ISO (Internation Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of
Internation Standards.
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries,
one menber per country, with a Center Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
ISO is a non-governental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors.
On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries,
or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the
private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.
Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of
business and the broader needs of society. Because “International Organization for Standardization
” would have different acronyms in different languages (“IOS” in English, “OIN” in French for Organisation
internationale de normalisation), its founders decided to give it also a short, all-purpose name. They chose
“ISO”, derived from the Greek isos, meaning “equal”. Whatever the country, whatever the language,
the short form of the organization’s name is always ISO
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