INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION QUALITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS (IECQ)
IECQ Newslog
Smart made safe
March 2019
In the last decade the healthcare sector, which had until then been mainly in the hands of professionals, has seen a major shift. People now keep tabs...
Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through standardization
February 2019
To achieve this, in 2015, United Nations Member States adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Fostering sustainable consumption and production
February 2019
In the last 50 years, the global population has consumed more goods and services than the combined total of all previous generations. This has fostere...
Trust in your electronics
January 2019
Technological development in the electronics industry has evolved not just at a rapid pace but has been accelerating steadily over the past 20 to 30 y...
Waste not, want not!
May 2018
As the amount of electronic and electrical equipment waste (e-waste) generated each year continues to increase, the work accomplished by the IEC becom...
Managing hazardous substances
May 2018
Take a moment to think about the number of electronic devices you’ve acquired in your lifetime. Can you remember all the computers, tablets, phones, g...
Invaluable support for developing countries
April 2018
Each year sees an increase not only in the number of countries participating in the IEC Affiliate Country Programme but also in the number of Internat...
IEC presence on five continents
April 2018
Since the beginning of the 2000s, IEC Central office in Geneva, Switzerland, has decentralized some of its activities, establishing regional offices f...
Safe connections
April 2018
Artificial intelligence, robotics, biometrics, virtual and augmented reality, smart transportation, digital health and 5G connectivity are hot topics ...
Small and powerful
March 2018
Electronics are omnipresent today. For the younger generations, it must be difficult to imagine life without the array of electronic, smart devices th...
All systems under control
February 2018
Avionics - a term coined from the merging of aviation and electronics - deals with all electronic devices and systems that perform specific individual...
Baby tech boom
January 2018
Baby-related technology is increasingly about monitoring newborns from afar using the latest facial recognition tools and artificial intelligence soft...
Electronics inside
January 2018
What do artificial intelligence, robotics, biometrics, virtual and augmented reality, sports innovations, digital health and 5G connectivity have in c...
Ever smaller, safer and more powerful
August 2017
With the digitization of societies, electronics has become ubiquitous in modern life. Smart devices and appliances, industrial automation and robotics...
Home smart home
August 2017
The market for smart home devices and systems is booming. The IEC is helping the various industries involved by publishing a number of Standards in th...
Digitization: direct impact on standardization
August 2017
In his address to Council, Frans Vreeswijk, IEC General Secretary & CEO, reminded the audience that digitization is a key focus for both industry and ...
Electronics essential for sustainable energy model
July 2017
The demand for energy is growing fast, for electricity even faster. To meet the needs of over 9 billion people by 2050, energy production will have to...
Independence Day
June 2017
Using new technology and gadgets to help the elderly and people with disabilities stay independent in and outside the home is the approach favoured by...
In the home stretch
June 2017
From smart clothes to talking cows: the IEC prepares Standards for the latest wearable applications.
2017 IEC Awards
June 2017
Every year the IEC honours the commitment and work of a number of individuals in its community who, through their leadership and technical expertise, ...
A global approach
June 2017
All IEC regional centres are focal points for IEC standardization activities in their respective part of the world. They have greatly contributed to r...
Smart, safe and reliable
June 2017
Inventions of past centuries have paved the way for today’s technological innovations. This is the case for many of the electronic components that we ...
Strengthening participation
June 2017
Each year sees an increase not only in the number of countries participating in the IEC Affiliate Country Programme but also in the number of Internat...
Green connections
May 2017
Smart and connectivity are two of the words that probably best describe our society in the 21st century. Everyone and everything is connected nowadays...
Obituary - Dave W. Smith
May 2017
It is with great sadness that the IEC learnt of the passing away of former IECQ Chair Dave W. Smith on 20 June 2017.
Wear your health on your sleeve
May 2017
New flexible and organic printing technologies are revolutionizing the medical wearable device market and the IEC is establishing the key relevant Int...
Plug and play for refugees
April 2017
Access to clean and affordable energy for all is a sustainable development goal for the United Nations and the IEC is contributing to the effort with ...
Smarter than the average lamppost
April 2017
Want a weather update, real-time air pollution status, or are you just trying to find that elusive parking space? It’s simple…ask the lamppost!
Sensors at the heart of disaster relief
April 2017
Long gone is the time when populations knew of an earthquake when it was actually happening, when rescue teams cleared rubble with their bare hands, w...
Smart home: a life-changing experience
March 2017
While recent developments in home automation are bound to make anyone’s life easier, there are certain categories of the population for which it may b...
With a little help from ADAS
March 2017
Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are developed to automate, adapt and/or enhance vehicle systems for safety and better driving.
