International Organization for Standardization
| International Organization for Standardization | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the ISO | |
| Formation | February 23, 1947 |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Purpose/focus | Standards development |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
| President | Terry Hill |
| Website | iso.org |
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. The organization promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards. It was one of the first organizations granted general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
History
The organization known today as ISO began in 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA). It was suspended in 1942 during World War II, but after the war ISA was approached by the new United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) with a proposal to form a new global standards body. In October 1946, ISA and UNSCC delegates from 25 countries met in London and agreed to join forces to create the new International Organization for Standardization. The new organization officially began operations on February 23, 1947.[1][2]
By the 1970s, ISO was known throughout much of Europe, but it wasn't fully recognized on the international front. Then Secretary-General Olle Sturen made expanding ISO's influence a priority, making trips to Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, New Zealand, China, India, and the United States. In 1978, ISO started its own testing and quality control program, culminating in the Quality Management and Quality Assurance technical committee (TC 176), which would go on to eventually produce the ISO 9000 series of standards.[1]
In 2005, the ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), through joint technical committee JTC1, launched the ISO/IEC 27001 standard on information security in information management systems. The ISO 27001:2005 standard went on to become one of ISO's most popular standards.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 (PDF) Friendship Among Equals - Recollections from ISO's first fifty years. International Organization for Standardization. 1997. pp. 89. ISBN 9267102605. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. http://web.archive.org/web/20121026060448/http://www.iso.org/iso/2012_friendship_among_equals.pdf. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ↑ Kresse, Wolfgang (ed.); Danko, David M. (ed.) (2011). Springer Handbook of Geographic Information. Springer. pp. 401–407. ISBN 9783540726784. http://books.google.com/books?id=4p1zYJ9BDFAC&pg=PA401&lpg=PA401. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ↑ "2005: Information Security". The ISO story. International Organization for Standardization. http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/the_iso_story.htm#16. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
