60 second interview:
Jahangir Asadi

Jahangir Asadi works for Guardian Independent Certification (GIC) in Iran and is the Chairman for the committee to develop Persian ISO 14000 standards. He has specialised in environmental management system (EMS) implementation since 1997, as well as having over seven years of experience in computer programming.

Jahangir has recently developed a new method of using mobile phones to establish and audit management systems. His article ‘The application of mobile phones in establishing and auditing management systems’ has been published internationally.

What inspired you to use mobile phones as tools for establishing and auditing management systems?

Innovative behaviour. Every night as I go to sleep I find myself thinking of new ideas. When my wife bought me a mobile phone for our wedding anniversary I took the first step towards this great idea. I started to wonder whether it was possible to use mobiles phones as a management system tool and my experiences as a computer programmer helped me to develop this project. As the Vice-President for one of two pilot companies at the time, I was also given the opportunity to carry out the project.

Having worked as a specialist in EMS implementation, do you see specific benefits if mobile phones are used?

Yes, I do. INform readers will know there is a clause in ISO 14001 concerning emergency preparedness and response. In our pilot projects, we added the process of sending an SMS to employees during emergency situations. This worked extremely well, as during a real fire in the publishing hall we were able to tackle the fire very quickly.

How have you developed your ideas over the last few months and years?

After finalizing the software and testing it on different mobile phones, particularly in different languages such as English, German, Persian (Farsi), French, Spanish, Italian and Russian, we carried out the pilot in two companies with the intention of fulfilling the requirements of standards by using only mobile phones. Developing the project has taken a lot of hard work - during the last few months I have never worked so hard!

Where were the pilot projects carried out?

At the Kashti Nooh Publishing Institution and the Pars Shokouh Training centre, two very different organizations, both in Tehran. Each pilot project lasted for more than five months as transferring documentation to mobile phones takes a long time. The projects were very successful and although using a mobile phone for the first time was hard from some employees, it took only a week for all of them to feel happy using one instead of a laptop or paper.

How is it possible to view and access documents on a mobile phone in a satisfactory way?

It’s very easy, as the same format of files can be used as on a computer. The zoom options and hyperlinks all work very well and a powerful search engine will help users to find the appropriate documents and forms easily.

What are the main advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phones rather than computers or laptops?

Using mobile phones instead of paper documentation or laptops has a lot of benefits. It allows documentation to be much more portable and less time is needed to access it. The two main disadvantages are that some old mobile phones have screens that are very small and hard to read, which can be easily solved by using a zoom option and secondly that mobile phones have to be turned off during flights.

Is it more environmentally friendly to use a mobile phone?

By using mobile phones instead of paper or laptops the reduction in the amount of energy and paper used will be huge. I am absolutely certain that this new idea, by reducing the amount of energy consumption worldwide, will help to provide a good life for our children. I have tried my best to fulfil my responsibilities as a human to protect our planet and I believe that this project will greatly help that.

Will your project be helped by the development of new technology for mobile phones?

Certainly, for example new technology that allows the projection of a mobile screen on to the wall will be available in 2009, replacing the current need to use Bluetooth, and with memory and capacity improving fast, we will be able to do more and to work more speedily. I believe that in the near future there will be nobody using paper or laptops in management systems. Currently more than one billion people use mobile phones and I am very surprised that ISO is not addressing this important device in management system standards.

Have you received support from organisations such as ISO?

As the first person to carry this idea out, I have made it possible to read ISO standards on a mobile phone. I have sent this to the ISO marketing department where they are currently testing out the package. If ISO gives me its support, I am hoping to make it possible to access ISO management systems in a completely electronic format as soon as possible.

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