International Organization for Standardization

International Organization for Standardization
Organisation internationale de normalisation
AbbreviationISO
Formation23 February 1947 (1947-02-23)
TypeNon-governmental organization
PurposeInternational standards development
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
Membership
170 members
(39 correspondents and
4 subscribers)
Official languages
  • English
  • French
  • Russian[1]
President
Sung Hwan Cho
Websitewww.iso.org Edit this at Wikidata
[2]

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO /ˈs/[3]) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries.[4] Membership requirements are given in Article 3 of the ISO Statutes.[5]

ISO was founded on 23 February 1947, and (as of January 2024) it has published over 25,000 international standards covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing. It has over 800 technical committees (TCs) and subcommittees (SCs) to take care of standards development.[6]

The organization develops and publishes international standards for easeness on end-user or commoners market, like availablity in technical and nontechnical fields, including everything from manufactured products and technology to food safety, transport, IT, agriculture, and healthcare.[7][8][9][10] More specialized topics like electrical and electronic engineering are instead handled by the International Electrotechnical Commission.[11] It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.[7] The three official languages of ISO are English, French, and Russian.[1]

  1. ^ a b "How to use the ISO Catalogue". International Organization for Standardization. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007.
  2. ^ "ISO members". International Organization for Standardization. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ Dare to dream BIG: Standards empower innovators (EN, ES, FR). ISO. 24 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  4. ^ "ISO Membership Manual". ISO. Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  5. ^ ISO Statutes (PDF) (in English, French, and Russian) (20th ed.). Geneva: International Organization for Standardization. 2022. ISBN 978-92-67-02040-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  6. ^ "ISO – About us". ISO. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b "About ISO". ISO. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023.
  8. ^ "New 'net zero' standards could transform the climate – unless they're derailed". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Health sector standards". ISO. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Transport sector standards". ISO. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  11. ^ Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 June 2021. "International Organization for Standardization". Archived 12 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2022-04-26.