The Meaning of ISO
ISO represents the International Organization for Standardization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. According to this group, ISO does not form a scrambled acronym of their name. It represents the root of the Greek word "isos," which means "equal." The symbolic meaning of equality refers to the organization's mission to provide a platform that harmonizes the standards of all participating countries into an overarching umbrella so as to allow companies to navigate the industry on a global scale. In other words, this organization brings everyone who participates in the work of establishing the ISO standards to an "equal" level.
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History
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The International Organization of Standardization was launched in 1947. ISO invited countries to send one expert in standards to join technical committees that were formed to draft international standards. More than 160 countries have chosen to participate in this endeavor. Over a period of 50 years, experts from these many nations drafted and issued more than 18,000 standards.
ISO Brand
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The ISO organization is a nongovernmental group in which each member country participates on an equal basis in influencing the content of the standards documents. The agency neither regulates nor creates laws. It lets industries or national authorities decide whether ISO standards should become mandatory rules in each country. The standards result from decisions made from consensus. The standards remain globally relevant through periodic updates. For example, ISO 9001 applies to quality management methodologies aimed at continuous customer satisfaction. ISO 14001 guides corporate decision making to minimize environmental impact. ISO 13485 targets the medical industry and integrates regulatory requirements promoting the safety of patients.
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ISO Influence
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The ISO technical committees have issued about 18,000 standards since the inception of the ISO. According to ISO's 2008 Annual Report, the organization welcomed 208 technical committees supported by about 3,000 technical subgroups. In 2008 alone, the ISO generated 1,230 standards. The countries involved in defining standards represent 98 percent of the world economy and account for 97 percent of the world's population.
2005 to 2010 Strategy
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ISO developed a five-year plan with seven objectives for 2005 to 2010. The plan includes continuing to focus on formulation of international market-driven standards through strong involvement of stakeholders. The strategy emphasizes the importance of involving developing countries and leveraging the wisdom of other expert regulatory organizations to efficiently develop international standards. One of the objectives is to keep the ISO standards as voluntary tools (not mandatory.) Another is to promote quality through conformance to a process. Finally, ISO commits to creating a large array of tools and training services to help all organizations acquire knowledge of standards.
Famous ISO Standards
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ISO 9001 represents one of the sets of guidelines from the ISO portfolio that has been extensively adopted worldwide. ISO 9001 promotes a quality management system that focuses on achieving customer satisfaction by delivering error-free products. The methodology focuses on process compliance and continuous process improvement. ISO 9001 certification has become a mark of honor and sometimes appears as a contractual requirement in partnership deals.
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