Bringing Standards Out of the Shadows
Vanessa Mason$*On some road tonight in Barbados, and perhaps elsewhere in the Caribbean, a driver will be blinded by oncoming headlights. Some will see this as a legislative issue that warrants government action to control the types of bulbs or headlights vehicles use. While this may be true, the crux of the matter is standards and sound legislation based on them. Standards are voluntary on their own, but once written into law, they become enforceable.
Standards rarely make the front page, and most people do not lie awake thinking about them. This is, of course, until a problem arises. Still, they are the invisible infrastructure of economies, ensuring goods are safe and work as promised. They do not operate in isolation, but form part of an ecosystem known as the