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Definition


ISO (INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION)


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By
 * Peter Loshin, Former Senior Technology Editor
 * Colin Steele


WHAT IS THE ISO?

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation
of national standards bodies.

ISO is a nongovernmental organization that comprises standards bodies from more
than 160 countries, with one standards body representing each member country.
For example, the American National Standards Institute represents the United
States.

ISO members are national standards organizations that collaborate in the
development and promotion of international standards for technology, scientific
testing processes, working conditions, societal issues and more. ISO and its
members then sell documents detailing these standards.

The ISO's General Assembly is its decision-making body. It consists of
representatives from the members and elected leaders called principal officers.
The organization has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, where a central
secretariat oversees operations.




HOW ARE ISO STANDARDS DEVELOPED?

The International Organization for Standardization has a six-stage process for
developing standards. The stages include the following:

 * Proposal stage. The first step in developing a new standard starts when
   industry associations or consumer groups make a request. The relevant ISO
   committee determines whether a new standard is indeed required.
 * Preparatory stage. A working group is set up to prepare a working draft of
   the new standard. The working group is composed of subject matter experts and
   industry stakeholders; when the draft is deemed satisfactory, the working
   group's parent committee decides which stage occurs next.
 * Committee stage. This is an optional stage during which members of the parent
   committee review and comment on the draft standard. When the committee
   reaches consensus on the technical content of the draft, it can move to the
   next stage.
 * Enquiry stage. The draft standard at this stage is called a Draft
   International Standard (DIS). It is distributed to ISO members for comments
   and, ultimately, a vote. If the DIS is approved at this stage without any
   technical changes, ISO publishes it as a standard. If not, it moves to the
   approval stage.
 * Approval stage. The draft standard is submitted as a Final Draft
   International Standard (FDIS) to ISO members. They vote to approve the new
   standard.
 * Publication stage. If ISO members approve the new standard, the FDIS is
   published as an official international standard.

ISO participating members vote on standards approvals. A standard must receive
affirmative votes from at least two-thirds of participating members and negative
votes from no more than one fourth of participating members.


WHAT IS ISO CERTIFICATION?

As it relates to ISO standards, certification is a certifying body's assurance
that a service, product or system meets the requirements of the standard. While
ISO develops the standards, third-party certification bodies certify conformity
with those standards.

According to the ISO, the phrase "ISO certification" should never be used to
indicate that a product or system has been certified by a certification body as
conforming to an ISO standard. Instead, ISO suggests referring to certified
products or systems using the full identification of the ISO standard.

For example, instead of "ISO certified", ISO recommends using the phrase "ISO
9001:2015 certified." This fully identifies the standard being certified,
including the version -- in this case, the version of ISO 9001 released in 2015.

While ISO does not do certifications, its Committee on Conformity Assessment
works on standards related to the certification process.


HOW DO BUSINESSES BECOME ISO CERTIFIED?

The process of getting certified for an ISO standard can be expensive,
time-consuming and potentially disruptive to the business. Before taking any
steps to get certified, determining the need for certification can be the most
important step.

The first step in becoming certified is determining whether certification is
worth the costs. Some reasons that organizations pursue certifications include
the following:

 * Regulatory requirements. Some businesses and products require certification
   that they meet common standards.
 * Commercial standards. When certification is not a regulatory requirement,
   products and services that are certified to meet minimum standards are a
   necessity for some industries.
 * Customer requirements. Even where there is an industry standard or regulatory
   requirement for certification, some customers such as government agencies,
   may prefer or require certification.
 * Improved consistency. Certification can help large organizations deliver
   consistent quality assurance across business units as well as across
   international borders.
 * Customer satisfaction. Enterprise customers that use a product or service in
   different contexts and countries appreciate consistent performance.
   Compliance with standards can also help the certified organization resolve
   customer issues.

The certification process for ISO standards varies, depending on the standard
and the certifying body. For popular standards, organizations may need to first
review and select a suitable certification body. Recommendations for the steps
to follow to get certified in the ISO's quality management standard, ISO
9001:2015, include the following:

 * understand the ISO standard;
 * identify trouble areas, where operations do not meet ISO requirements;
 * formally document processes, procedures and plans to improve trouble areas;
 * implement ISO standards;
 * conduct an internal audit to check conformance with the standard before the
   official audit; and
 * undergo formal compliance audit or certification process.


INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION (IEC) STANDARDS AND ISO

The IEC is another international standards body that establishes standards for
electronic technologies. The IEC works with other standards bodies including
ISO, the International Telecommunication Union and the IEEE.

Standards that the ISO and IEC jointly develop are identified by the prefix
"ISO/IEC." An example of this approach is ISO/IEC 27001:2013. It specifies
requirements for setting up and running an information security management
system.

Some popular standards that the ISO and IEC jointly defined include these:

 * ISO/IEC 7498 is the set of standards that define the Open Systems
   Interconnection (OSI) universal reference model for communication protocols.
   OSI was first published in 1983, and the ISO adopted it as a standard in
   1984; the current version was updated in 1994.
 * ISO/IEC 27000 is a family of standards for information technology security
   techniques.
 * ISO/IEC 31000 defines a risk management framework for standardizing
   definitions of risk-associated terms and offers guidelines for any person,
   business or agency. This family of standards defines an approach to managing
   risks, including risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation and risk
   assessment.


HISTORY OF ISO

ISO is the successor to the International Federation of the National
Standardizing Associations (ISA), which operated from 1928 to 1942.

In 1946, after World War II, ISA members and the United Nations Standards
Coordinating Committee held a meeting on international standards. Their work led
to the formation of ISO as a nongovernmental organization the following year.

ISO published its first standard, ISO/R 1:1951 (Standard Reference Temperature
for Industrial Length Measurements), in 1951. The standard is now known as ISO
1:2016. As of 2021, ISO had published more than 24,000 standards.

According to ISO, ISO is not an abbreviation. It is a word, derived from the
Greek isos, meaning "equal," which is the root for the prefix iso- that occurs
in a host of terms, such as isometric (of equal measure or dimensions) and
isonomy (equality of laws, or of people before the law). The name ISO is used
around the world to denote the organization, thus avoiding the assortment of
abbreviations that would result from the translation of "International
Organization for Standardization" into the different national languages of
members. Whatever the country, the short form of the organization's name is
always ISO.


WHAT ARE POPULAR ISO STANDARDS?

Some of the most popular ISO standards include the following:

 * ISO/IEC 27000. These security standards define a six-step process for
   developing and implementing information security policies and processes.
 * ISO/IEC 17799. This security management standard specifies more than 100 best
   practices for business continuity, access control, asset management and more.
 * ISO/IEC 20000. This ISO standard creates a technical specification and
   codifies best practices for IT service management.
 * ISO/IEC 12207. This ISO standard creates a consistent lifecycle management
   process for all software.
 * ISO 9000. This family of standards defines how organizations can establish
   and maintain effective quality assurance systems for manufacturing and
   service industries.

ISO 9000, a popular standard, defines the principles guiding quality management
for organizations seeking to improve in that area.


In a global marketplace, conforming with international standards can help
businesses successfully compete. Find out how to get your organization certified
with these tips on preparing for ISO 9001 certification.

This was last updated in October 2021

CONTINUE READING ABOUT ISO (INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION)

 * ISO 31000 vs. COSO: Comparing risk management standards

 * Use ISO 22332 to improve business continuity plans

 * Where ISO certification fits in a risk mitigation strategy

 * Five reasons to invest in ISO 27001 and other security certifications

 * Why ISO 56000 Innovation Management matters to CIOs



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