Page 41 - Informatics, October 2020

International eGov Update

Japan wants to establish global standards for human-

assisting robots

apan has opened a consultation with the International Standards
Organisation (ISO) in a bid to establish standards for human-assisting
J robots. Part of the reason for Japan’s huge investments in robotics
is the country’s aging population. Robots designed to help the elderly are
becoming increasingly commonplace.
Japan has already created a national standard for robot-to-human
interactions across a large number of settings including medical, commercial,
and transport.
In a press release announcing Japan’s own JIS Y1001 standard last year,
the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology wrote:
“Current labor shortages brought about by an advancing aging society
with fewer children have been causing significant challenges for all industries
in Japan. As one of the solutions to overcoming this situation, industries
place expectations on the introduction of robot services into society.
A variety of service robots, e.g., guide robots, delivery robots, nursing-
care robots and assisting robots, are expected to play significant roles in
specific places where ordinary people and such robots can coexist, such as
airports, commercial facilities and nursing-care facilities. In such situations,
the safety of robots should be secured to prevent any harm to people.” Because any future ISO standard will likely be based on Japan’s existing
Japan now wants to export its standard to the rest of the world. JIS Y1001, Japanese companies will enjoy a headstart over global competitors.
The move is partly spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and how useful ISO’s existing TC 299 for “standardization in the field of robotics, excluding
remote medical robots could be to help maintain social distancing and toys and military applications” does not consider the best practices for
prevent the further spread of such viruses. various settings which Japan’s standard does.
In the UK alone, there have been at least 200 deaths of people working TC 299’s new working group is being headed by Japan to help ensure that
on the frontline in medical settings such as hospitals, surgeries, and care the global standard is at least as robust as the country’s national version.
homes. Robots could help to reduce the risk to other frontline workers in
the future, in addition to freeing up time for the many areas where humans
are still needed.
Of course, Japan’s move isn’t entirely selfless. Japan, as a world leader in
robotics, expects it will be able to export more robot helpers. Source: https://iottechnews.com

Americas: Intertek Alchemy releases free online course on

safety amidst COVID-19

I ntertek Alchemy has released a complimentary training course that
trains food industry workers on how to recognize symptoms, prevent
transmission, and effective measures to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19 disease.
This online course is available to every company, not just its client. Nearly
15,000 food production facilities use Intertek Alchemy for training frontline
workers who come into contact with food products (and one another).
As such, Intertek Alchemy recognizes its responsibility to make best
practices on this new infectious virus available immediately.
As with all its training courses, Intertek Alchemy worked closely with its
Industry Advisory Board to ensure the most practical and applicable training
is provided. Alchemy has delivered the new course, COVID-19: Overview, to
its 15,000 client facilities. Non-clients can download the course for free at Since these workers cannot work from home, the course emphasizes
https://www.alchemysystems.com/content/covid19-training-course/. not spreading COVID-19 among one another to ensure food production
“We realized that no other company could effectively reach as many companies can continue producing the products that supply grocery stores
frontline food manufacturing workers as we could,” said Laura Dunn Nelson, and restaurants.
VP of food safety and global alliances. While this course is new, the company’s standard course library
“And we felt a responsibility to do this as quickly as possible, giving our includes others that help food companies keep their food products safe
clients the ability to engage with their workforces to understand their role in and employees healthy, including “Effective Hand Washing Techniques,”
the continued production of our food supply during the COVID-19 outbreak.” “Promoting Personal Hygiene,” “Visitor Procedures,” as well as courses
While the food supply does not appear to be at risk, Intertek Alchemy specific to Listeria, Salmonella, and other microorganisms.
proceeded to help keep it that way while alleviating fears among food
workers and average Americans. Source: https://foodnewsinternational.com/

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