Enhancing national experts’ engagement with translated OSD training material

The Japanese National Committee (JPNC) of the IEC is taking proactive steps to prepare for the full implementation of Online Standards Development (OSD) platform in 2025. They have developed a Japanese-language starter kit to guide users through the platform's features and functionalities to prepare a high level of participation of their national experts.

Atsuko Saruhashi, a member of the IEC Board/Task Force 5, told me that the initiative reflected a commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the benefits of the OSD platform. "We recognized the need for comprehensive, localized training materials to facilitate understanding, enhance user experience and empower a wider range of participants to actively contribute to the standardization process", she said.

The OSD platform gives TC experts access to web-based tools for drafting and editing designed specifically with international standards in mind. These digital tools help to streamline the standards development process as well as facilitate collaborative work by allowing standards developers to work simultaneously on the same document.

The platform makes it easier for NCs to participate in the process by offering a single online tool that facilitates commenting and comment resolution by eliminating the need to compile multiple documents or complete separate forms.

Tetsuyuki Ikeda, SMB alternate member from the JPNC, highlighted their commitment to supporting both international and national experts by ensuring a smooth transition to using OSD for NC commenting. Recognizing that this new method might differ from the traditional commenting template approach used by the Japanese National Mirror Committees, we proactively prepared and shared a starter kit in Japanese in August, following the SMB resolution in June, to assist experts in adapting to this enhanced process.

In a significant milestone, the first international standard was successfully developed entirely using the OSD platform in August 2024. This platform has already gained significant traction, with over 8,000 experts from 74 countries actively engaged in various projects.

Overall, the jointly IEC/ISO initiated OSD platform modernizes the standardization process, making it more efficient, collaborative and accessible. It represents a blend of evolutionary and revolutionary changes. It is an evolution because it builds on and streamlines existing processes and tools. In contrast, the shift to an entirely online platform for standards development is a significant change from the fragmented digital processes that went on before and is having a revolutionary impact on the way that experts interact and collaborate.

"We are confident that the training material we have created will enable Japanese experts to work efficiently in the OSD platform", says Atsuko.