September 28, 2020
Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, President and CEO of WaterPower Canada, and Chantal Guay, CEO of SCC, sign a cooperation arrangement at a virtual ceremony that celebrates the milestone while respecting COVID-19 restrictions.
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and WaterPower Canada have signed a partnership agreement to help advance the competitiveness of Canada’s hydro-electrical industry. This partnership creates new opportunities for substantial industry involvement in promoting efficient and effective standardization activities in national and international markets.
“We are excited to kick-off a new chapter in our relationship with the SCC,” said Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, President and CEO of WaterPower Canada. “Clean and renewable waterpower generates more than 60% of our total electricity in Canada. The unmatched resilience and reliability of our sector is of strategic importance to our country. Hydropower is recognized as a major advantage in the fight against climate change. This partnership gives our members leverage in standardization activities that influence their work in building a clean and sustainable future for everyone.”
“The SCC is thrilled to work more closely with WaterPower Canada to foster more collaboration between the world of standardization and the hydro-electricity industry,” said Chantal Guay, CEO of SCC. “Participation in standards development provides the sector with more opportunities to lead national and international conversations at a time when major challenges like climate change are top of mind.”
Both organizations will strive to achieve the following key measures in this partnership:
- - Awareness: undertake activities to promote awareness of each other’s organizations on the value of standardization and the benefits of hydropower;
- - Knowledge exchange and research: facilitate activities that provide a broader understanding of future strategic positions, development of technology and the value of standardization in the sector; and
- - Recruitment: collaborate to encourage participation in each other’s standardization network and standards development activities.
Through this cooperation agreement, the SCC and WaterPower Canada will also collaborate to advance areas of mutual interest, such as strengthening gender diversity and engaging young professionals.
Traditionally, most standards were developed to provide interoperability between two existing technologies, or as a response to a well-established technology becoming the industry norm. Today, standards are increasingly driving the technologies themselves, in some cases they define business practices. This leads to exciting innovation opportunities for Canada’s hydro-electricity sector not only in Canada, but on the world stage.
Source
With Canadian manufacturing suffering from a growing labour shortage, the participation of industry in skills development is emerging as a vital component in hiring and retention.
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In reality, the challenge is two-fold: to replenish and expand the workforce to help close the gap between the number of job seekers and vacancies through 2030 when the last baby boomers reach age 65, and ensure workers get opportunities throughout their careers to upgrade or add to their skillset as current technologies evolve and new ones emerge. Festo, through Festo Didactic, one of the world leading provider of equipment and solutions for technical education, intends to help Canada meet this challenge on both fronts. In essence, the approach Festo has always taken is that the learning never stops.
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