The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) is appealing for the IT sector’s involvement in developing standards for the industry, warning that some of the standards are at risk of being withdrawn due to lack of participation.
In a statement, the organisation says it is seeking industry participation in the SABS Technical Committee (TC) 001 (Information Technology), which is the main committee responsible for the governance of all IT sub-committees.
The SABS notes that national standards are developed and maintained through technical committees, comprising members of the industry, academics, government, regulators and any interested party or individual.
To support the development of IT standards, the SABS is inviting representatives from the industry and other stakeholder categories to submit an interest to participate in the following SABS standards development sub-committees: SABS TC0001/SC28 office equipment, SABS TC0001/SC32 data management and interchange, SABS TC0001/SC34 document description and processing languages, as well SABS TC0001/SC35 user interfaces.
Further, the SABS says, the TC 001 requires industry representatives with the requisite technical expertise to participate in the various sub-committees that will enable the approval and development of new standards projects, as well as re-affirm the relevance of existing national standards.
Standards in the industry range from printer cartridges, computers, IT accessories, infrastructure and IT security.
The SABS warns that a number of IT standards will be impacted should the organisation not be successful in achieving the requisite industry stakeholder representation and participation.
“A committee that is inactive will result in the industry not having state-of-the-art and relevant technical solutions to support innovation and industrialisation of the sector,” says Dr Sadhvir Bissoon, divisional head of the SABS Standards.
“A further risk is the possibility of withdrawing the current list of national standards within this sector due to the inability of re-affirming these standards which is conducted through the SABS technical committees and sub-committees.”
According to Dr Bissoon, South African national standards evolve over the years to reflect societal, environmental and technological changes.
It is imperative that industries get more involved and participate in national standards that will impact the way the industry operates, thereby meeting market needs, adds Dr Bissoon.
The SABS says there are currently several updated IT and related standards available from international standards organisations that could be of great importance for SA to adopt as national standards. However, this requires an established SABS technical committee with diverse member representation to consider and recommend standards to be developed.
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