ISO standards are offering much-needed solutions as cloud computing revolutionizes the way we socialize and work.
[ECONOMY, INNOVATION, COVID-19 & HEALTH]
The cloud serves as a virtual hard drive for many of us. A safe and secure area in the ether to store personal data, photos, and films. The cloud gives us more flexibility because we can access it from anywhere with an internet access, and it also frees up space on our laptops and phones. But it accomplishes so much more. It not only enables video conferencing technology, which has allowed millions of people to continue working despite a worldwide health crisis, but that also enables online business, ranging from entertaining fashion to life-saving medical supplies.
With flexible working hours and remote conferencing becoming the norm, and the quest for a COVID-19 vaccination still underway, we’ll need a quick development of dependable cloud services to keep things operating smoothly. But what are the difficulties, and how can we assure that our data is transmitted safely and securely?
SC 38 is a group of international professionals dedicated to finding answers to these problems. They are a specialised body under the ISO and IEC joint technical organisation dedicated to information technology, JTC 1, that provides both technical underpinnings and much-needed comfort to all things cloud computing.
The subcommittee, which was formed in 2010, just a few years after the cloud became widely known, has had its work cut out keeping up with the rapid evolution of this core technology. Millions of new users flocked to the cloud in a year when COVID19 transformed the way we work, meet, shop, and communicate ideas and data. Steve Holbrook, Chair of SC 38, describes the difficulties they’ll be focusing on in 2020 and beyond.
“Our global economy and daily lives increasingly rely on these internet services in a very real sense, and the COVID-19 pandemic has just emphasised their critical role,” Steve argues, citing SC 38’s strategic decision to widen exchanges and strengthen ties with governments, customers, and developers. “Improving our connections with these crucial audiences isn’t a reaction to the worldwide epidemic, but it has expedited the adoption of internet services and the demand for ISO standards in this area.”
SC 38 addresses this with seven new standards, adding to the more than 20 that have already been published. They’ve also identified other JTC 1 subcommittees with which they can collaborate on related issues. People’s worries about privacy and security of transfer are one of the difficulties addressed by International Standards. “How data flows between the cloud and different devices relies on bringing together elements from a variety of providers,” Steve tells me, noting that the integrity of personal and company information is a top priority for SC 38; “how data flows between both the cloud and various gadgets that relies on bringing together elements from a range of providers.” The purpose of ISO standards is to clarify who is accountable for what.”
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38 is pursuing an ambitious standards programme, but is the methodology flexible enough to keep up with the pace of change? Is it adaptable enough to develop standards that will aid a global economy as it grapples with COVID-19 and reorganises supply chains and services? “We’re eliminating overlap and creating synergies that can accelerate entire industries by collaborating on technologies that intersect with cloud computing, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and security and privacy, and by working together with the committees that develop standards in those areas,”
