Welcome to another episode of the Set the Standard podcast! Today, we have the privilege of hosting three formidable leaders: Tracey Gramlick, Chair of the Board at Standards Australia, Dr. Marlene Kanga AO, Director of the Board at Standards Australia, and Emma Harrington, CEO of Standards Australia. In this episode, we dive into the inspiring personal journeys of our guests, uncovering the challenges they’ve faced, the role models who have shaped their paths, and their invaluable advice for women navigating their careers. We’ll also explore their vision for a world where women can excel without the pressure of being trailblazers and discuss the outdated notion that for women work and life are not compatible. The episode intends to shed a light on the pressing gender inclusivity challenges faced by various industries, the support needed to advance gender diversity and empower organisations and industry to create a more inclusive environment. We highlight the critical role of women in Standards Development, the necessity of gender-responsive standards, the vital importance of women’s participation, and the proactive initiatives Standards Australia is implementing to ensure all voices are heard throughout the standards development process and beyond. Our discussion aims to, not only engage, but inspire listeners with thought provoking insights and encourage active participation in standards development, fostering a community that is representative of all genders.

In collaboration with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), Standards Australia's recorded its first ever live and interactive Set the Standard podcast session during the ISO Annual Meeting hosted by Standards Australia. Join our host Shannen Brown as she sits down with generational leaders from the standards world to understand how we seize the next generations creative and innovative energy to become a positive voice for change in the standards world. We delve into how we can build bridges between generations, share perspectives and experiences to understand how building and navigate a career and life has evolved over the generations. We speak about new ways to bring the young generation into the standards world and address the challenges in doing so. The Clash of Generations episode features a stellar line up of guests including: Philippe Metzger - Secretary-General & CEO, International Electrotechnical Commission, Sergio Mujica - Secretary General, International Organization for Standardization, Nelson Al Assal Filho - Director of Standardization, ABNT, Sarah Brunton - National Technical Officer, Electrical Trades Union, Neema Msemwa - Standards Officer, Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Matthew Ong - Senior Development Partner, Standards division of Enterprise Singapore.

In this episode Associate Professors’ Nathan Langford and Simon Devitt, co-authors of Standards Australia's Quantum whitepaper series, join our host Shannen Brown, to discuss quantum technology and draw upon some of its most exciting applications, demystifying quantum technology for listeners unfamiliar with this field. Joined by CEO & Founder of Diraq, Andrew Dzurak and General Manager, Engagement and Communications at Standards Australia, Adam Stingemore, we explore the challenges of achieving quantum at scale and talk about how standards can support quantum scalability while avoiding standardising prematurely. Our guests also discuss what it will take to achieve Australia's National Quantum Strategy's long-term vision for Australia’s quantum future. And address the importance of keeping up with fast-paced environment in which quantum is developing.

In this episode, Shannen sat down with Adam Stingemore, General Manager of Engagement and Communications at Standards Australia, Eric Bugeja, Chairperson of BuildingSMART Australasia and Simon Vaux, CEO of DEOS Digital to delve into digital engineering and the current state of play in the engineering and construction sector. This conversation explores current and future challenges for the sector, concepts of building information modelling, digital engineering, and the importance of data in mastering digital transformation. The episode also highlights future visions for the industry and ways to accelerate the digital transformation in the engineering and construction sector.

On today's episode, Shannen is joined by Ali Akbari, Member of Standards Australia’s AI committee IT-043, Judy Slatyer, Lead for the CSIRO’s National AI Think Tank and adviser to Data61, Lyria Bennett Moses, Director of the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation and Soraya Selinger, Strategic Initiatives Manager at Standards Australia for Critical and Emerging Technologies to explore Artificial Intelligence and the significant opportunities it presents for organisations of all sizes. We delve into the benefits of Artificial Intelligence, the ability of standards to achieve these benefits and some examples of standards being put into practice. Guests on today’s episode include Dr Ali Akbari - Independent AI advisor and AICD representative, Judy Slatyer, Lead for the CSIRO’s National AI Think Tank and adviser to Data61, Professor Lyria Bennett Moses, Director of the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation and Soraya Selinger, Strategic Initiatives Manager at Standards Australia for Critical and Emerging Technologies.

In this episode of Set the Standard, Shannen Brown is joined by Suzanne Toumbourou, CEO of the Australian Council of Recycling, Steve Morriss founder and Head of Circular Economy at Close of the Loop and Stephanie Groves, Strategic Initiatives Officer and Circular Economy lead at Standards Australia. Together, they celebrate the launch of the joint Standards Australia and ACOR report, “Standards to Facilitate the Use of Recycled Material in Road Construction”. We delve into the benefits, barriers, and opportunities surrounding the increased use of recycled content in roads. We discuss the importance of education on recycled materials, the need for nationally harmonising inconsistencies across state-level specifications, and the crucial role of collaboration in driving this process. Tune in to this insightful conversation that explores how standards can pave the way for a more sustainable future in Australia. Learn more about our Circular Economy Initiative: www.standards.org.au/engagement-events/strategic-initiatives/circular-economy

On today's episode I am excited to be joined by Dr Catriona Wallace and Kareen Riley-Takos to deep dive into the Metaverse, a virtual world that enables users to explore new places, interact with others, and experience new things in an immersive digital environment. With the rise of virtual and augmented reality technologies, the idea of a fully immersive virtual world has become more tangible, and excitement around the Metaverse has grown. Dr Catriona Wallace and Kareen Riley- Takos discuss the readiness of society to embrace the Metaverse into our homes and day-to-day lives, critical aspects that need to be addressed, and the potential risks of an unregulated and unstandardised Metaverse. As it is early days for Standards for the Metaverse, Catriona and Kareen explore where Australia could lead in supporting the safe and reliable deployment of the Metaverse, and the partnerships or collaborations necessary to drive its growth and safe deployment.

