|
|
|
| Zobacz też: |
 list of members |
|
| Formation | 23 February 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 (pronounced /ˈɑɪsəʊ/), is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on 23 February 1947, the organization promulgates world-wide proprietary industrial and commercial standards. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.[1]
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, English and French, include the word ISO (pronounced /ˈʌɪsəʊ/), and it is usually referred to by this short-form name. ISO is not 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), meaning 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.[2][3]
ISO's main products are the International Standards. ISO also publishes Technical Reports, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications, Technical Corrigenda, and Guides.[4]
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 The date and IS are not used for an incomplete or unpublished standard, and may under some circumstances be left off the title of a published work.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",[4][5]
ISO has 157 national members,[6] 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 joint committee, and to date remains the only one.
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.
With the exception of a small number of isolated standards,[7] ISO standards are normally not available free of charge, but for a purchase fee,[8] which has been seen by some as too expensive for small Open source projects.[9]
With respect to hospital work, ISO is often mistakenly considered to be an international healthcare accreditation scheme. It is not.
ISO has garnered criticism for the handling of the standardization of Office Open XML (ISO/IEC 29500) and the ISO rubberstamping of OASIS approved standards like OpenDocument (ISO/IEC 26300). Martin Bryan, Convenor of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 and WG1, is quoted by saying:
I would recommend my successor that it is perhaps time to pass WG1’s outstanding standards over to OASIS, where they can get approval in less than a year and then do a PAS submission to ISO, which will get a lot more attention and be approved much faster than standards currently can be within WG1.
The disparity of rules for PAS, Fast-Track and ISO committee generated standards is fast making ISO a laughing stock in IT circles. The days of open standards development are fast disappearing. Instead we are getting 'standardization by corporation'.[10]
Computer security entrepreneur and Ubuntu investor, Mark Shuttleworth, commented on the Standardization of Office Open XML process by saying
I think it de-values the confidence people have in the standards setting process,
and that ISO did not carry out its responsibility. He also noted that Microsoft had intensely lobbied many countries that traditionally had not participated in ISO and stacked technical committees with Microsoft employees, solution providers and resellers sympathetic to Office Open XML.
When you have a process built on trust and when that trust is abused, ISO should halt the process ... ISO is an engineering old boys club and these things are boring so you have to have a lot of passion … then suddenly you have an investment of a lot of money and lobbying and you get artificial results ... The process is not set up to deal with intensive corporate lobbying and so you end up with something being a standard that’s not clear.[11]