A Study on the Current Status and Improvement Plans of Domestic Standardization Education for Fostering Standards Experts

As society advances, the role of standards is expanding and becoming increasingly important. Above all, standardization in the convergence and fusion fields driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution is expanding. Furthermore, with intensified global competition and the rapid pace of technological innovation, the growing demand for new markets has brought standards into the spotlight as a key factor in national economies, industries, and corporate management. As the importance of standards in the national economy continues to grow, it has become essential to foster skilled professionals who can effectively utilize standards and participate in international standardization activities. Dealing with standards in market activities is crucial, because key tasks related to standards encompass research and development, engineering, new product and process management, and innovation. Major countries around the world recognize the importance of standards and are working to develop a skilled workforce to address this need. Even though South Korea is also committed to fostering standardization professionals to enhance national competitiveness, long-term and systematic standardization education for developing experts in this area is somewhat insufficient despite the qualitative and quantitative growth in the field of standards. However the importance of standards is increasingly emphasized due to the development of convergent fields and advanced industries, and sustainable plans for fostering standardization professionals are being implemented and are currently in progress. This study aims to examine the current status of domestic standardization education for developing experts and explore potential improvement plans. If the expansion of departments specializing in standards, the formation of standardization education consortium, and the development of diverse standardization education content are implemented, it is expected that effective standardization education will be provided, contributing to the rise as a leading standardization nation.