A road vehicle is no longer a self-contained machine. It is part of a larger system: connected to digital networks, shaped by software and data, and increasingly able to respond to the world around it. Its environmental impact also extends beyond the road, from materials and manufacturing to reuse, recycling and end of life.
This changes the challenge facing the automotive industry. Progress can no longer be measured only by what an individual vehicle can do. It must also be judged by how safely that vehicle operates within a wider ecosystem, how credibly its environmental impact is assessed and whether new technologies can be trusted across markets.
During my time as Chair of ISO’s technical committee on road vehicles (ISO/TC 22), I have seen this shift at close range. The questions arriving at our table increasingly cross the boundaries between automotive engineering, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, communications, energy and digital infrastructure. None can be answered by one organization, industry or country acting alone.
That is why International Standards matter. They give the global industry the shared basis it needs to turn change into responsible progress.
Standards for a changing industry
Standards are sometimes seen as fixed points in a changing world. In reality, they remain valuable only when they evolve with the needs of those who use them. Road vehicle standardization has been part of ISO’s work since the organization was founded in 1947. Over the decades, ISO/TC 22 has built deep expertise in areas such as vehicle performance and safety. Today, its scope encompasses cybersecurity, ergonomics, sustainability and digitization. New subjects have brought new disciplines, stakeholders and ways of working into the committee.
Adapting has required us to review our structures, connect expertise that once operated separately and build consensus across an increasingly diverse community. The resulting standards provide common terminology, agreed frameworks and compatible approaches through which technologies can move across borders.
At the heart of this work is a global community of experts who generously contribute their knowledge and time. The recognition of ISO/TC 22 with the Laurence D. Eicher Award reflects what that community has achieved together. It also reinforces an important lesson: a standards committee cannot help transform an industry unless it is prepared to transform itself.
Towards safer, cleaner mobility
Safety has always been fundamental to road vehicle standardization, but its meaning is expanding. Mechanical performance is no longer the whole picture. A weakness in cybersecurity can create a physical risk. Software may need updates after a vehicle leaves the factory. As vehicles become more automated and connected, their safety also depends on how reliably they exchange information with infrastructure and other systems. Each new connection creates possibilities, but also dependencies that must be understood and managed.
Standards allow experts from different fields and countries to agree how risks should be addressed without prescribing a single technical solution. They create a dependable basis for safety while allowing technologies to develop.
Safety remains non-negotiable, but it is no longer the only measure by which progress in mobility will be judged. As the world confronts climate change, vehicles must also become cleaner and less resource-intensive – not only on the road, but across their entire life cycle. This requires looking beyond exhaust emissions or the technology used to power a vehicle. Materials, manufacturing, energy sources, operation, durability and end of life all contribute to their environmental impact.
Without consistent methods, performance in one market may not be comparable with results from another. Claims become harder to substantiate, investment decisions less certain and coordinated action more difficult. International Standards provide a reliable evidence base for assessing different technologies and pathways. They also help turn climate commitments into decisions that businesses, policymakers and the public can trust.
Innovation people can trust
Standards are sometimes described as barriers that slow innovation down. I see them differently. Well-designed standards reduce the uncertainty that prevents good ideas from travelling further. By allowing different systems to work together, they reduce fragmentation and help promising technologies move from development to deployment across markets.
Interoperability allows technologies developed by different organizations to connect. Agreed methods make solutions easier to evaluate. Shared expectations reduce fragmentation when products move from development into global markets. Standards do not decide which technology should prevail; they create fair and transparent conditions in which different approaches can be tested, improved and scaled responsibly.
This becomes increasingly important as road vehicles converge with industries moving at different speeds and working from different assumptions. Technical excellence alone will not be enough. Regulators need expertise for unfamiliar technologies. Companies need confidence that systems will be compatible. Road users need evidence that new forms of mobility are safe, dependable, affordable and designed around people. Trust, therefore, comes after innovation has proved itself. It is built through evidence, transparency, technical rigour and consensus.
We cannot predict what a road vehicle will look like several decades from now. Our responsibility is to make sure that, whatever form it takes, the standards supporting it remain guided by four enduring priorities: protecting people, enabling credible climate action, supporting innovation and building trust.
As I conclude my time as Chair of ISO/TC 22, I believe these principles give us more than a way to respond to change. They give us a way to shape a cleaner, safer future for mobility – and the confidence to move towards it together.