The IEC National Committee of Ethiopia has become an associate member of the IEC, bringing the total number of members to 89, as of end of June.

The president of the Canadian National Committee, Jacques Régis has retired, after years of dedication to standardization and conformity assessment. He is replaced by Colin Clark who has been vice-president since 2017.

Highlights of the IEC Conformity Assessment Board (CAB) meeting, which took place during the 83rd IEC General Meeting in Shanghai, China.

I recently returned from Shanghai, where I attended the IEC Young Professional Programme for the second time, this year returning as a 2018 Young Professional Leader.

The IEC Systems Committee on Smart Energy has published a new Technology Report on best practices for protecting the electric grid against cyber attacks.

The IEC has presented its Thomas Edison Award to four individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the IEC.

Close to four thousand delegates from 173 countries are gathering in Shanghai for the 83rd annual IEC General Meeting. Industry leaders are joining technology experts, regulators, academics and other stakeholders to discuss future goals and take stock of IEC work.

From mounting piles of waste to the depletion of natural resources, the current modes of production and consumption are unsustainable. Based on the current linear economic model, products are made, used and discarded.

The IEC General Meeting (GM), which will take place from 21 to 25 October in Shanghai, is already exceeding all expectations. A record number of 4000 delegates has registered to attend the numerous workshops and technical committee gatherings that will be organized.

Whenever I talk about the IEC Smart Cities Systems Committee, I make it clear that our mission is not simply to develop standards and system reference documents ourselves. It is even more important to bring the knowledge of the 20,000 IEC experts to help solve city problems.