The Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection (BSMI) cares about the aged and persons with disabilities, in particular the accessibility in their daily lives and their ability to move. It has adopted measures to promote the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities. Among these measures, the "Universal Design Competition of Assistive Devices for the Aged and Persons with Disabilities" and "Campaign on Commercial Assistive Devices Friendly to the Aged and Persons with Disabilities" receive most attention. The awards ceremony was held at the auditorium of BSMI on November 15, 2021. Dr. Ching-Chang Lien, Director General of the BSMI, was invited as the guest of honor to present the awards to the winners. The ceremony was a huge success. The participants enlightened Taiwan's assistive device industry with the ingenuity and creativity of their work.

The BSMI said that population aging has resulted in increasing demands for assistive and care-taking devices for the aged citizens. The elderly and disabled assistive devices market has been expanding to meet the demands, which calls for actions to develop related industry standards, testing capability and certification system so as to support the growth of assistive devices industry on the one hand, and to ensure that persons with disability are provided with a safe and pleasant environment where they can move without obstacles. The BSMI has been working closely with the Metal Industries Research and Development Centre, Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center, Taiwan Testing and Certification Center, and other organizations to set up the required certification capacity.

The BSMI explained that the universal design competition of assistive devices this year featured the creative design embedded in "different user groups, different environments and different contexts," which will allow the universal application of the design to different groups of users without gaps. The campaign of friendly assistive devices, on the other hand, emphasized the actual feeling of the users. Manufacturers are encouraged to improve the friendliness of commercial assistive devices based on the user's experience of using the devices. The BSMI hopes that these activities not only enhance the public's awareness of the needs of the elderly and people with disabilities to access the environment at the help of assistive devices, but also provide the assistive device industry with universal design principles and product safety guidelines to provide devices that are safe, well-designed and friendly to the users.

The BSMI pointed out that the competition this year was as intense as previous years. The 196 entries in the competition of the universal design were all good in their design concept. The scores of the work were close and "Your Chair", "C-IV" and "Happy Consultation Helper HCH" were awarded the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. For the campaign on friendly assistive devices, each of the 70 products had shown its consideration of the safety and convenience for the elderly and persons with disability in its design. 20 products were awarded because of their outstanding designs.

The BSMI believed that the results of universal design competition and compaign on friendly assistive devices inspired the assistive device industry to devote more resources in R&D of their products by integrating creativity and innovative technology. It also encourages experts to contribute their knowledge and experience to this area to promote the welfare of the aged and persons with disabilities.

BSMI Spokesperson: Chen, Ling-Hui, Deputy Director General

Tel. (O): +886-2343-1709

Email: lh.chen@bsmi.gov.tw 

Responsible Person: Huang, Zhi-Wen, Director, 6th Division

Tel. (O): +886-2343-1828; Tel. (M): +886-952-349376

Email: wen.huang@bsmi.gov.tw

Press Contact: Chen, Tzu-Chien

Tel. (O): +886-2343-1739; Tel. (M): +886-921-125358

Email: chian.chen@bsmi.gov.tw