Standards organization
A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise contributing to the usefulness of technical standards[1] to those who employ them. Such an organization works to create uniformity across producers, consumers, government agencies, and other relevant parties regarding terminology, product specifications (e.g. size, including units of measure), protocols, and more. Its goals could include ensuring that Company A's external hard drive works on Company B's computer, an individual's blood pressure measures the same with Company C's sphygmomanometer as it does with Company D's, or that all shirts that should not be ironed have the same icon (a clothes iron crossed out with an X) on the label.[2]
Most standards are voluntary in the sense that they are offered for adoption by people or industry without being mandated in law. Some standards become mandatory when they are adopted by regulators as legal requirements in particular domains, often for the purpose of safety or for consumer protection from deceitful practices.
The term formal standard refers specifically to a specification that has been approved by a standards setting organization. The term
Normally, the term standards organization is not used to refer to the individual parties participating within the standards developing organization in the capacity of founders, benefactors, stakeholders, members or contributors, who themselves may function as or lead the standards organizations.
History
Standardization
The implementation of standards in industry and commerce became highly important with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the need for high-precision machine tools and interchangeable parts. Henry Maudslay developed the first industrially practical screw-cutting lathe in 1800, which allowed for the standardization of screw thread sizes for the first time.[1]
Maudslay's work, as well as the contributions of other engineers, accomplished a modest amount of industry standardization; some companies' in-house standards spread a bit within their industries. Joseph Whitworth's screw thread measurements were adopted as the first (unofficial) national standard by companies around the country in 1841. It came to be known as the British Standard Whitworth, and was widely adopted in other countries.[3][4]
Early standards organizations
By the end of the 19th century differences in standards between companies was making trade increasingly difficult and strained. For instance, in 1895 an iron and steel dealer recorded his displeasure in The Times: "Architects and engineers generally specify such unnecessarily diverse types of sectional material or given work that anything like economical and continuous manufacture becomes impossible. In this country no two professional men are agreed upon the size and weight of a girder to employ for given work".[5]
The Engineering Standards Committee was established in London in 1901 as the world's first national standards body.[6][7] It subsequently extended its standardization work and became the British Engineering Standards Association in 1918, adopting the name British Standards Institution in 1931 after receiving its Royal Charter in 1929. The national standards were adopted universally throughout the country, and enabled the markets to act more rationally and efficiently, with an increased level of cooperation.
After the
International organizations
Several
International standards associations
In 1904, Crompton represented Britain at the
The
After the war, ISA was approached by the recently formed 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 in February 1947.[11]
Overview
Standards organizations can be classified by their role, position, and the extent of their influence on the local, national, regional, and global standardization arena.
By geographic designation, there are international, regional, and national standards bodies (the latter often referred to as NSBs). By technology or industry designation, there are standards developing organizations (SDOs) and also standards setting organizations (SSOs) also known as consortia. Standards organizations may be governmental, quasi-governmental or non-governmental entities. Quasi- and non-governmental standards organizations are often non-profit organizations.
International standards organizations
Broadly, an international standards organization develops
There are many international standards organizations. The three largest and most well-established such organizations are the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which have each existed for more than 50 years (founded in 1947, 1906, and 1865, respectively) and are all based in Geneva, Switzerland. They have established tens of thousands of standards covering almost every conceivable topic. Many of these are then adopted worldwide replacing various incompatible "homegrown" standards. Many of these standards are naturally evolved from those designed in-house within an industry, or by a particular country, while others have been built from scratch by groups of experts who sit on various technical committees (TCs). These three organizations together comprise the World Standards Cooperation (WSC) alliance.
ISO is composed of the national standards bodies (NSBs), one per member economy. The IEC is similarly composed of national committees, one per member economy. In some cases, the national committee to the IEC of an economy may also be the ISO member from that country or economy. ISO and IEC are private international organizations that are not established by any international treaty. Their members may be non-governmental organizations or governmental agencies, as selected by ISO and IEC (which are privately established organizations).
The ITU is a treaty-based organization established as a permanent agency of the United Nations, in which governments are the primary members,[citation needed] although other organizations (such as non-governmental organizations and individual companies) can also hold a form of direct membership status in the ITU as well. Another example of a treaty-based international standards organization with government membership is the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
In addition to these, a large variety of independent international standards organizations such as the
The Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) was formed in 1949 to prepare avionics system engineering standards with other aviation organizations RTCA, EUROCAE, and ICAO. The standards are widely known as the ARINC Standards.
