Human-Centered Transition Pathways: ANSI Seeks Comments on Proposed ISO Technical Committee

Submit Feedback by July 16

As the U.S. member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is seeking comments on a proposal for a new ISO Technical Committee (TC) on human-centered transition pathways.

JISC, the ISO member for Japan, has submitted a proposal to ISO with the following scope statement:

“Standardization in the field of human-centered transition pathways for resolving societal issues, including terminologies, principles, general requirements and guidance, metrics and indicators, requirements for organizations, societal systems, and products that support implementation, use of technical enablers, and application to specific sectors.”

The proposal asserts that dedicated efforts are needed to implement changes necessary to resolve societal issues, including aging, pollution, poverty, climate change, and biodiversity loss. To that end, since these societal issues are significant and involve diverse stakeholders, designing transition pathways acceptable to most stakeholders is essential in achieving the intended transition.

The proposal on human-centered transition is a concept featuring core elements as follows:

• Mitigate short-term adverse impacts on the well-being of current human society (human-centered, inclusive, etc.)

   

• Contribute better and in a less harmful way to the achievement of addressed societal issues compared to current societal and technical systems (harm reduction, etc.)

   

• Be accountable for taking action and not just delaying or escaping necessary changes (alignment to the final goal, governance, policy, strategy, anti-wash, evidence-based, traceability, verification, incremental improvement, etc.)

A stringent definition of human-centered transition will be developed by a global consensus.

Review the proposal for additional information and submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy and strategy, at [email protected], by close of business on July 16, 2023.

ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions in issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC.