we talk to government, academia, businesses, consumers, researchers, the third sector - and we listen. Our ability to communicate and to build communities helps us to help our customers stay ahead."
For more information on how standards could help you innovate, visit:www.bsigroup.com/nov09innovation
To download a free copy of Innovation - the role of standards, visit:www.bsigroup.com/nov09innovationpub
Business Standards © 2010. Editorial produced by Caspian Publishing in association with The British Standards Institution. Editorial opinions expressed on are not necessarily those of BSI Group or Caspian Publishing. Neither Caspian Publishing nor BSI Group accept responsibility for advertising or editorial content, nor for that appearing on linked third-party websites. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without written permission from BSI Group or Caspian Publishing.
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BSI is planning an informal free lunchtime roundtable in central London on 10 December 2009 to explore how small businesses and their trade bodies can work more effectively with standards. Places are limited so to register your interest or request more information, please email bsi.survey@bsigroup.com or call +44 (0)20 8996 7750.
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