This one-day event was held virtually with participation of 65 experts from 20 countries on February 27, 2023. The proposer and planner of this workshop was Iran, which was hosted by the International Network Initiative on Safe & Sustainable Nanotechnology (INISS). This workshop aims to identify the needs and challenges in the field of characterization and measurement methods at the nanoscale, safety and risk assessment of nanotechnology, capacity building, training of human resources and inter-laboratory comparisons. The INISS network is a non-governmental network that was established with the participation of volunteers from various organizations from several countries, and its purpose is networking and creating a platform for the cooperation of experts and organizations in the field of education, data sharing, pre-standardization and standardization activities, Metrology, commercialization, ethical and social aspects of nanotechnology and also contributing to joint research to support the development of regulations. Iran was initiator and the first host of a series of joint Asia-Europe meetings held in the field of nanotechnology standardization and safety, in one of the meetings, the proposal to form the INISS network was proposed by Iran, and it was approved by the members participating in the meeting.
This network has 4 pillars that Iran is in charge of the standardization and the resource/infrastructure sharing pillars. Currently, more than 10,000 nanotechnology products are commercially produced in the world, but the international and regional standards developed in the nanotechnology are very limited. One of the main goals of the INISS network is to create a platform for cooperation in order to develop standards.
Participant in this workshop were specialists and experts from standard organizations, regulatory organizations, policymakers, universities, and laboratories. In the beginning of workshop, Dr. Beitollahi from the INIC gave a speech about introducing the programs and goals of the INISS network. In the following, the head of the OECD-WPMN organization gave a presentation about the activities and programs of this group, the priorities of this group and how to cooperate with INISS. Another speech was given by the chairman of the ISO technical committee on Nanotechnology (ISO/TC229) about the activities of this committee, ongoing projects and priorities for standard development and how to participate in standard development and the potential of cooperation with the INISS network. Then the head of VAMS also made a presentation about the activities of this organization.
A specialized panel was also held with the aim of gathering feedback from the audience and discussing and exchanging opinions on identifying future needs and activities. Iran suggested that other specialized and technical workshops be held in the field of standards and safety, and it was suggested that the next workshop would be on how to write and develop an international standards. Moreover, a specialized questionnaire with the aim of identifying the needs, priorities and challenges prepared by Iran was reviewed in this meeting.
It should be mentioned that Iran is one of the active countries in the field of developing international standards, and approximately ten percent of the international nanostandards published by ISO have been developed under the leadership of Iran.
February 27, 2023
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