NBN is the platform for standards development in Belgium. Experts from industry, but also governments, academics and civil society actively collaborate on new standards in your sector. And with the help of NBN's sectoral operators, a smooth transfer of knowledge becomes possible.
More and more organisations are discovering that sustainable policies and profitable growth do go hand in hand. To shape their sustainability policies, organisations are increasingly drawing on the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals - or Sustainable Development Goals. ISO standards are a useful tool for translating the goals into concrete action plans.
As a member of the ISO network, the NBN contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
More info on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals can be found in this brochure.
The number of ISO standards contributing to SDGs
2,7 80 Belgian experts in 648 Belgian standards committees
... Active in standards projects from 14 sectors
Through the online web platform myNBN, NBN customers can access their collection of knowledge documents. With myNBN, we take care of our customers' concerns: smooth purchase process, automatic updates, reporting, etc.
The NBN now offers 2 types of training: the Master Track and e-learning. In 2021, the NBN elaborated the courses Master Track ISO 9001 and e-learning 'fundamentals of ISO 9001' in French. The NBN also offered the Master Track ISO 45001 and e-learning 'fundamentals of ISO 45001' in Dutch.
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To support all Belgian experts in standards development, the NBN also offered an adapted training in 2020. Thus, these experts learned the main differences between Belgian, European and international standards, who develops the standards, how this is done and more. Even experienced experts benefited and discovered new perspectives.
Bringing professionalstogether to exchange knowledge and experiences: it is one of NBN's strengths. 2021 again did not make it easy, yet we are proud of some of the virtual alternatives at which NBN was present.
Agoria's largest knowledge, inspiration and networking event ACUMEN provided an overview of the very latest evolutions in human resources, general regulations, technical regulations and standardisation, innovation, sustainability, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and much more.... More than 100 sessions were organized during this 4-day event. You had the option to follow the event digitally or physically attend. As one of the main sponsors of this event, the NBN gave several presentations and also participated in the final debate. As many as 1837 different organisations participated. There were a total of 2314 registrations for the webinars.
Thanks to good cooperation with FPS Economy, it was possible to significantly shorten the lead time from development to publication of standards. The public research and publication of Belgian standards have been available on the NBN website since April, public research has been limited to 2 months and standards no longer need to be ratified by a Royal Decree. With a time saving of 6 months as a result.
Continued attention to improvement at NBN have led to an increased focus on cybersecurity and better alignment with customer needs. This also initiated the development of a new application platform with a focus on an efficient and user-friendly experience for our customers.
From January 1, 2021, Johan Haelterman, chairman of the NBN Executive Committee, will sit on the ISO Council. In this way, NBN will make a concrete contribution to the advance of standardisation at the global level. In addition, Johan is an active member of both the Finance Committee and Nomination Committee of ISO.
Standards are also a crucial cornerstone for our own operation. NBN is certified for ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 27001 (information security). Thus, we continue to work on smooth service delivery and ensure that our information systems are properly secured.
An intelligent software robot was commissioned in May. The robot processes about 75% of the national votes and communicates the Belgian position to CEN and ISO. The software robot also implements ISO standards and publishes NBN ISO standards. The robot is a great added value for the NBN: it increases efficiency, execution speed and saves a lot of time.
ASTM standards are now also part of the NBN offering. ASTM is an important U.S. organisation for the development of standards. These international standards add value to all organisations operating in the U.S. market.
Since September 28, 2021, the governance of the NBN has been strengthened by a Technical Bureau (TBT). This body provides technical advice to the Board of Directors of the NBN on specific issues related to the Belgian standardisation process or the work program.Moreover, the TBT allows even better preparation of the coordination meetings of the European standardisation (CEN BT) by involving a number of stakeholders more closely in decision-making.
