Korea, China, and Japan Discuss Digital Transformation at the 'Northeast Asia Standard Cooperation Forum'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The three Asian standard powerhouses?Korea, China, and Japan?will discuss standard cooperation measures related to digital transformation and carbon neutrality in future innovation growth industries.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s National Institute of Technology and Standards announced that it will hold the "19th Northeast Asia Standard Cooperation Forum" online for two days starting from the 22nd, with the participation of more than 40 people including standard policy directors and private standard experts from Korea, China, and Japan.

The three countries have been holding the forum annually since 2002 to share their national standardization promotion strategies and enhance private sector standard cooperation.

First, the governments of Korea, China, and Japan propose areas of interest and form working groups in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to expand the influence of private experts, providing a foundation for private experts from the three countries to collaborate. Korea held six working group meetings on cloud computing, information accessibility for socially vulnerable groups, home network configuration and applications, among others, and proposed new working groups related to artificial intelligence, blockchain, and stroke diagnosis. Regarding blockchain, Korea is leading the development of international standards as the project leader for the reference architecture standardization project in ISO Technical Committee 307 (ISO TC307), and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects to share necessary cooperation matters with China and Japan.

China proposed new working groups on maglev transportation systems, and Japan proposed new working groups on grinding machines, while holding two existing working group meetings on smart manufacturing.

Alongside the private expert-centered working group meetings, the three countries will also hold a director-level consultative meeting with participation from each country’s standard policy directors. Korea will share standardization policies focused on K-quarantine, China on advanced manufacturing, and Japan on autonomous driving, discussing mutual support measures for activities within the International Organization for Standardization.

In addition to cooperation in major standardization promotion areas, the three countries will discuss advancement into executive positions within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Korea succeeded in entering the ISO Board in 2019 and the IEC Board in 2020, and this year is challenging for the chairmanship of the ISO Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) and executive elections for the IEC Conformity Assessment Board (CAB). China requested support for its bid for the chairmanship of IEC/TC59, which promotes standardization of household electrical appliance performance.

Lee Sang-hoon, Director of the National Institute of Technology and Standards, said, "As competition among countries to dominate international standards intensifies, strategic international cooperation and standard diplomacy are essential for Korea to lead international standardization," adding, "Through the Northeast Asia Standard Cooperation Forum, we will continue to provide a platform for private expert cooperation and develop government-level cooperation systems on the international standardization stage."