Global Scans · Standards · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Improving standards are likely to be driven more by business and technological improvement than governments in the future. The latter will be under severe pressure to cut bureaucracy, speed policy making and improve their nation's productivity performance.

• [New] India's draft rules will require global and domestic tech companies offering digital products or services in India to meet disability-accessibility standards or face fines, deregistration, and exclusion from government contracts. Top Tech Tidbits
• [New] Opportunity, because aligning with the AI Act can serve as a global quality and trust label, strengthening credibility in other markets that are still defining their own rules. LinkedIn
• [New] Concurrently, rising cyber threats have prompted greater investment in zero-trust security, encrypted communications, and compliance with NERC CIP standards, making cybersecurity a core element of future smart grid development. Mark & Spark Solutions
• [New] The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) continues to strengthen Critical Infrastructure Protection standards to address evolving cyber threats targeting operational technology and grid communications. Mark & Spark Solutions
• [New] Europe has stricter habits around compliance, procurement, governance, and cross-border operations, so teams cannot just copy Silicon Valley AI behaviour and hope for the best. Mean CEO's BLOG
• [New] Foreign model users and developers may operate under different or weaker rules, creating spillover risks beyond U.S. legal control. Belfer Center
• [New] Competition will increasingly extend beyond model performance to encompass global markets, technical standards, developer ecosystems and international rules governing AI. China-US Focus
• [New] In 2026 and beyond, wider adoption will depend on common technical standards, regulatory acceptance, interoperability, and simple user experiences. WazirX Blog
• [New] UK Safety Institute Warns of 'Emergent Agentic Behaviour' in Frontier AI. AI Conference London
• [New] Allies, NATO, and industry will advance the development and adoption of modularity, open architectures and digital standards. Official texts and resources | NATO
• [New] Unlike the EU, and more like the US approach, coordination of standards and policy will be centrally controlled, but supervision remains with existing regulators using their general powers rather than introducing any special ex ante AI regulatory powers. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• [New] Fast-Growing Segment: Biophilic design is expected to expand at 7.8% CAGR through 2033, propelled by corporate ESG mandates, occupant wellness standards, and government green building incentives codifying biophilic specifications into commercial procurement frameworks. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Subcontracting has become a standard operating model in some of Europe's largest logistics markets, contributing to lower pay, unpredictable hours and breaches of labour and occupational safety rules. trans.INFO
• [New] Efforts to further strengthen trade ties will be facilitated by the latest agreement between India and the UAE earlier this year to conduct transactions directly in each other's currencies, eliminating the need to use USD as an intermediary currency. Emirates NBD Research
• [New] North Carolina's ABA spending jumped from $122 million in fiscal 2022 to a projected $639 million in fiscal 2026, a trend that has prompted states to propose tighter oversight, new documentation standards, and in some cases direct rate cuts that affect what practices can bill. Passage Health
• [New] North American Class 8 orders jumped roughly 241% year over year in June as fleets raced to secure 2026 build slots ahead of 2027 emissions rules. iDispatchHub
• [New] Fastest-growing Region: South Asia, led by India's rapidly formalizing e-waste sector under the E-Waste Management Rules (2022) and EPR mandates enforced by the CPCB, is the fastest-growing regional segment, with formal recycling capacity scaling materially through 2033. Persistence Market Research
• [New] The European Commission's enforceable standards require a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025, a 55% reduction in passenger-car emissions by 2030, and 100% of new vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2035, all measured against the 2021 baseline. Persistence Market Research
• [New] The next generation of AML regimens will integrate menin inhibitors with existing standards, including hypomethylating agents, BCL-2 inhibitors, and FLT3 inhibitors. Blood Cancers Today
• [New] Mandatory work requirement documentation will take effect nationally beginning in 2027, and under the GOP's new rules, most Medicaid patients will now have to renew their enrolment twice a year, rather than once a year. KFF Health News
• [New] ECAC flagged that stricter onshoring rules might push companies toward AI automation rather than U.S. hiring. gryphon.ai
• [New] The FTA underscores the UK and Switzerland's shared commitment to the WTO subsidies rules and enables both parties to consult each other if concerns are raised that a subsidy will negatively affect firms. GOV.UK
• [New] The Office of AI will be established within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to accelerate implementation of the Australian Standards on a national level. ARN

Last updated: 20 August 2026