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{{Image|ISO Logo.png|right|202px|Logo of ISO (in English)}}
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The '''International Organization for Standardization''', widely known as '''ISO''', is a non-governmental  international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national [[standards organization]]s. Founded in 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial [[standard]]s. It has its headquarters in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]].<ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/about.htm About ISO] From the official ISO website. Accessed February 5, 2010.</ref>


The organization's has [[logo]]s in its two official languages, [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]], including the word ''ISO'', and it is usually referred to by this short form name. ''ISO'' is not an acronym for the organization's full name in either official language. Rather, the organization adopted ''ISO'' based on the Greek word ''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.<ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/about/discover-iso_meet-iso/discover-iso_isos-name.htm Discover ISO: ISO's Name] From the official ISO website. Accessed February 5, 2010.</ref>
== Members, technical program and staff  ==
As of 2009, ISO had 160 national standards organizations as members<ref name=AnnualReport>[http://www.iso.org/iso/annual_report_2008.pdf ISO Annual Report 2008]</ref> out of the 195 total countries in the world.<ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/annual_report_2008.pdf Independent States in the World, U.S. Department of State]]. 195 including [[Taiwan]].</ref> ISO's technical program comprised 208 technical committees, 531 subcommittees, 2,378
working groups and 66 ad hoc study groups, for a total of 3,183 technical bodies.<ref name=AnnualReport/>
Also as of 2009, the central headquarters in Geneva had a full-time staff of 153 people from 26 different countries. In addition, 39 of the member bodies provided administrative and technical services for the technical program bodies. Those services involved a full-time staff equivalent to 500 persons.<ref name=AnnualReport/>
ISO has three membership categories:
:* '''Member bodies''' are national bodies that are considered to be the most representative standards body in each country. These are the only members of ISO that have voting rights. (The member bodies are also referred to as "National Bodies" later in this article.)
:* '''Correspondent members''' are countries that do not have their own standards organization. These members are informed about ISO's work, but do not participate in standards promulgation.
:* '''Subscriber members''' are countries with small economies. They pay reduced membership fees, but can follow the development of standards.
Participating members (i.e., those with voting rights) are called "P" members as contrasted to corresponding and subscriber members (with no voting rights) who are called "O" members.
==International Standards and other publications==
ISO's main products are the '''International Standards'''. ISO also publishes '''Technical Reports''', '''Technical Specifications''', '''Publicly Available Specifications''', '''Technical Corrigenda''', and '''Guides'''.<ref name=LinkDirectives>[http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/processes_and_procedures/iso_iec_directives_and_iso_supplement.htm Links to ISO/IEC Directives]  Part 1, Procedures for the technical work, 6th Edition, 2008 and Part 2, Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards, 5th Edition, 2004 </ref> As of 2009, ISO had published more than 18,000 standards.<ref name=AnnualReport/>
'''International Standards''' are identified in the format '''''ISO [/IEC] [/ASTM] [IS] [nnnnn:yyyy] [Title]''''', where '''''nnnnn''''' is the identifying number of the standard, '''''yyyy''''' is the year published, and '''''Title''''' is the title of the standard. '''''IEC''''' for [[International Electrotechnical Commission]] is included if the standard results from the work of ISO/IEC JTC1 (the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee). '''''ASTM''''' is used for standards developed in cooperation with [[ASTM International]]. '''''IS''''' (an abbreviation of "International Standard") is prepended to the identifying number of the standard. The publication year 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''' are issued when "a technical committee or subcommittee has collected data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard".<ref name=LinkDirectives/> such as references and explanations. The naming conventions for these are the same as for standards, except '''''TR''''' (instead of '''''IS''''') is prepended to the standard's number in the report's name. Examples:
* ISO/IEC TR 17799:2000 Code of Practice for Information Security Management
* ISO/TR 19033:2000 Technical product documentation — [[Metadata]]<ref>The word "metadata" usually means "information or data about other information or data".</ref> for construction documentation
'''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 it may be a publication published in collaboration with an external organization".<ref name=LinkDirectives/> By convention, both are named in a manner similar to naming Technical Reports. For example:
* ISO/TS 16952-1:2006 Technical product documentation — Reference designation system — Part 1: General application rules
* ISO/PAS 11154:2006 Road vehicles — Roof load carriers
'''Technical Corrigendums'''<ref>The word "corrigendum" usually means a list of errors and their corrections. Essentially, the same as an errata list.</ref>  are sometimes issued by ISO. 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.<ref name=LinkDirectives/>
'''ISO Guides''' are meta-standards covering "matters related to international standardization".<ref name=LinkDirectives/> They are named in the format '''''ISO [/IEC] [Guide] [nnnn:yyyy] [Title]''''', for example:
* ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004 Standardization and related activities – General vocabulary
* ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 General requirements for bodies operating product certification
==Standardization process ==
