New international Standard great news for business – Six Sigma

Issue 32 – October 2011

ISO has published a new two-part Standard for Six Sigma* performance-improvement methodology. 'This new international Standard that improves business and quality performance is great news and will help businesses increase customer satisfaction and become more competitive', says Debbie Chin, Standards New Zealand Chief Executive.

Six Sigma is a data-driven method for improving business and quality performance. Although Six Sigma has been around for some years as a methodology, having the ISO brand on it will give it more international recognition and will give people more confidence to use it.

Continuous improvement helps Standards New Zealand to create value through standardisation

Issue 32 – October 2011

Standards New Zealand has recently been recertified as compliant to AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements, the global benchmark for quality management. We talked to Standards New Zealand staff and the Telarc assessor about how continuous improvement and risk management is embedded into how the organisation operates and creates value through standardisation.

R&D business support available – Ministry of Science and Innovation

Issue 32 – October 2011

Research and development (R&D) is a key driver of innovation, business success, and economic growth. Good ideas can lead to new products and services, smarter ways of doing things, and a point of difference that sets a business apart and on the path of adding value. The Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI) is New Zealand's largest government funder of R&D and strives to build links between business, government, and research organisations to improve New Zealand's wealth through science and innovation.

New 'adult entertainment' domain names – risk to your web credibility

Issue 32 – October 2011

You may have heard of the new '.xxx' top level Internet domain that will soon be available. These domains, as the designation suggests, are directed towards the adult entertainment industry. The '.xxx' domains introduce a new marketing twist that could impact on your business. Just imagine if your brand were to become associated with an adults-only website. This could happen if someone else registers a '.xxx' domain with your brand name in it. If this is done to extort you to purchase the '.xxx' website, it is known as 'cybersquatting'.

Rutherford Innovation Showcase – a celebration

Issue 32 – October 2011

2011 is a milestone year for New Zealand as it hosts the Rugby World Cup and welcomes a global audience of business leaders to the country during this landmark sporting, business, and cultural event. The name Rutherford exemplifies our history of innovation as it commemorates Ernest Rutherford who was the 'father of nuclear physics' and led the scientific team that first split the atom.

DRAFT STANDARDS FOR COMMENT

Free to download from our website: www.standards.co.nz

DR AS/NZS ISO 6709CP Standard representation of geographic point location by coordinates (Revision of AS/NZS ISO 6709:2008)

To provide geographic point location data formats which are universally interpretable and that allow unique identification of points on, above or below the earth's surface for the representation of latitude, longitude and altitude for use in data interchange. This Standard provides a variable-length format.

Public comment on this draft Standard closes on 9 November 2011

DR AS/NZS ISO 19101.2CP Geographic information – Reference model – Part 2: Imagery