23rd of February 2022 is approaching. However, this date commemorates not only the Defender of the Homeland Day but also Birthday of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The ISO story began in 1946 in London when 65 delegates from 25 countries gathered to discuss the matters of international standardization. ISO appeared as an organization in 1947 when first 67 technical committees were founded. Technical committee is a group of experts dealing with the development of standards on certain topics.
The first ISO standard was published in 1951 and it was called «Recommendations» at that time –ISO/R 1:1951, «Standard reference temperature for industrial length measurements». Since then this standard has been revised many times and nowadays it is called ISO 1:2016, «Geometrical product specifications (GPS) - Standard reference temperature for the specification of geometrical and dimensional properties».
ISO started to publish the ISO Journal that was the magazine for ISO Members devoted to standardization news in a year, in 1952. Since 1960th ISO began to include developing countries in the activities on standardization while since 1970th ISO started to examine the matters on climate changes. ISO set up two special technical committees in an ecological sphere- ISO/TC 146 «Air quality» and ISO/TC 147 «Water quality».
ISO has become an international organization with active participants on all continents except for the Antarсtic since the middle of 1970th. ISO launched its first official web-site in 1995 and ISO began to sell its standards online in 2000. Nowadays ISO is an international organization with a rich history that is dealing with standardization which covers almost every aspect of our life.
The USSR was at the origin of ISO. Representatives of the Russian Federation and USSR became ISO Chairmen (Presidents) three times. Russia as a legal successor of the USSR has become ISO P-Member and it entered the ISO Board on 23rd of September 2005. Special representative of the Russian Federation was elected in the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) in 2019. It should be mentioned that ISO TMB is responsible for the development and implementation of technical policy of the organization.
Nowadays ISO has 763 technical committees and the Russian Federation participates in the activities of 588 of them in a status of an active (full) ISO Member (P- member). The Russian Federation also participates in the activities of 112 technical committees as an observer (O-Member). It should be highlighted that the Russian Federation is responsible for maintenance and presidency in 11 ISO bodies.
Russian Standardization Institute (FSBI «RST») holds secretariats of the following international technical committees - ISO TC 96/SC 4 «Test methods» and ISO/TC 254 «Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices». FSBI «RST» is also responsible for making translations of an official ISO web- site into Russian language.
We congratulate International Organization for Standardization with its 75th anniversary.