Posing as a giant organization that flaunts a colossal membership of 162 national standards bodies in each country, ISO is an independent and non-governmental organization that has been running since so many decades. ISO full form stands for International Organization for Standardization. Collaborating with experts,[i] ISO shares knowledge through its respected bench of members. This is primarily because of developing International Standards that are voluntary, consensus-based and market-relevant. The chief goal is to provide innovative solutions to global challenges.

Along with the crucial promotion involved in the development of standardization and the activities, which are related to such around the world, ISO endeavors in facilitating the international exchange of goods and services. As a perfect brief and detailed definition of what does ISO work for, it can be further added that ISO also covers the developmental cooperation seen in subjects like intellectual, scientific, technology and economic activities. The results that are filtered from such developmental activities are then published officially as International Standards.

A central secretariat supervises and oversees standardization operations in ISO’s headquarters located in Geneva, Switzerland.

What are These Standards?

Standardization of any business on such a huge credible platform is essentially important for all the consumers. The eminent recognition given to a business by ISO on parameters of products, services, systems, quality, safety, and efficiency works like an authentic certification to ensure all consumers about the credibility of the respective business. Most importantly, these certifications or what better can be called, as standards are functional in facilitating international trade.

Going by the official records, ISO has published 22453 International Standards. Amongst these data are related documents that cover a large-section of industries including, technology, food safety, agriculture, and healthcare. To simply put, ISO has a great impact on everyone on anywhere on this planet.

How ISO Started?

The famous history of ISO marked its date in the year 1946, which was during the turmoil times of the World War II. Delegates from 25 countries decided for an official meeting at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London. The main purpose of this meeting was to formulate a new international organization that would deliver service in facilitating the international coordination and unification of industrial standards. Recorded as an official historical date, ISO was validated as a legal operative organization for standardization on 23 February 1947[ii].

The Actual Meaning of ISO

In the real sense of the term, ISO is not just an acronym. It is a Greek word derived from the words isos, which means ‘equal’. Experts have trimmed down to a probable notion that the word iso can be equalized to the root meaning of various such host terms like the isometric, meaning of equal measure or dimensions and isonomy meaning equality of laws, or of people before the law.

Benefits of ISO

The organization that had its inception stages of measuring things like weights and measures, is today a giant organization that has covered countless millstones in setting preeminent standardizations to businesses for over 50 years. Facilitating as such a resourceful organization ISO benefits are listed in brief below:

• Ensuring millions of consumers on safety, reliability and quality assurance of products they use.

• Standards on road safety, toy safety, and secure medical packaging are extremely important and ensure the safety protocols at its best

• Due to the participation of globally recognized expert, even the governmental bodies count on ISO for developing better regulatory norms.

• International Standards on air, water, and soil quality, on emissions of gases and radiation, and environmental aspects of products, ISO makes this planet a better place to live in[iii].

Thus, ISO is undoubtedly an eminent organization that has been delivering assurance to billion customers and regulating business standardization norms effectually for economic growth as well.

[i]https://www.iso.org/about-us.html

[ii]https://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/ISO

[iii]https://www.iso.org/benefits-of-standards.html