New BSI Flex Standards enable dynamic consensus

16 September 2020

Standards offer a set of powerful tools to enable organizations to become more innovative and productive, improve their governance and enable market access. Reaching agreement rapidly on what good looks like is essential to meet the demands of a changing world and for BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, this has meant finding new ways to build a stakeholder-led consensus that goes beyond traditional models of standardization.

BSI is launching BSI Flex, a new type of standard that is designed for emerging and fast-changing markets that need good practice to evolve and grow with them. The new standard combines iterative online development cycles with the open consultation and neutral, independent consensus-building process that BSI applies across all types of standardization.

Scott Steedman, Director-General of Standards at BSI said: “As industries pull together to build back better, become more resilient and seize new national and international market opportunities, they need standards that can support rapid growth and innovation. BSI Flex is a new sort of ‘living and breathing’ dynamic standard that can constantly evolve to meet the changing needs of the market. The BSI Flex process brings both good governance and the ability to forge a dynamic, stakeholder-led consensus, incorporating new technology, terminology and ways of working.”

BSI’s new Flex approach is already being applied in the built environment and transport sectors. It complements BSI’s existing routes to standardization, British Standards and PASs.

BSI has shaped best practice for over 100 years, helping organizations around the world embed excellence, and build competence and capability for sustainable growth through standardization.

Find out more about BSI Flex here.