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ISO and IEEE strengthen partnership for development of international standards

2008-04-17

ISO and IEEE have signed an agreement to increase their cooperation in developing international standards.  The agreement initially focuses on the subjects of information technology, intelligent transport systems and health informatics.  The "partner standards development organization (PSDO)" cooperation agreement provides new opportunities to adopt and jointly develop international standards to serve the global marketplace.  The agreement was approved by the respective governing bodies of ISO and IEEE following extensive discussions, and in consultation with the ISO national member body where IEEE has its legal seat (ANSI).

ISO, a network of the national standards bodies of 157 countries, is the world's leading developer of international standards for business, government and society. It has a current portfolio of more than 17 000 standards for almost every sector of economic activity and technology, from traditional activities such as agriculture and construction, through mechanical engineering, to information technologies, nanotechnologies, the environment, services, health, safety, security and managerial best practice.

The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) is the world’s largest technical professional society. Through its more than 370,000 members in 160 countries, the organization is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.,and has developed nearly 900 active industry standards

The PSDO cooperation agreement between the two organizations aims to optimize stakeholder resources in the development of standards where both ISO and IEEE have expertise, and to shorten time-to-market.  The agreement facilitates processes for the joint development of standards and for adopting each other's standards.

ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden comments: "Strengthening partnerships with standards development organizations having a global reach is one of ISO's strategic objectives and this agreement with IEEE will help to optimize resources, shorten timeframes and reinforce the collection of ISO International Standards in a coherent and consistent manner."

IEEE Standards Association Managing Director Judith Gorman states: “Major standards organizations have both an economic and social obligation to maximize collaboration and provide innovative solutions to benefit the global community.”