ISO Standard on Sharing Economy

 ISO Standard on Sharing Economy

 

The sharing economy creates a more sustainable world. In November 2021, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published ISO 42500:2021, an international standard on Sharing economy – General principles. This standard is intended to be used by all types and size of the organizations including commercial enterprises, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations.

 

ISO Technical committee ISO/TC 324 on sharing economy developed the international standard ISO 42500:2021, Sharing economy – General principles and same has been published in November 2021. As the name suggests, the standard provides general principles of sharing economy.

 

Clare Naden states in her article published in the ISO website (iso.org) on 13 December 2021, “Today, people are increasingly turning to their peers to access goods and services, making better use of their skills and assets. The sharing economy is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors with the potential to be a key contributor to economic growth. A new standard has just been published to support the momentum. ISO 42500, Sharing economy – General principles, provides guidance intended to ensure safe and trustworthy transactions by encouraging optimal resources use. When undertaken in accordance with laws and the sorts of principles set out in standards, this optimization can also help support environmental objectives.” Dr. Kernaghan Webb is the convenor of the group of experts that developed the standard. He opines, “Issues such as products and services not meeting environmental, social and other expectations are all barriers to the growth of the sharing economy. Other obstacles include the lack of user privacy safeguards, data protection breaches and the absence of clear procedures for filing complaints.” He further states, “The sharing economy has the potential to truly transform our world, reducing overconsumption and even creating communities. Its growth depends on there being a solid base of trust built through transparency and accountability. ISO 42500 was developed with this in mind.”

 

The contents of ISO 42500:2021 are as under:

 

Foreword

Introduction

 

1.       Scope

 

2.       Normative references

 

3.       Terms and definitions

 

4.       Guiding principles

4.1   General

4.2   Integrity

4.3   Transparency

4.4   Accountability and authorization

4.5   Accessibility and inclusion

4.6   Respect for other affected interests

4.7   Competence

 

Annexure A Figure representing the sharing economy

Bibliography

 

ISO 42500:2021 is the first standard in the sharing economy standards family that provides a robust foundation upon which other more detailed standards will be based. Together, these will form a suite of standards offering operational guidance for the safety and trustworthiness of the sharing economy. This standard was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 324, Sharing economy.

ISO/TC 324, Sharing economy is responsible for development of standards on sharing economy. Presently one standard ISO 42500:2021 has been published and other standards will be published in future. ISO/TC 324, Sharing economy, was created in 2019 and Dr Masaaki Mochimaru is its Chairman. Presently following standards are under development:

 

-          ISO/CD TS 42501 - General trustworthiness and safety requirements for digital platform

 

-          ISO/CD TS 42502 – Guidelines for provider verification on digital platform

 

As on 04 February 2022 position, committee draft (CD) of both the above standards is registered. It is expected, in future the technical committee will take the work of development of other standards on Sharing economy.

(Courtesy Source: ISO Website)

Hope for the best,

Keshav Ram Singhal