What are different aspects of International Organization for Standardization (ISO)?

ISO is the short form of International Organization for Standardization. The international organization for standardization is well known for the development and publication of the standards pertaining to the international standard.

- The organizations itself constitutes many national networks from across the world.
- It is reported to have 163 countries in its network with one representative from each country.
- The office of the central secretariat of the organization is located in the city of Geneva in Switzerland.
- The purpose of the secretariat is to regulate the coordination in the system.
- It is a private organization and works with both public and private sector organizations. It is a non governmental organization.
- Most of its member organizations are either government organizations of their respective countries or are funded by the government.
- Other member organizations are private and are run in cooperation with the industry associates.
- We can say that ISO lays down a consensus that provides solutions which serves needs of both the business and society.
- The short form “ISO” was taken from Greek word “isos” which means “equal”.

Standards make a good impact on our life and they raise standards of our living too.Standards are very much needed to ensure characteristics like:


- environmental compatibility
- safety
- quality
- reliability
- economical cost
- interchangeability and
- efficiency


We never tend to notice the standard till the services and products are up to our expectations. We notice the importance of standards only when the services are not of the expected level. The products and services are said to work well and efficiently when they meet the standards set for them.

The international organization of standards is responsible for maintaining such standards all over the world.

International organization of the standards serves the following purposes:
1.It makes the manufacturing and development of services and products efficient, better than the previous and safe.
2.It aims at continually improving the marketing standards.
3.It takes are of the supply of services and products to the consumers.
4.It aims at developing a fair trading strategy between different nations of the world.
5.It lays down a basis for products and services for safety and health and environmental legislation.
6.It is responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment.
7.It shares new technological methodologies and management practices with its member organizations to lead innovation ahead.
8.It acts as a safeguard for the consumers of the services and products.
9.It provides solutions for many problems of standardization.

SOME MORE FACTS
- ISO till now has developed and maintained around 18,500 standards on an international level.
- Apart from these 18,500 standards, every year some 1000 new standards are being developed and published.
- The information about all these standards is available on the official website international organization of standards.
- The information center of ISO is operated by ISO itself in coordination with the international electro- technical commission (IEC).
- The ISO/ IEC information center has been developed to provide information regarding matters of standardization to its members and other stake holders.
- All the policies and strategies of the international organization of standards are jointly endorsed by the major governing bodies of ISO itself.
- The policies and strategies that have been serve as a guideline for all the members of the international organization of standards and its secretariat.

The 163 members of the ISO network are divided in to 3 categories which are:

- Member bodies
- Subscriber members
- Correspondent members