ISO/TC 211

Abstract

“The foremost aim of international standardization is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services through the elimination of technical barriers to trade. Three bodies are responsible for the planning, development and adoption of International Standards: ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is responsible for all sectors excluding electrotechnical, which is the responsibility of IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee), and most of the Telecommunications Technologies, which are largely the responsibility of ITU (International Telecommunication Union). ISO is a legal association, the members of which are the National Standards Bodies (NSBs) of some 130 countries (organizations representing social and economic interests at supported by a Central Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. The principal deliverable of ISO is the International Standard. An International Standard embodies the essential principles of global openness and transparency, consensus and technical coherence. These are safeguarded through its development in an ISO Technical Committee (ISO/TC), representative of all interested parties, supported by a public comment phase (the ISO Technical Enquiry). ISO and its Technical Committees are also able to offer the ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS), the ISO Public Available Specification (ISO/PAS) and the ISO Technical Report (ISO/TR) as solutions to market needs. These ISO products represent lower levels of consensus and have therefore not the same status as an International Standard. ISO offers also the Industry Technical Agreement (ITA) as a deliverable which aims to bridge the gap between the activities of consortia and the formal process of standardization represented by ISO and its national members. An important distinction is that the ITA is developed by ISO workshops and fora, comprising only participants with direct interest, and so it is not accorded the status of an International Standard.” international level),