A certificate in record time
January 2017
Demand for the use of solid state technology for general and specific lighting applications continues to grow at a very rapid pace. Light-emitting dio...
Smart equals sensors inside
November 2016
Smartness has become a way of life. Today most of our activities are – at least in part – smart. Whether you work, drive, sleep, enjoy an idle moment,...
IEC honours IECQ Technical Expert in avionics
October 2016
Electronic systems used on most modern commercial aircraft include hundreds of systems that help perform specific functions.
Eight technology leaders recognized for outstanding contributions
September 2016
Each year with the Thomas Edison Award, the IEC pays tribute to members of the IEC Family for their distinguished work and commitment to improving the...
A year of brand building and increasing visibility
September 2016
During his address to Council, IEC General Secretary and CEO Frans Vreeswijk highlighted the main achievements since Minsk and talked about important ...
A giant network
August 2016
Smart and connectivity are two of the words that probably best describe our society in the 21st century. Everyone and everything is connected nowadays...
Technology is revolutionizing the way we deliver healthcare
August 2016
We are more mobile today than ever before and expect to be able to carry out many daily activities outside the home or office. Having embraced the era...
A lifetime experience wherever you are
June 2016
Long gone are the days when you had to be home and in front of your television to watch major sports events such as the Olympics or a football champio...
A wealth of information at your fingertips
May 2016
Augmented reality (AR) may not have developed its full potential yet but the technology evolves at such a rapid pace that it should soon be integrated...
From mechanic to electronic
April 2016
In the past, a little knowledge in mechanics was all it took to do minor repair on your car. Nowadays you probably need a degree in IT engineering to ...
Relying on healthcare wearables
March 2016
The doctor-patient relationship has evolved tremendously in the past decade or so. There was a time when any medical exam had to be performed at a hos...
Monitoring frenzy
January 2016
Is there a time of day or night when we do not rely on electrical or electronic devices in one way or another? Home and workplace are obviously full o...
You are the IEC
December 2015
During his address to Council, the IEC General Secretary & CEO, Frans Vreeswijk, provided a brief overview of key accomplishments since Tokyo and drew...
Shedding a light on LEDs
November 2015
Solid-state lighting (SSL) is rapidly becoming the preferred light source for many lighting applications and the demand will continue to grow. SSL sol...
Shedding a light on IECQ
October 2015
Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Energy and Smart everything…None of these would be remotely possible without electronics. Sensors in particu...
Light up, light up!
October 2015
Switching on a light is such a routine task that we often take it for granted, however for millions of people worldwide, this is far from the case. Th...
Safety inside out
September 2015
Electronics are everywhere in commercial and office buildings. Elevators, escalators, automatic sliding doors or lighting all rely heavily on electron...
Faster connections
June 2015
Fibre optic lines have revolutionized communications, from long-distance phone calls to cable TV and Internet. Business and industry have used fibre o...
Sensored all the way
May 2015
Sensors: they are invisible, most people don’t even know what they look like, but they are omnipresent today. They have a major impact on our home and...
A woman at the top
April 2015
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, careers are still very much the prerogative of men. Electrotechnical standardization and c...
Tiny bursts of energy
March 2015
Static electricity has been a serious industrial problem for centuries. As early as the 1400s, European and Caribbean forts were using static control ...
High-quality LEDs
January 2015
The United Nations proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies, recognizing “the importance of raising global awar...
Shaping the future
December 2014
Highlights of the IEC CAB (Conformity Assessment Board) meeting that took place in Tokyo, Japan, during the 78th IEC General Meeting.
A quiet force
December 2014
Hiromichi Fujisawa, IEC Vice President and Chairman of CAB (Conformity Assessment Board) will step down at the end of 2014. Under his competent and th...
Quality and reliability at the forefront
November 2014
IECQ (IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components) has been thriving in the past 12 months. The launch in 2013 of new programmes for the a...
MEMS tested and certified by IECQ
October 2014
In thousands of ways, new and smaller technologies are helping us move forward. From surgical tools that are smarter to toys that let us compete at pl...
Casting a light on LEDs
August 2014
From indicator lamps on electronic devices or numeric readouts on digital clocks to their current use in a wide variety of lighting solutions, LEDs (l...
Renewing ties with a former partner
June 2014
More than a century ago, the first IEC President, Lord Kelvin, was quoted as saying: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it”. This is as tru...
Have faith in your electronics
May 2014
Electronics is omnipresent in our lives today. From mobile devices and wearables to home appliances, office equipment, industrial automation, healthca...
Health-giving robots
April 2014
The vision of the future sees robots doing a number of things that humans don’t want to do, such as vacuuming. Though the use of artificial intelligen...
