ISO General Assembly, 24 September 2020 – ISO holds the largest virtual meeting to date

Some 700 participants from national standards bodies of 141 countries attended a special virtual event organized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on 24 September 2020, in lieu of the General Assembly which was due to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This has been described as the largest virtual meeting in the history of the organization, which also included participants from various regional and international organizations.
The challenges faced by ISO members during the COVID-19 pandemic and business continuity were two key issues highlighted during the event. ISO President Eddy Njoroge thanked members for their commitment to the organization, affirming, “I am confident that we will all emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever”. He also urged members to vote for the approval of the proposed ISO Strategy 2021-2030 – which will be a key milestone for ISO.
The virtual session also featured a report from the ISO Secretary-General, Sergio Mujica, who took the opportunity to acknowledge the immense challenges of recent months due to COVID-19. “I would like to say that I am proud of our organization. We have demonstrated incredible resilience and the capacity to deliver in very difficult circumstances. This is more important than ever because the world needs ISO.”

The hard work and achievements of the technical community were also recognized with the winner of this year’s Lawrence D. Eicher Award announced as ISO technical committee ISO/TC 45 for rubber and rubber products.

ISO/TC 45 was selected amongst more than 330 ISO committees, most notably for its ability to respond rapidly to market needs by producing standards that provide predictable and sustainable frameworks to produce, process, market and dispose of natural and synthetic rubber products.

ISO/TC 45 consists of industry experts from over 50 countries, and the standards cover terms and definitions, test methods and specifications for rubber in any form, rubber products (including their dimensional tolerances) and major rubber compounding ingredients.

Participants were also introduced to the candidate for ISO President, Ulrika Francke from Sweden. In her presentation to ISO members, Ms Francke introduced herself, outlined her professional experiences and shared her thoughts on the important role ISO plays in the world.