ARCHIVED 5.2.4. Major International Players

 

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On the international scene, there are three major players:

• International Organization for Standardization - ISO
• International Electrotechnical Commission - IEC
• International Telecommunications Union - ITU

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

• Access the ISO Web site

ISO is not an acronym but the international organization’s actual name. It is to be used in all languages. ISO, derived from the Greek word isos meaning "equal", reflects the organization’s philosophy of open participation and access to standards.

ISO is a non-governmental organization made up of a network of the national standards institutes of 146 countries. Its member institutes may be part of the governmental structure of their countries, or may be mandated by their government.

Standards are developed through ISO’s technical committees and by consensus based on one member per country.

As a worldwide standardizing organization, ISO provides a broad range of standards that meet both the requirements of business and the needs of society, such as the needs of consumers and users. In the area of terminology, ISO’s Technical Committee on Terminology and Other Language Resources (ISO/TC 37) produces technical standards on terminology and related language products, services, processes and systems. These standards serve the language industries, related language activities and anyone wishing to produce terminology and related language products and services. ISO/TC 37 standards on the principles, methods and applications relating to terminology form the basis for terminological standardization across ISO committees and provide guidance to other ISO technical committees that produce standard-specific terminology in their area of standardization.

• Access the Terminology Committee
• Access the list of standards published by ISO/TC 37

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

• Access the IEC Web site

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading international standardizing organization for all electrical, electronic and related technologies and their terminology. Its membership and structure are similar to those of ISO. National committee members develop standards by consensus based on one member per country. Many IEC standards have been adopted around the world as national standards. They also serve as references when drafting international tenders and contracts.

The IEC has been standardizing and defining electrotechnical terminology since 1909. This work is carried out by the Technical Committee on Terminology (TC 1). The IEC’s International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) comprises over 10 000 pages. A limited selection of the vocabulary is available online in English, French, German and Spanish. The full multilingual version also provides terms in 13 other languages.

• Access the TC 1
• Access the IEV

International Telecommunications Union (ITU)

• Access the ITU Web site

ITU is an international organization within the United Nations System where governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. The Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) develops, through an open and collaborative process of its worldwide members, technical and operating standards in the form of internationally recognized recommendations that promote the interconnection of the world’s communication network and systems. In addition to the published terminology recommendations, the ITU manages a terminology database of telecommunication terms in English, French and Spanish.