(1) For the ISO communications standard, see
OSI model.
(2) For the light measurement standard, see
ISO speed.
(3) For the optical disc format standard, see
ISO image.
(4) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ISO deals with all fields except electrical and electronics, which is governed by the older International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). With regard to information processing, ISO and IEC created JTC1, the Joint Technical Committee for information technology.
ISO carries out its work through more than 185 technical committees and 2,700 subcommittees and working groups and is made up of standards organizations from more than 95 countries, some of them serving as secretariats for these technical bodies.
Full, Correspondent and Subscriber Members
Of the 164 ISO member bodies, more than a hundred are full members that influence ISO standards development. Approximately 50 Correspondent members attend meetings as observers. A handful of Subscriber members stay up-to-date on ISO activities but do not sell or adopt ISO standards nationally as do all the others. See
ISO/IEC.