A second year student, Mr. Emmanuel Younge from the Biological Sciences Department; Mr. Sampson Dwomoh, a final year student offering Actuarial Science; and Mr. Mbamba Crispin Rakibu, a third year student offering BA Social Work, all from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have taken the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively, in the 2017/18 African Regional Standardization Organization (ARSO) Essay Competition The ARSO Competition was on the topic, ‘Role of Quality Infrastructure and Standardization in Facilitating Trade and Sustainable Development within the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).The presentation of awards to winners by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) was part of the 2018 World Standards Day Celebration.
The Keynote speaker, Dr. Poku Adusei, the Deputy Director General of General Services of GSA in his address stated that, the competition is organised annually to mark World Standards Day to reflect on standards of our wellbeing. Standards he said are the basis for product quality and development control by establishing consistent production protocols that can be understood and adopted for quality control.
Mr. Charles Amoako, Deputy Director of General Operations of GSA in a speech read on behalf of three International Standards Institutions; viz. International Electrochemical Commission (IEC), International Standards Organisation (ISO), and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) stated that the World’s Standards Day is celebrated to appreciate the collaborative efforts of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as International Standards. The World’s Standards Day, he said, is also marked to showcase the relevance of standards in trade, commerce, society, business, industry.
He continued that, just as standards were important during the first industrial revolution, they would also play critical role in the fourth. In the 18th Century, the transition from manual work to machinery and factory raised the need for standards, which will once play a key role in the transition to the new era, he added.
He revealed that the rapid change brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution has its challenges though. Robots and artificial intelligence, he stated will take over more tasks previously done by humans. He added that additive manufacturing also known as (3D printing) will change the way goods are made, while safety standards for robots will make it easier to interact with humans. These, he said, among others are issues presented by a new generation of smart technologies.
Finally he said, ‘the Fourth Industrial Revolution has begun, but in order to seize its full potential for the betterment of the society, standards are needed.