About ISO

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of
International Standards.

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 163 countries, one member per country, with a
Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the
one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are
mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private
sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business
and the broader needs of society.

ISO's name

Because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different acronyms in different
languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), its founders
decided to give it also a short, all-purpose name. They chose "ISO", derived from the Greek isos, meaning
"equal". Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always
ISO.

ISO's origins

In 1946, delegates from 25 countries met in London and decided to create a new international organization, of
which the object would be "to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards".
The new organization, ISO, officially began operations on 23 February 1947, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Foreword

ISO is the world largest standards developing organization. Between 1947 and the present day, ISO has
published more than 16 500 International Standards, ranging from standards for activities such as agriculture
and construction, through mechanical engineering, to medical devices, to the newest information technology
developments.

Given the multi-sector scope of the organization, it would be hard to present an historical perspective
summarizing the challenges, the passion, the outstanding achievements or, sometimes, the missed
opportunities, in the large variety of sectors covered by ISO’s technical work.  

We have therefore chosen to highlight the key markers in the history of the organization from a general
perspective.

Founding

ISO was born from the union of two organizations - the ISA (International Federation of the National
Standardizing Associations),. established in New York in 1926, and the UNSCC (United Nations Standards
Coordinating Committee), established in 1944.

In October 1946, delegates from 25 countries, meeting at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London, decided
to create a new international organization, of which the object would be "to facilitate the international
coordination and unification of industrial standards". The new organization, ISO, officially began operations
on 23 February 1947.

The early years

In April 1947, a meeting in Paris produced a recommended list of 67 ISO technical committees, about two-
thirds of which were based on previous ISA committees. By the early 1950s, ISO technical committees were
starting to produce what were known at the time as “Recommendations”.

The basic idea of postwar international standardization was to derive International Standards from those
already developed nationally, and then to re-implement them nationally. ISO’s Recommendations were
therefore only intended to influence existing national standards.

The first ISO General Assembly was organized in Paris in 1949. It was inaugurated at a public meeting held
in the grand amphitheatre at the Sorbonne University.

As reported by Raymond Frontard, former Director-General of AFNOR, “a full house, including the President
of the French Republic, Vincent Auriol, and the Director General of UNESCO, Jaime Torres-Bodet, listened
to the speeches. Then came the translations (consecutive of course - simultaneous interpretation had yet to be
invented). In English first, then in Russian …A quiver of curiosity run through the enormous assembly.

"Young people today find it difficult to imagine how far we were, at that time, from the global view that now
seems so familiar. The earth was an archipelago of distinct worlds.”

Developing countries

In the course of the 1950s and 1960s, an increasing number of new ISO member bodies came from the
developing world.

The International Standards developed by ISO are of high value to developing countries. They offer indeed
practical solutions to a variety of issues related to international trade and technology transfer because they
represent a reservoir of technological know-how and of product, performance, quality, safety and
environmental specifications.

However, to take advantage of International Standards and to participate in their development, developing
countries had to face substantial additional problems in comparison with industrialized nations, ranging from
the lack of established industrial infrastructures and related technical components (including national
standards, metrology and testing institutions and facilities), to the severe limitation of financial and technical
resources.

The first landmark in ISO’s attempts to respond to the needs of these members was the establishment in 1961
of the DEVCO Committee on developing country matters (initiated on the basis of a memorandum to ISO
Council from Mr. F. Hadass of Israel). Other initiatives followed. In 1967, a developing countries conference
was held in Moscow and in1968 a new category of correspondent member was established, so that developing
countries could play a role in ISO’s work without incurring the cost of full membership.

A further category of subscriber member was eventually added in 1992, allowing very small economies to
maintain a link with ISO for a minimum fee.

Since the 1960s, the membership and role of developing countries within ISO has been continuously
increasing. In parallel, the attention of the organization to the needs of developing countries has substantially
evolved, along with the undertaking of programmes providing technical assistance and capacity building and
a variety of initiatives to facilitate developing countries' participation in international standardization.
ISO International Standards

According to ISO’s first-ever Annual Review in 1972, the underlying causes of the acceleration of the pace of
international standardization included “an explosive growth in international trade” caused by a “revolution in
transportation methods”. By the mid-sixties a demand, not only a desire, for International Standards had
developed. The sources of this demand included multinational companies, standards institutions in developing
countries and government regulatory authorities.

What had laid the foundation for the growth of the output of ISO during the seventies was the turn in
emphasis from national to International Standards which took place in the late 1960s.

This change of emphasis was underlined by the decision in 1971 to begin publishing the results of ISO’s
technical work as International Standards rather then Recommendations.

Why standards matter

Standards make an enormous and positive contribution to most aspects of our lives.

Standards ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as quality, environmental
friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability - and at an economical cost.

When products and services meet our expectations, we tend to take this for granted and be unaware of the role
of standards. However, when standards are absent, we soon notice. We soon care when products turn out to be
of poor quality, do not fit, are incompatible with equipment that we already have, are unreliable or dangerous.

When products, systems, machinery and devices work well and safely, it is often because they meet standards.
And the organization responsible for many thousands of the standards which benefit the world is ISO.

When standards are absent, we soon notice.

What standards do

ISO standards:

 make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and
cleaner
 facilitate trade between countries and make it fairer
 provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental legislation, and
conformity assessment
 share technological advances and good management practice
 disseminate innovation
 safeguard consumers, and users in general, of products and services
 make life simpler by providing solutions to common problems
Who standards benefit

ISO standards provide technological, economic and societal benefits.

