The ISO 2023 Annual Meeting, hosted by Standards Australia, highlighted the importance of international standards in meeting global needs and accelerating progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The event brought together more than 4,000 participants from over 140 countries, and the program included more than 20 sessions with speakers from various fields, including business leaders, industry and high-ranking government officials.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the metaverse and convergence issues were discussed, with cyber security identified as a major concern, with an emphasis on the importance of cyber security standards.

Climate change was a dominant topic at the ISO General Assembly, and ISO included a strategic priority on environmental sustainability in the updated ISO 2030 Strategy.

At the same time, a new partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was announced to improve sustainability actions.

This year’s ISO 2023 Annual Meeting demonstrated the strong commitment of the international standards community to address global challenges together.