WG7 convener Tiffany Batac is interviewed by the UN's Infrastructure Asset Management team.
“ISO 55011 builds on globally derived guidance and lessons learned, highlighting key elements and relationships essential for asset management and establishing a flexible framework applicable across various levels and types of government.” --Tiffany Batac
Can you tell us how you first heard about the IAM handbook and what initially drew your attention to it?
I first came across the IAM handbook in my capacity as Convenor for the new international asset management standard, ISO 55011 – Guidance for the development of public policy to enable asset management. While we were in the process of validating the necessity of this standard and determining its design through a global survey, research, and outreach in 2020-2021, I was drawn towards the IAM handbook which was released in 2021. Both the handbook and ISO 55011 embody a shared vision of aiding governments in maximizing the value of assets through effective asset management practices, ultimately benefiting the communities they serve.
From your perspective, what value does the IAM handbook add to industry standards, particularly in the context of ISO's work?
Industry standards, like ISO standards, are developed through multi-stakeholder, consensus-based processes and the collective expertise of professionals across various fields. Enriching this, the IAM handbook collates diverse local government experiences from over 40 districts, provinces, and municipalities across Bangladesh, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
These first-hand experiences and lessons offer invaluable insights into the development, testing, and refinement of asset management practices, which can significantly add to the standards-making process, including future updates to the ISO 55000 series and other new standards. Professionals can benefit from the combination of multiple guidance sources and standards, including the IAM handbook and ISO standards.
What specific elements or sections of the IAM handbook have you found to be particularly useful or innovative?
The IAM handbook is useful for those who are both new to and specialists in asset management. It familiarizes users with key tenets of asset management, provides an overarching framework, while offering diagnostics, exercises, and ideas for action and interaction enabling its application by both government and non-government entities. In Chapter 8, which focuses on establishing and sustaining a national enabling environment, the handbook helps users transcend conventional output oriented approaches, such as drafting a policy. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of engagement through the policy-making process and the improved outcomes as a result. The approaches, steps and considerations provided can spark greater collaboration between governments as well as government, business, and civil society in a way that enables strategic asset management, helps achieve government goals and objectives – including the UN Sustainable Development Goals – and generate greater value for communities.
Could you explain how ISO is using the IAM handbook to develop a new standard for creating an enabling environment for asset management?
The IAM handbook, especially the chapter focused on “Establishing and sustaining a national enabling environment,” informed the design of ISO 55011’s guidance for creating, maintaining, and improving an enabling environment for asset management from a public policy perspective. ISO 55011 builds on globally derived guidance and lessons learned, highlighting key elements and relationships essential for an enabling environment and establishing a flexible framework applicable across varied levels and types of government, outlining a broad range of mandatory, voluntary, and incentive-based public policy instruments that can enable asset management and considerations for their development. In addition to the IAM handbook, the development of ISO 55011 was also informed by a wide range of reliable, peer-reviewed public policy research; relevant standards; first-hand interviews and insights from public policy authorities; a global ISO survey; and input from ISO asset management technical committee members representing nearly 40 countries.
What are the next steps for ISO in finalizing and implementing this new standard?
The new standard was recently approved globally for publication and use. ISO 55011 – Guidance for the development of public policy to enable asset management is now available for purchase from national standardization bodies around the world or at the ISO online store. For more information on the ISO 55000 suite of standards please visit committee.iso.org/tc251.
In what ways do you think a collaboration between ISO and the UN could be beneficial, especially in the context of developing and promoting global standards for asset management?
ISO and the UN each have extensive global reach and a collaboration in the context of developing and promoting global standards for asset management can both empower those with interest and/or authority to implement good asset management practice as well as accelerate adoption and continual improvement across the globe. ISO develops international standards and continually reviews its standards for global relevance over time through its systematic review process. The UN, through its work with hundreds of countries, governments, and other organizations that are in the process of implementing asset management practices, can provide invaluable feedback and input into the continual review and improvement of international asset management standards.
How do you envision the potential impact of this new ISO standard on the global asset management industry?
The new standard [ISO 55011], from my perspective, has the potential to transform the global asset management industry. Instead of solely focusing on asset management within individual organizations, ISO 55011 nudges us to expand our perspective and recognize multi-organizational collaborations across jurisdictions. This cross-organizational coordinated approach is instrumental in leveraging the combined strengths of governments, businesses, and civil society to effectively tackle complex, multi-dimensional challenges such as infrastructure investment gaps, climate change, food insecurity, and socio-economic inequities. I see the potential of this standard to propel collaborative action, refine existing protocols, and ultimately improve asset management outcomes.
What message would you like to share with industry professionals and stakeholders about the importance of integrating ISO standards like those in the IAM handbook into their practices?
Integrating standards like ISO standards and those in the IAM handbook into industry practice is an opportunity for professionals to build upon a foundation of global best practices that have withstood rigorous review and international consensus-building processes. Implementing these standards into day-to-day practices eliminates the need for ‘reinventing the wheel,’ allows professionals and stakeholders to realize the benefits, continue to build from and contribute to industry learnings – ultimately raising overall competency levels in asset management.
Interview published in the United Nations IAM Newsletter May 2026