For businesses, the widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers can develop and
offer products and services meeting specifications that have wide international acceptance in their sectors.
Therefore, businesses using International Standards can compete on many more markets around the world.

For innovators of new technologies, International Standards on aspects like terminology, compatibility and
safety speed up the dissemination of innovations and their development into manufacturable and marketable
products.

For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved when products and services are
based on International Standards gives them a broad choice of offers. They also benefit from the effects of
competition among suppliers.

For governments, International Standards provide the technological and scientific bases underpinning health,
safety and environmental legislation.

For trade officials, International Standards create "a level playing field" for all competitors on those
markets. The existence of divergent national or regional standards can create technical barriers to trade.
International Standards are the technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice.

For developing countries, International Standards that represent an international consensus on the state of the
art are an important source of technological know-how. By defining the characteristics that products and
services will be expected to meet on export markets, International Standards give developing countries a basis
for making the right decisions when investing their scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them.

For consumers, conformity of products and services to International Standards provides assurance about their
quality, safety and reliability.

For everyone, International Standards contribute to the quality of life in general by ensuring that the
transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.

For the planet we inhabit, International Standards on air, water and soil quality, on emissions of gases and
radiation and environmental aspects of products can contribute to efforts to preserve the environment.  

The ISO brand

 Democratic

Every full member of ISO has the right to take part in the development of any standard which it judges to be
important to its country's economy. No matter what the size or strength of that economy, each participating
member in ISO has one vote. Each country is on an equal footing to influence the direction of ISO's work at
the strategic level, as well as the technical content of its individual standards.
  Voluntary

ISO standards are voluntary. As a non-governmental organization, ISO has no legal authority to enforce the
implementation of its standards. ISO does not regulate or legislate. However, countries may decide to adopt
ISO standards - mainly those concerned with health, safety or the environment - as regulations or refer to
them in legislation, for which they provide the technical basis. In addition, although ISO standards are
voluntary, they may become a market requirement, as has happened in the case of ISO 9001 quality
management systems, or of dimensions of freight containers and bank cards.

ISO itself does not regulate or legislate.

 Market-driven

ISO only develops standards for which there is a market requirement. The work is mainly carried out by
experts from the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and which
subsequently put them to use.

 Consensus

ISO standards are based on international consensus among the experts in the field. Consensus, like
technology, evolves and ISO takes account both of evolving technology and of evolving interests by requiring
a periodic review of its standards at least every five years to decide whether they should be maintained,
updated or withdrawn. In this way, ISO standards retain their position as the state of the art.

 Globally relevant

ISO standards are technical agreements which provide the framework for compatible technology worldwide.
They are designed to be globally relevant - useful everywhere in the world.

ISO standards are useful everywhere in the world.

How to recognize an ISO standard

In paper form, an ISO standard is published in A4 format - which is itself one of the ISO standard paper sizes.
It may be anywhere between a four-page document and one several hundred pages' long. ISO standards are
also available as electronic downloads and many are available as part of a collection on CD or in handbook.
An ISO standard carries the ISO logo and the designation, "International Standard".

The scope of ISO's work

ISO has more than 18 000 International Standards and other types of normative documents in its current
portfolio. ISO's work programme ranges from standards for traditional activities, such as agriculture and
construction, through mechanical engineering, manufacturing and distribution, to transport, medical devices,
information and communication technologies, and to standards for good management practice and for
services.
Examples of the benefits standards provide

Standardization of screw threads helps to keep chairs, children's bicycles and aircraft together and solves the
repair and maintenance problems caused by a lack of standardization that were once a major headache for
manufacturers and product users.

Standards establishing an international consensus on terminology make technology transfer easier and safer.
They are an important stage in the advancement of new technologies and dissemination of innovation.

Without the standardized dimensions of freight containers, international trade would be slower and more
expensive.

Without the standardization of telephone and banking cards, life would be more complicated.

A lack of standardization may even affect the quality of life itself: for the disabled, for example, when they
are barred access to consumer products, public transport and buildings because the dimensions of wheel-
chairs and entrances are not standardized.

Standardized symbols provide danger warnings and information across linguistic frontiers.

Consensus on grades of various materials gives a common reference for suppliers and clients in business
dealings.

Agreement on a sufficient number of variations of a product to meet most current applications allows
economies of scale with cost benefits for both producers and consumers. An example is the standardization
of paper sizes.

Standardization of performance or safety requirements of diverse equipment makes sure that users' needs
are met while allowing individual manufacturers the freedom to design their own solution on how to meet
those needs.

Standardized computer protocols allow products from different vendors to "talk" to each other.

Standardized documents speed up the transit of goods, or identify sensitive or dangerous cargoes that may be
handled by people speaking different languages.

Standardization of connections and interfaces of all types ensures the compatibility of equipment of diverse
origins and the interoperability of different technologies.

Agreement on test methods allows meaningful comparisons of products, or plays an important part in
controlling pollution - whether by noise, vibration or emissions.

Safety standards for machinery protect people at work, at play, at sea... and at the dentist's.

Without the international agreement contained in ISO standards on metric quantities and units, shopping
and trade would be haphazard, science would be unscientific and technological development would be
handicapped.

 For more examples of the many areas of life and work where ISO standards provide technical,
economic and social benefits, visit The ISO Café.
What's different about ISO 9001 and ISO 14001

The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or process. However,
ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment) are "generic management system standards". "Generic"
means that the same standard can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product or
service, in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a
government department. ISO 9001 contains a generic set of requirements for implementing a quality
management system and ISO 14001 for an environmental management system.

Generic standards can be applied to any organization.