Safer cars, smarter drives
March 2014
Some days it looks if you are going to be stuck in traffic forever. Sometimes it is because traffic volumes have suddenly increased. All you can see i...
Gifts that can be hazardous
January 2014
Children born in the 1990s probably can’t remember what it was like without internet access, when making a mixed tape was cool or when the newest game...
Electronics through the looking glass
December 2013
TAITRONICS, one of the world’s largest electronic shows, took place in October with IECQ leading the way.
CAB report to IEC Council
December 2013
Fujisawa gave an update on CAB activities in the 12 months since the Oslo GM (General Meeting). He talked about the creation of IECRE, the new IEC CA ...
IECQ past, present and future
November 2013
Since it first began, IECQ has been gaining worldwide recognition as the international system for providing independent verification that electronic c...
Failures avoided
October 2013
IECQ, the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components, ensures the safety and reliability of electronic components used in the IT, avionic...
Walking through history
August 2013
The Louvre, one of the largest museums in the world, is a grand sight to behold. Its front entrance, a glass pyramid built in the late 1980s, is impos...
Life and property on the line
July 2013
Counterfeiting has proven to be a viable and lucrative industry in many areas of the world, specifically the counterfeiting of microcircuits used in e...
MEMS tested and certified by IECQ
June 2013
In thousands of ways, new and smaller technologies are helping us move forward. From surgical tools that are smarter to toys that let us compete at pl...
Hearts are not meant to be broken
May 2013
The heart has been a symbol of human emotion and complexity since before Common Era. The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart ruled the way peopl...
Avionics aims to manage green issues
April 2013
The IEC has recently published the 2nd edition of IEC/TS 62239-1, Process management for avionics – Management plan – Part 1: Preparation and maintena...
Shocking
March 2013
As winter comes to a close, your jacket may give you an electrostatic shock. You may get one from touching a metallic doorknob after crossing a carpet...
New IECQ website launches
January 2013
Those of you who are frequent visitors to the IECQ website will undoubtedly be pleased to discover the new and totally revamped website that launched ...
Hazardous substance-free components
November 2012
IECQ, the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components, has recently published the 3rd edition of IECQ QC 080000, Hazardous Substance Proce...
Safer electronics
August 2012
Electronic components play an ever increasing role in our lives. Homes, offices, factories and transportation systems all rely heavily on them. Mobile...
Keeping components cool
July 2012
Invisible yet omnipresent, electronic components play a crucial role in modern technology. Found in parts as diverse as integrated circuits to resisto...
Can't do without them
June 2012
In countless ways, modern day technologies have changed the way we live. The emergence and extraordinary success of small mobile devices has increased...
Hazards under control
May 2012
In issue after issue of e-tech, we see that electronic components play an ever increasing role in our lives. At home, at work, on the road, in the air...
Under control
April 2012
Avionics – a blend of aviation and electronics – comprises all electronic systems used in aircraft, satellites and spacecraft. It includes communicati...
Raising awareness
March 2012
While conformity assessment is a given in industrialized countries, the concept has not necessarily been fully integrated into developing economies. R...
Extremely reliable and incredibly safe
March 2012
We don’t see them, most of us don’t even know what they look like, but we are all dependent on them. They make life easier and safer. Modern technolog...
Smaller, smarter, safer
January 2012
Smart is the word. Appliances, multimedia equipment, security systems are all becoming more sophisticated, making life much easier and safer. All thes...
LEDs lead
December 2011
An LED (Light-Emitting Diode) is basically a semiconductor light source. LEDs, primarily used as indicator lamps in many devices, are increasingly use...
Speedy delivery
November 2011
Fibre optic lines have revolutionized communications, from long-distance phone calls to cable TV and Internet. Business and industry have used fibre o...
Safety inside
October 2011
Electronic components. We don’t see them. Most of us don’t even know what they look like. But we cannot do without them. Homes, offices, factories and...
Keeping electronics safe
August 2011
The global market for electronic components has shown strong growth for many years. This is a real success story, achieved as a result of consistent t...
Robotics for electronics
July 2011
There are all types of robots loaded with electrotechnology and the electronics and semiconductor industries are relying increasingly on robotics for ...
Riding high
June 2011
Electronics are everywhere in commercial and office buildings. Elevators, escalators, automatic sliding doors or lighting all rely heavily on electron...
Sophisticated tools for outdoor use
May 2011
Modern-day technologies are not confined to homes, factories or offices. They have also reached the outdoors. While electric lawn mowers and gardening...
High-tech travel
April 2011
The boom in air and road traffic in the past 40 years or so has been determinant in the development of electronics in those sectors. Today, all modes ...
