This award recognises exceptional achievement, dedicated service and outstanding individual contributions to the IEC by officers in IEC technical committees and subcommittees, as well as officers of the IEC Conformity Assessment Systems.
Ulrike Haltrich has chaired the IEC Systems Committee Active Assisted Living (IEC SyC AAL) since its formation in 2015. IEC SyC AAL was established to develop international standards to support independent living in the world’s growing ageing society. The Systems Committee’s concept of focusing on the standardization of entire systems rather than individual technologies and products and investigating and solving complex problems related to the interoperability of devices, services, and infrastructure was new at the time. To address system-wide standardization, IEC SyC AAL brought together a diverse group with expertise in medical devices, consumer electronics, IoT, computer systems, and networks, but some of whom were unfamiliar with the IEC standards development process. She organised IEC SyC AAL into six working groups and a maintenance team so that a diverse group of committee members could demonstrate their expertise and navigate the committee in accordance with the procedures.
Under her leadership, the IEC SyC AAL has published nine specifications and currently has eight projects in its work program that address important topics to support the needs of the AAL population and adhere to the scope of the SyC. In addition to her work as chairperson, Ulrike serves as a project leader for use case development and AI ethics and has contributed to the publication of a technical specification and a system reference deliverable, which are IEC TS 63134:2020 + AMD 1:2022 – “Active assisted living (AAL) use cases” and IEC SRD 63416:2023 – “Ethical considerations of artificial intelligence (AI) when applied in the active assisted living (AAL) context”.
Ulrike’s excellent leadership and contributions to realizing IEC SyC AAL’s vision of “enhancing the quality of life and enabling independent living for AAL users of all ages” by ensuring that the committee develops specifications, has been highly recognized by many IEC National Committees resulting in the prestigious award.
Awardee 
Comment from Ulrike Haltrich (EU-Technology Standards Office, Sony Europe B.V.)
I am proud and honoured to receive this prestigious international award, which is a great recognition for Sony and me personally.
The reason why I was so motivated to progress this work is because it is globally recognized that standards have a direct impact on the well-being and safety of people around the world. Through the work in SyC AAL, we have increased the chance that people can remain in their homes longer and get the necessary systems support for ageing well at home.
When I was elected chairperson of the SyC AAL in 2015, I simply wanted to do the best job that I could to establish a powerful system committee. My passion is knowing that I can make a difference globally in the areas of sustainability and accessibility.
This comes as an encouragement to Sony, and everyone engaged in Standards and Technology Policy at Sony and may help Sony’s business side, too, since a visible global organisation has selected a Sony employee for her achievements in a competitive technology world.
Thomas A. Edison Award
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the international standards body for developing standards in the field of electrical and electronic technology, annually presents the Thomas A. Edison Award in recognition of dedicated service and outstanding individual contributions to the effective management of technical committees or IEC Conformity Assessment Systems. The award is destined for active TC/SC Officers (chairperson, secretary, Assistant Secretary) and Officers of the IEC Conformity Assessment Systems and their subsidiary bodies.
