FRANK DILLON
Dublin: ENTREPRENEURS AND researchers will soon have free online access to the National Standards Authority of Ireland's (NSAI) database of over 20,000 international standards.
The NSAI has launched a pilot project to make the standards available to a small number of libraries, starting with the library of professional body Engineers Ireland.
If this initial project proves successful, NSAI will roll out access to a wide range of university and professional-body libraries.
According to NSAI chief executive Maurice Buckley, the initiative is aimed at increasing interest among entrepreneurs in the area of standards and aims to support the work of bodies such as Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in promoting the knowledge economy.
"Businesses need to be aware of the major standards in their area to be able to access the widest possible international markets," he says.
"At the moment, the only way to access standards is through purchasing them from various standards bodies, so we have made special arrangements with a number of international bodies to provide free access."
Buckley believes this is the first time a standards body has offered free online access to its standards. He hopes companies will use it to improve their knowledge of standards.
The service will operate on a read-only basis and involves installing dedicated hardware and software platforms in participating libraries in order to access the NSAI library.
Buckley says that most of the interest in standards to date had come from the research and academic community, but that he hoped this new initiative would result in greater levels of interest from business.
International standards are becoming increasingly important in areas such as health and safety and quality and environmental management and they can act as both a barrier and an entry point to trade.
According to Buckley, other advantages of standards compliance include facilitating mass production, lowering research costs, reducing product costs and improving competition.
The service will commence next spring at the library of Engineers Ireland, for use by its 23,000 members.
