The Next Stage Of Evolution Will Be To Strengthen The Regulatory Framework Through A Conformity Assessment Programme

India’s domestic manufacturing and design environment for electronics and the IoT is improving consistently. As new players and investments come in to enrich the ecosystem, adherence to standards, quality and safety regulations has to be ensured through thorough testing. Srinivasa Desikan, sales director - South Asia at Underwriters Laboratory (UL) talks to Rahul Chopra from the EFY Group about how third party testing facilities are gearing up for this situation, and what the industry can do to prepare for the challenges down the line.

- Rahul Chopra

EB: How would you explain UL’s line of business to a nontechnical senior business decision maker (from the electronics or IoT domains), and the gamut of services it offers?

With our global expertise and presence, we help brands achieve their key business goals like demonstrating safety, certifying compliance, enhancing sustainability, strengthening security, delivering quality and performance, managing transparency, protecting brand reputation and building workplace excellence, to gain a competitive edge and earn the trust of the market and consumers.

EB: How is UL different from its peers and competitors, and what are its unique strengths?

We partner businesses, manufacturers, trade associations, international policymakers and regulatory authorities to help manage the safety, security and sustainability risks and complexities of today’s business environment.

What sets UL apart from its competitors is that, in our mission to promote safe living and working conditions for people around the world, our scope of work is not limited to our suite of services—we are an ANSI accredited standards writing organisation in the United States. We also participate in discussions with international and national standards bodies across the globe, including the IEC/ISO and the BIS in India to develop robust standards.

Standards and codes are the fundamental building blocks of any quality ecosystem, where the ultimate aim is to advance public safety. Talking about UL’s strengths, we have contributed to the creation of more than 1,600 standards that set benchmarks for safety, security, sustainability and performance. We have also forayed into advanced research on standards to address newer areas of risk, and to ensure that the standards we have created remain relevant through all the stages of a product’s or technology’s evolution.