Toulouse III University wins IEC Centenary Challenge:
Better urban lighting standards needed to improve security and improve energy efficiency

LONDON, 2006-12-14 – The Université III Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, has today taken the USD 15 000 first prize in the IEC Centenary Challenge for a paper addressing the ties between standards, human vision, lighting, security and economic development. The prize was awarded during a ceremony at the Institute for Engineering and Technology in London, UK.

Written by Dr. Georges Zissis and Dr. Stuart Mucklejohn, “Standardizing mesopic vision conditions and incidence on light sources science and technology”, studies how the absence of certain standards relating to human vision means that innovation in specific fields of urban lighting does not happen easily. The paper goes on to tie this lack of development to reduced security and quality of life in urban areas as well as to less energy efficiency and a slower rate of sustainable development.

Because of the high quality of the papers, judges decided on a joint second prize, with each receiving USD 5 000. The joint second-place winners were:

• The University of Colorado at Boulder for a paper by Ken Krechmer and Elaine Baskin. "The entrepreneur and standards" looks at the relationship between technological advances created by entrepreneurs seeking personal gain and standards that then use the intellectual property of entrepreneurial innovation for the public good.
• The University of Tokyo for "Architecture-based approaches to international standardization and evolution of business models". Written by Junjiro Shintaku, Koichi Ogawa and Tetsuo Yoshimoto, it provides a general framework for analyzing the economic impact of international standardization.

Third prize of USD 2 000 went to Toyo University in Japan for a paper entitled "Standardization and patent pools: Using patent licensing to lead the market”. Author Hajime Yamada explains why companies participate in standardization activities and patent pools, even if the activities may seem to benefit their competitors.

A book, entitled “International Standardization as a Strategic Tool”, comprising the commended papers from the IEC Centenary Challenge was launched at the Awards Ceremony in London.  It is available from the IEC in Geneva, Switzerland, and from all IEC members worldwide, priced CHF 185,00.

The IEC Centenary Challenge was a competition for papers on the economic, business and social impact of International Standards on business. It was organized in association with The Economist magazine and in partnership with three leading professional engineering bodies: the IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology); IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); and VDE, the German association for electrical, electronic and information technologies.

The IEC Centenary Challenge was open to anyone affiliated with an academic institute, including members of faculty, individual professors, heads of faculty, and teaching or research staff.