Regional standards organizations
Regional standards bodies also exist, such as the
In the European Union, only standards created by CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI are recognized as European standards (according to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012[12]), and member states are required to notify the European Commission and each other about all the draft technical regulations concerning ICT products and services before they are adopted in national law.[13] These rules were laid down in Directive 98/34/EC with the goal of providing transparency and control with regard to technical regulations.[13]
Sub-regional standards organizations also exist such as the
National standards bodies
In general, each country or economy has a single recognized national standards body (NSB). A national standards body is likely the sole member from that economy in ISO; ISO currently has 161 members. National standards bodies usually do not prepare the technical content of standards, which instead is developed by national technical societies.
Organization | Initials | Country |
---|---|---|
American National Standards Institute | ANSI | United States |
Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación , Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification |
AENOR | Spain |
Association Française de Normalisation, French Association for Standardization | AFNOR | France |
Badan Standardisasi Nasional |
BSN | Indonesia |
Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution | BSTI | Bangladesh |
Brazilian National Standards Organization | ABNT | Brazil |
British Standards Institution |
BSI | United Kingdom |
Bulgarian Institute for Standardization[15] | BDS | Bulgaria |
Bureau voor Normalisatie/Bureau de Normalisation[16] | NBN | Belgium |
Bureau of Indian Standards | BIS | India |
Bureau of Standards Jamaica[17] | BSJ | Jamaica |
Dirección General de Normas | DGN | Mexico |
Deutsches Institut für Normung | DIN | Germany |
Eesti Standardimis- ja Akrediteerimiskeskus,[18] Estonian Centre for Standardisation | EVS | Estonia |
Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione | UNI | Italy |
Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification | GOST | Russia (Soviet Union) |
Finnish Standards Association | SFS | Finland |
Institut Luxembourgeois de la normalisation, de l’Accréditation, de la Sécurité et qualité des produits et services,[19] Luxembourg Institute for Standardization, Accreditation, Security, and Quality of Products and Services |
ILNAS | Luxembourg |
Instituto Argentino de Normalización y Certificación | IRAM | Argentina |
Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación , Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification |
ICONTEC | Colombia |
Japanese Industrial Standards Committee | JISC | Japan |
Koninklijk Nederlands Normalisatie Instituut[20] | NEN | Netherlands |
Korean Agency for Technology and Standards | KATS | South Korea |
Magyar Szabványügyi Testület,[21] Hungarian Standards Institution | MSZT | Hungary |
Organismul Național de Standardizare,[22] Romanian Standards Association | ASRO | Romania |
South African Bureau of Standards | SABS | South Africa |
Standardization Administration of China | SAC | China |
Standards Council of Canada | SCC | Canada |
Standards New Zealand | SNZ | New Zealand |
Standards Norway | SN | Norway |
Standards Organisation of Nigeria[23] | SON | Nigeria |
Swedish Standards Institute |
SIS | Sweden |
Swiss Association for Standardization | SNV | Switzerland |
Turkish Standards Institution | TSE | Turkey |
Standards Australia | SAI | Australia |
Jabatan Standard Malaysia[24] | DSM | Malaysia |
Instituto Português da Qualidade , Portuguese Institute for Quality | IPQ | Portugal |
Vietnamese National Standards | TCVN | Vietnam |
NSBs may be either public or private sector organizations, or combinations of the two. For example, the Standards Council of Canada is a Canadian
Standards developing organizations (SDOs)
A national standards body (NSB) generally refers to one standardization organization that is that country's member of the
Scope of work
Developers of technical standards are generally concerned with interface standards, which detail how products interconnect with each other, and safety standards, which established characteristics ensure that a product or process is safe for humans, animals, and the environment. The subject of their work can be narrow or broad. Another area of interest is in defining how the behavior and performance of products is measured and described in data sheets.
Overlapping or competing standards bodies tend to cooperate purposefully, by seeking to define boundaries between the scope of their work, and by operating in a hierarchical fashion in terms of national, regional and international scope; international organizations tend to have as members national organizations; and standards emerging at national level (such as BS 5750) can be adopted at regional levels (BS 5750 was adopted as EN 29000) and at international levels (BS 5750 was adopted as ISO 9000).
Unless adopted by a government, standards carry no force in law. However, most jurisdictions have truth in advertising laws, and ambiguities can be reduced if a company offers a product that is "compliant" with a standard.
