—Interview with IEC President Jo Cops
During the IEC Global Impact Fund Forum held in June in Nanjing, China, we interviewed IEC President Jo Cops. He shared his views about how standards and technologies are addressing global challenges and facilitating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mr. Cops also discussed the progress of the new IEC Global Impact Fund, as well as the future work of IEC.
Before becoming IEC President, you led the Belgian National Committee of the IEC for almost 10 years. Would you like to share your opinions on how IEC standards and conformity assessment help solve global challenges?
Jo Cops: IEC international standards and conformity assessment systems are important because the global challenges that we are facing have no borders. The way we are organized to develop international standards is through national committees. IEC has technical committees with a specific working scope, focusing on specific areas. And on the national level, there are mirror committees. This is how we develop international standards.
We think that through standards development and conformity assessment systems, IEC can contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For instance, IEC has approximately 160 technical committees (TCs) and four conformity assessment systems working on SDG 7, which is about ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Examples of how we contribute towards realizing SDG 7 include our work on low-voltage direct current (LVDC), microgrids, energy efficiency, renewable electricity, and so on. You’ll find plenty of examples of how we contribute to the other SDGs on the IEC website: https://www.iec.ch/sdgs.
The IEC Global Impact Fund (IEC GIF) is designed specifically to further encourage standards-based solutions to support the SDGs. It also contributes to the IEC vision of an all-electric and connected society. Can you explain how IEC GIF facilitates achieving the SDGs and aims to help bridge the digital pide?
Energy access is a challenge. About 700 million people still don’t have access to electricity. We exclude far too many from the digital and all-electric future. I believe that access to electricity should be a human right. There is no access to the internet or the other conveniences of modern life without electricity.
IEC standards and conformity assessment help countries to build up national infrastructure, achieving greater efficiencies while improving the safety of products, people and the environment with a firm commitment to creating positive change in people’s lives. The IEC GIF actively seeks out projects and partnerships that deliver real-world impact. It aims to harness technical solutions and best practices that can help address some of the most urgent global issues, including climate change, energy access and e-waste management. It will do this by leveraging international standards and conformity assessment to provide practical solutions based on best practices and reached by global consensus.
We recently launched the first IEC GIF project. The project, in rural Kenya, is helping schools and hospitals gain increased access to electricity by turning old batteries into new resources. The schools and hospitals are in remote areas, too far away from the grid.
Jo Cops delivers a speech at the IEC Global Impact Fund Forum held in Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, China in June 2024.
You served as the IEC Treasurer for 5 years. Can you explain how IEC GIF works?
Holding the position of Treasurer gave me a lot of insight, not just into the finances, but also into the way IEC works and is organized.
There was an idea to use 1% of the reserves to help realize specific environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. This idea has grown into the IEC Global Impact Fund. Now, in order to further develop the IEC GIF, we are looking for partners that can help us finance even more ambitious projects. They can come from industry, but can also be governments or other organizations that are willing to support our initiative.
Given your distinguished career in industry, what role do you think businesses can play in the IEC GIF?
Industry is a very important stakeholder in IEC. Most of the experts who participate in IEC technical work come from industry and we already have a good relationship that we can build on. We can also help businesses to have more impact with their philanthropic efforts.
Let me give you an example. When I recently visited the first GIF project, in Africa, the headmaster in a primary school told me that several companies had sponsored them and donated products like computers and video projectors. He said, that is very generous, but unfortunately, the school doesn’t have electricity!
Standardization has attracted increasing global attention. Increasingly, international standards and conformity assessment are being seen as solutions to many common challenges. What will be the focus of IEC in the near future?
We have seen that technology is becoming more and more important in our lives. International standards ensure that it is safe, efficient and does what it is supposed to do.
Legislators use our standards because our work represents a global consensus on solutions to various issues. We offer strategic answers for businesses to decrease costs, increase productivity, access new markets and facilitate freer and fairer global trade. Moreover, the core principles guiding the development of IEC international standards—openness, transparency, effectiveness, relevance, stakeholder engagement and consensus—reflect good governance and policy-making practices.
The IEC brand also ensures reliability and fosters trust, which is crucial for public confidence in policy.
Jo Cops accepts the exclusive interview from China Standardization Press during the Forum.
Governments refer to standards because they know they are updated regularly. It is much easier to cite a standard than to create a law from scratch. Therefore, conversations between international standards organizations and governments are gaining importance.
The rapid development of technology means that ever more standards are needed. In recent years, we have been active in domains such as AI and cyber security. We have begun work in areas such as bio-digital convergence and the metaverse. We recently established a new IEC/ISO joint technical committee on quantum technologies, including quantum computing. It is a good example of how we start relatively early to facilitate the emergence of new technologies by providing a common vocabulary. This facilitates a smoother transition and integration of these technologies into the global market, by ensuring that everyone speaks the same technical language.
How can China support the work of IEC?
On the technical side, China has a big industrial market with many consumers and experts, who are already participating in the work of IEC. Since the number of domains is growing, we will always need more experts to strive for what we are doing within the IEC. China is already making a significant contribution and can continue to do so.
China can also contribute more on the governance side, participating more in the governance structures of the IEC.
The IEC Promotion Center (Nanjing) was established nearly two years ago. Could you comment on the work of the center?
I am very impressed by the work that is being done here. It is incredible. This is my first time here, but I definitely will come back. There is so much going on here to promote the valuable work of the IEC. You can count on my personal support.
Jo Cops shares his views about how IEC standards and conformity assessment systems can have a catalytic impact on local environments and economies at the Forum in June 2024.
About Jo Cops
Mr. Cops became IEC President on January 1, 2023, for a three-year term. Prior to that, he served as Treasurer of IEC from 2018 to 2022. He led the Belgian Electrotechnical Committee (CEB-BEC) as the Secretary-General from 2012 to August 2021.
Mr. Cops has a master’s degree in engineering and has had a distinguished career in industry. He was the Director of Industry Relations at Niko, a European leader in smart home solutions. He began his career with Sony Belgium and subsequently held various management positions within Sony Europe, followed by senior positions at Telenet (Liberty Global) and Alpha Technologies Europe.
