HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
 1
|
"ISO" redirects here. For other uses, see ISO (disambiguation).
| International Organization for Standardization Organisation internationale de normalisation | |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 23, 1947 |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose/focus | International standard |
| Headquarters |  Geneva, Switzerland |
| Membership | 157 members |
| Official languages | English and French |
| Website | www.iso.org |
The International Organization for Standardization (Organisation internationale de normalisation), widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates world-wide industrial and commercial standards. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.Template:Cite" web
While ISO defines itself as a non-governmental organization, its ability to set standards that often become law, either through treaties or national standards, makes it more powerful than most non-governmental organizations. In practice, ISO acts as a consortium with strong links to governments.
Contents |
The organization\'s logos in its two official languages, American English and French, include the letters ISO, and it is usually referred to by these letters. ISO is not, however, an acronym or initialism for the organization\'s full name in either official language. Rather, the organization adopted ISO based on the Greek word ἴσος (isos), which means equal. Recognizing that the organization’s initials would be different in different languages, the organization\'s founders chose ISO as the universal short form of its name. This, in itself, reflects the aim of the organization: to equalize and standardize across cultures. ISO\'s name. ISO (© 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-07. Discover ISO – ISO\'s name. ISO (© 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
ISO\'s main products are the International Standards. ISO also publishes Technical Reports, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications, Technical Corrigenda, and Guides.*
ISO Directives, Part 1: Procedures for the Technical Work. 5th Edition (pdf). ISO/IEC (2004). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
*
ISO Directives, Part 2: Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards. 5th Edition (pdf). ISO/IEC (2004). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
International Standards are identified in the format ISO[/IEC][/ASTM] [IS] nnnnn[:yyyy] Title, where nnnnn is the number of the standard, yyyy is the year published, and Title describes the subject. IEC is included if the standard results from the work of JTC1 (the Joint Technical Committee). ASTM is used for standards developed in cooperation with ASTM International. The date and IS are not used for an incomplete or unpublished standard, and may under some circumstances be left off the title of a published work.
Technical Reports can be issued when "a technical committee or subcommittee has collected data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard", such as references and explanations. The naming conventions for these are the same as for standards, except TR prepended instead IS in the report\'s name. Examples:
Technical Specifications can be produced when "the subject in question is still under development or where for any other reason there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement to publish an International Standard". Publicly Available Specifications may be "an intermediate specification, published prior to the development of a full International Standard, or, in IEC may be a \'dual logo\' publication published in collaboration with an external organization". Both are named by convention similar to Technical Reports, for example:
ISO sometimes issues a Technical Corrigendum. These are amendments to existing standards because of minor technical flaws, usability improvements, or to extend applicability in a limited way. Generally, these are issued with the expectation that the affected standard will be updated or withdrawn at its next scheduled review.
ISO Guides are meta-standards covering "matters related to international standardization". They are named in the format "ISO[/IEC] Guide N:yyyy: Title", for example:
ISO documents are copyrighted and ISO charges for copies of most. ISO does not, however, charge for most draft copies of documents in electronic format. Although useful, care must be taken using these drafts as there is the possibility of substantial change before it becomes finalized as a standard. Some standards by ISO and its official U.S. representative (and the International Electrotechnical Commission\'s via the U.S. National Committee) are made freely available. Freely Available ISO Standards. ISO (Last updated 2007-08-08). Retrieved on 2007-09-07. Free ANSI Standards. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
A map of standards bodies who are ISO members
Key:
members correspondent members subscriber members other places with an ISO 3166-1 code who aren\'t members of ISO
ISO has 157 national members, General information on ISO. ISO (© 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-07. out of the 195 total countries in the world.
ISO has three membership categories:
Participating members are called "P" members as opposed to observing members which are called "O" members.
The fact that many of the ISO-created standards are ubiquitous has led, on occasion, to common usage of "ISO" to describe the actual product that conforms to a standard. Some examples of this are:
To deal with the consequences of substantial overlap in areas of standardization and work related to information technology, ISO and IEC formed a Joint Technical Committee known as the ISO/IEC JTC1. It was the first such committee, and to date remains the only one.
Its official mandate is to develop, maintain, promote and facilitate IT standards required by global markets meeting business and user requirements concerning
There are currently 18 sub-committees:
Membership in ISO/IEC JTC1 is restricted in much the same way as membership in either of the two parent organizations. A member can be either participating (P) or observing (O) and the difference is mainly the ability to vote on proposed standards and other products. There is no requirement for any member body to maintain either (or any) status on all of the sub-committees. Although rare, sub-committees can be created to deal with new situations (SC 37 was approved in 2002) or disbanded if the area of work is no longer relevant.
Like ISO/TS, International Workshop Agreement (IWA) is another armoury of ISO for providing rapid response to requirements for standardization in areas where the technical structures and expertise are not currently in place. The utility harmonizes technical urgency industrial wide.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
