Every October 14, the international community commemorates World Standards Day. The theme chosen for this year 2019 is: « Video standards create a stage open to the world ».
In the DRC, according to the Association for the Promotion of Metrology and Standardization, there is still a lack of a proper national standard-setting system. This is despite the fact that the National Standards Committee (NSC) adopted 98 new harmonized standards of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and a new national standard in 2016.
For the Association pour la promotion de la Métrologie et la Normalisation (APROMEN), two prerequisites are needed to talk about a good national standard-setting system in the country.
« DR Congo cannot optimally benefit from the advantages of the practice of Standardization due to the absence of a coherent National Standards System (NSS). This situation encourages the practice of arbitrariness and corruption while at the same time hindering national, regional and international economic integration and sustainable development, » notes Bertin Ntumba, President of APROMEN.
He takes his thinking further by linking the lack of standardization to the Antonov crash that caused the death of the Head of State’s logistics staff.
According to him, « I see the negative effects of the absence of a rational normative practice in the DRC. With the crash, we inevitably ask ourselves questions: Did the pilot fly according to the standards? Is the airport concerned built and operated to standards? Was there an overload on the plane? Have the weather requirements been taken into account? « .
Questions that show that compliance with standards can prevent and avoid accidents.
It is up to him to add, « without benchmarks (standards) the country gets lost. It is unfortunate that standards are often mentioned only when there are disasters! Where are the national standards in the DRC? Who establishes them? How are they established? The rational practice of standardization is a pillar of economic integration and sustainable development, this expert believes. »
And he proposes the strict observance of these two prerequisites to build a National Normative System worthy of the name in DR Congo:
First of all. A vast campaign to raise awareness and mobilize the National Community on the importance of standardization for development through its stakeholders at all levels: Public Authorities, Civil Society (NGDOs, Consumer Associations, Orders, etc.), the Private Sector, Education, the research community, Conformity Assessors, etc.
Second of all. Relevant legislation on standardization: To ensure that the universal basic principles of standardization are taken into account, including: broad consensus among community stakeholders, transparency, neutrality, openness and relevance in the standards development process.
This World Standards Day is therefore an opportunity for the leaders of the three major standardization organizations, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to deliver a message to the international community.
A message that pays tribute to the efforts of thousands of experts around the world who develop voluntary technical agreements, published as international standards.
Through the chosen theme, « video standards create a stage open to the world », these three Leaders wanted to point out that all the technological advances that have made it possible to rapidly improve the quality of video, fostered its accessibility for all and ensured that the entire world enjoys it are based on international standards.
Standardised video compression methods, the result of internationally recognized joint work by IEC, ISO and ITU, demonstrate the essential role of standardization in enabling industry to meet ever-increasing demand in the video segment, one of the most bandwidth-intensive applications on global networks.
Thanks to internationally recognized and applied standards around the world, videos encoded on one device can be played back by another, regardless of the device used. The economies of scale created contribute to market growth, providing confidence for those seeking to innovate and invest in new video services and applications.
In addition to revolutionizing the entertainment industry, technological advances in video have brought us closer to our families and friends around the world, enriched our communication experiences and advanced medicine and education.
Nadine FULA