A standard published by ISO/IEC is the last stage of a long process that commonly starts with the proposal of new work within a committee. Here are some abbreviations used during that long process:<ref name=iso-stages-codes>[http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/processes_and_procedures/stages_description/stages_table.htm#s90 ISO International harmonized stage codes]</ref><ref name=iso-stages>[http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/processes_and_procedures/stages_description.htm ISO Stages of the development of International Standards]</ref><ref name=acronyms-committees>[http://www.iso27001security.com/html/faq.html#Acronyms The ISO27k FAQ - ISO/IEC acronyms and committees]</ref><ref name=iso-directives-procedures>[http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/1st_Supplement.pdf ISO/IEC Directives Supplement – Procedures specific to ISO, 2007]}</ref><ref name=abbr>[http://www.iso.org/iso/support/faqs/faqs_list_abbreviations.htm List of abbreviations used throughout ISO Online, 2007]</ref><ref name=us-tag-committee>[http://www.sae.org/exdomains/standardsdev/global_resources/US%20TAG%20Committe%20Handbook%206March2008.doc US Tag Committee Handbook, 2008]</ref>
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'''''Abbreviations for indicating status within the process:'''''
* PWI: Preliminary Work Item
* NP or NWIP: New Proposal or New Work Item Proposal
* AWI: Approved new Work Item
* WD: Working Draft
* CD: Committee Draft
* FCD: Final Committee Draft
* DIS: Draft International Standard
* FDIS: Final Draft International Standard
* PRF: Proof of a new International Standard
* IS: International Standard
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'''''Abbreviations used for amendments:'''''
* NP Amd:  New Proposal Amendment
* AWI Amd: Approved new Work Item Amendment
* WD Amd: Working Draft Amendment
* CD Amd or PDAmd: Committee Draft Amendment or Proposed Draft Amendment
* FPDAmd or DAM (DAmd): Final Proposed Draft Amendment or Draft Amendment
* FDAM (FDAmd): Final Draft Amendment
* PRF Amd: Proof of an Amendment
* Amd: Amendment
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'''''Other abbreviations:'''''
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{{col-break|width=25%}}
* TR:Technical Report
* DTR: Draft Technical Report
* TS: Technical Specification
* DTS: Draft Technical Specification
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* TTA: Technology Trends Assessment
* IWA: International Workshop Agreement
* Cor: Technical Corrigendum )
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'''''International Standards are developed by ISO technical committees (TC) and subcommittees (SC) by a process with six steps:'''''<ref name="iso-stages"/><ref name="iso-directives-part1">[http://www.iec.ch/tiss/iec/Directives-Part1-Ed6.pdf ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 - Procedures for the technical work, Sixth edition, 2008]</ref>
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{{col-break|width=25%}}
* Stage 1: Proposal stage
* Stage 2: Preparatory stage
* Stage 3: Committee stage
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* Stage 4: Inquiry stage
* Stage 5: Approval stage
* Stage 6: Publication stage
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{| class="wikitable" width="85%"
|+Stages in the development process of an ISO standard<ref name="iso-stages-codes"/><ref name="iso-stages"/><ref name="acronyms-committees"/><ref name="us-tag-committee"/><ref name="iso-directives-part1"/>
|-
! width="8%" | Stage code
! width="16%" | Stage
! width="28%" | Associated document name
! Abbreviations
|-
| align=center|00
| Preliminary stage
| Preliminary work item
| PWI
|-
| align=center|10
| Proposal stage
| New work item proposal
| NP or NWIP, NP Amd/TR/TS/IWA
|-
| align=center|20
| Preparatory stage
| Working draft(s)
| AWI, AWI Amd/TR/TS, WD, WD Amd/TR/TS
|-
| align=center|30
| Committee stage
| Committee draft(s)
| CD, CD Amd/Cor/TR/TS, PDAmd (PDAM), PDTR, PDTS
|-
| align=center|40
| Inquiry stage
| Inquiry draft
| DIS, FCD, FPDAmd, DAmd (DAM), FPDISP, DTR, DTS
|-
| align=center|50
| Approval stage
| Final draft International Standard
| FDIS, FDAmd (FDAM), PRF, PRF Amd/TTA/TR/TS/Suppl, FDTR
|-
| align=center|60
| Publication stage
| International Standard
| ISO TR, TS, IWA, Amd, Cor
|}
The first step - a new proposal is approved at the relevant subcommittee (SC) or technical committee(TC). A working group (WG) of experts is set up by the TC/SC for preparing a Working Draft. When sufficient confidence in the stability of the standard under development is reached, a Working Draft (WD) is produced. This is in the form of a standard but is kept internal to the working group for revision.
When a Working Draft is sufficiently solid and the working group is satisfied that it is the best technical solution to the problem being addressed, it becomes a Committee Draft (CD). If required, it is then sent to the P-members of the TC/SC (National Bodies) for ballot. The CD becomes a Final Committee Draft (FCD) if the number of positive votes is sufficient. If the number of positive votes is insufficient, successive committee drafts may be considered until a consensus is reached. When it is reached, the text is submitted as a draft International Standard (DIS).
The DIS is then submitted to National Bodies for voting. It is approved for submission as a final draft International Standard (FDIS) if two-thirds of the P-members of the TC/SC are in favor and less than one-quarter of the total votes are negative. ISO will then hold a ballot with National Bodies where no technical changes are allowed ( a yes or no ballot). It is approved as an International Standard (IS) if two-thirds of the P-members of the TC/SC are in favor and less than one-quarter of the votes cast are negative. After approval, only minor editorial changes may be introduced into the final text sent to the ISO Central Secretariat for publication as an International Standard.<ref name="iso-stages"/>
==ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committees==
To deal with the consequences of substantial overlap in areas of standardization and work related to information technology, ISO and [[International Electrotechnical Commission|IEC]] formed a Joint Technical Committee in 1987 known as the ISO/IEC JTC1.  It was the first such joint committee.<ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/technical_committees/list_of_iso_technical_committees/iso_technical_committee.htm?commid=45020 JTC 1] </ref>
The second joint committee was created in 2009 known as ISO/IEC/JTC 2, Joint Project Committee - Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources - Common terminology.<ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/technical_committees/list_of_iso_technical_committees/iso_technical_committee.htm?commid=585141 ISO/IEC/JTC 2]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 19:15, 6 February 2010

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