On this episode we are joined by the co-authors of Standards Australia's recently released 'Digital Twin and Standards' whitepaper, Adam Beck and Gavin Cotterill. We are also joined by George Sfinas, our ICT Engagement Manager at Standards Australia. We discuss the current state of play for Digital Twin in Australia and why a unified national approach is essential in paving the way for a consistent and connected future for Digital Twin technology in Australia. We delve into how standards can support the current and future built environment in Australia by ensuring our domestics voices are involved on the international standards stage. Both Adam and Gavin discuss how Australia can become a global leader in digital twin space if the right conditions are created, how we can establish these conditions and the risks of not doing so.

Our host Shannen Brown sat down with Mike Wood, the Principal for Telstra’s Electromagnetic Energy (EME) Strategy, Governance and Risk Management program, Kareen Riley-Takos, General Manager of Operations at Standards Australia, and Summer Lamont our Strategic Initiatives Officer to discuss the need for change in how we develop standards to allow new and emerging industries to work within the standards environment, as well as helping us work better in cross-sectoral areas of activity. We learn about how standards are developed, why we need to look to expand our current development models to embrace new and emerging industries and the risk of not doing so.

Have you ever wondered what a world without standards would look like? Or why it is important that standards are built for all and not a one size fits all? In this upcoming episode of the Set the Standard podcast, host Shannen Brown speaks with ISO president Ulrika Francke and Standards Australia’s CEO, Adrian O'Connell about the need for diversity and inclusion when developing standards. We also delve into the world of international trade and Standards Australia’s Head of International, Karen Batt discusses why standards are the passport for efficient, safe, and reliable trade. Additionally, they delve into ways in which ISO and Standards Australia can increase speed to market of standards to ensure the right solutions are developed at the right time.

Shannen Brown is joined by Dr Alan Finkel who was Australia's former chief scientist from 2016 to 2020 where he led the national electricity market review, the development of the national hydrogen strategy and the panel that advises the Australian government on the 2020 low emissions technologies roadmap. Shannen is also joined by Adam Stingemore who is the General Manager for Engagement and Communication at Standards Australia. Adam leads Standards Australia’s national and international engagement teams, research and strategic initiatives team and design and communications. Emelia Addo-Appiah also joins Shannen on this episode. Emelia is a Strategic Initiatives Manager at Standards Australia. Emelia leads the hydrogen work at Standards Australia. She advocates for standards development in hydrogen and Standards Australia's role in engaging with industry. Together we discuss hydrogen and its end use applications, Australia's hydrogen landscape, the role standards can play in the safe and effective upscale of Australia's hydrogen industry and how standards can support Australia's ambition to become a global hydrogen player and top-three exporter of hydrogen to Asian markets by 2030.

Standards Australia's 'Set the Standard' podcast host Shannen Brown is joined by Lisa McLean, CEO at NSW Circular, Dr Kar Mei Tang, Chief Circular Economist at NSW Circular and Connie Ho, Strategic Initiatives Manager at Standards Australia to explore the current and future state of Australia's Circular Economy. We discuss the concept of the Circular Economy, and its role in Australia's net zero commitment by 2050. Dr Kar Mei Tang explains the role of a circular economist and the challenges in quantifying the cost and benefits of the Circular Economy. Lisa McLean talks about the challenges faced by businesses transitioning towards a Circular Economy business model. Whilst Connie Ho weighs in our how standards can help overcome these challenges and the work currently underway at Standards Australia to help with the Circular Economy transition.

Standards Australia spoke with Emma Weston, CEO and co-founder of AgriDigital to discuss the key challenges and solutions across the grain supply chain, the role of standards in the development of AgriDigital’s solutions and how AgTech will play a pivotal role in helping Australia reach its Ag2030 vision. We also spoke about how AgriDigital sustains an innovative working environment and why kindness is the best currency.

Standards Australia spoke with Deborah Young, CEO of the RegTech association to understand the imperative role RegTech plays in today’s modern era of increased regulation and compliance. Deborah Young discussed RegTech’s future trajectory and how the COVID pandemic led to new areas of focus for RegTech solutions. Deborah Young addressed how standards can play to help overcome the challenges faced by RegTech. We also spoke to Jesse Riddell, Senior International Partnerships manager at Standards Australia to learn about the challenges that RegTech companies face across borders and how Standards Australia can support Australian RegTech companies.