Standards development process
When an organization develops standards that may be used openly, it is common to have formal rules published regarding the process. This may include:
- Who is allowed to vote and provide input on new or revised standards
- What is the formal step-by-step process
- How are bias and commercial interests handled
- How negative votes or ballots are handled
- What type of consensus is required
Though it can be a tedious and lengthy process, formal standard setting is essential to developing new technologies. For example, since 1865, the telecommunications industry has depended on the
Standards distribution and copyright
Some standards – such as the SIF Specification in K12 education – are managed by a non-profit organizations composed of public entities and private entities working in cooperation that then publish the standards under an open license at no charge and requiring no registration.
A technical library at a university may have copies of technical standards on hand. Major libraries in large cities may also have access to many technical standards.
Some users of standards mistakenly assume that all standards are in the
It is, however, liable for any patent infringement by its implementation, just as with any other implementation of technology. The standards organizations give no guarantees that patents relevant to a given standard have been identified. ISO standards draw attention to this in the foreword with a statement like the following: "Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights".
Trends
The ever-quickening pace of technology evolution is now more than ever affecting the way new standards are proposed, developed and implemented.
Since traditional, widely respected standards organizations tend to operate at a slower pace than technology evolves, many standards they develop are becoming less relevant because of the inability of their developers to keep abreast with the technological innovation. As a result, a new class of standards setters appeared on the
Some industry-driven standards development efforts don't even have a formal organizational structure. They are projects funded by large corporations. Among them are the
See also
- Coordination game
- Harmonization (standards)
- International Organization for Standardization
- List of computer standards
- List of international common standards
- List of technical standard organizations
- Quality control
- Reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing
- Software standard
- Specification (technical standard)
- Standardization
- Technical standard
- Transport standards organisations
References
- ^ a b c Wang Ping (April 2011), A Brief History of Standards and Standardization Organizations: A Chinese Perspective, East–West Center
- ^ Anja Drame (6 January 2006), "International Terminology Standardization; reasons, institutions, results, implementation" (PDF), TermNet, retrieved 19 December 2020
- ^ Gilbert, K. R., & Galloway, D. F., 1978, "Machine Tools". In Charles Singer, et al., (Eds.), A History of Technology. Oxford, Clarendon Press
- ^ Lee, Sidney (Ed.), 1900, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol LXI. Smith Elder, London
- ^ Ping, Wang (2011). "A Brief History of Standards and Standardization Organizations: A Chinese Perspective" (PDF). East-West Center Working Papers (117).
- ^ "BSI Group Annual Report and Financial Statements 2010, p. 2" (PDF). Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- ^ Robert C. McWilliam. BSI: The First Hundred Years. 1901–2001. A Century of Achievement. 2001. Thanet Press. London
- ^ "WHO | WHO guidelines approved by the Guidelines Review Committee". WHO. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ISBN 9780444527455.
- ^ IEC. "1906 Preliminary Meeting Report, pp. 46–48" (PDF). The minutes from our first meeting. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- ISBN 92-67-10260-5, retrieved 26 December 2013
- ^ Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardization, amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Text with EEA relevance, 14 November 2012, retrieved 10 January 2019
- ^ a b European Union: Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations Official Journal L é04, 21.7.1998, p. 37–48. (This page also provides references to amendments.) See also European Commission: Enterprise Directorate-General: Vademecum on European Standardisation (this document contains a consolidated version of Directive 98/34/EC, dated 15 November 2003). Accessed 2009-05-05.
- ^ ISO "Members", retrieved Feb 21, 2012.
- ^ "Bulgarian Institute for Standardization". bds-bg.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023.
- ^ "NBN". NBN. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Bureau of Standards Jamaica". bsj.org.jm. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "EVS standard evs.ee | en". evs.ee. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023.
- ^ "Institut luxembourgeois de la normalisation, de l'accréditation, de la sécurité et qualité des produits et services // Le gouvernement luxembourgeois". ilnas.gouvernement.lu. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Home - NEN". nen.nl. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024.
- ^ "Nyitólap". mszt.hu. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Organismul Național de Standardizare din România – Portalul tău către standarde și standardizare". asro.ro. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024.
- ^ "Standards Organisation of Nigeria – Nigeria". son.gov.ng. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024.
- ^ "Department of Standards Malaysia - Home". jsm.gov.my. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-92-67-10986-2.
- ^ "Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations". wto.org. World Trade Organization. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ Quoted from ISO/IEC 24751-1:2008: Information technology – Individualized adaptability and accessibility in e-learning, education and training – Part 1: Framework and reference model, p. v.
- ^ J. Gregory Sidak (2013). "The Meaning of FRAND, Part I: Royalties". Criterion Economics, Inc.
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