Governance of technical work
The technical work is carried out under the overall management of the Technical Management Board (TMB). The Technical Management Board reports to the ISO Council and its role is defined in the statutes of the organization.
Specifically, it is responsible for tasks such as setting up the various technical committees (TC), appointing TC chairs and monitoring the progress of the technical work. It is also responsible for the Directives, which are essentially the rules for the development of International Standards, and it deals with all matters of strategic planning, coordination, performance and monitoring of technical committee activities.
Code of Conduct for the technical work
Under a change project called the Living Lab, an end to end review of the ISO Standards Development process took place during 2010 and 2011. During this review it was found that a Code of Conduct for the technical work would help facilitate the technical discussions and meetings necessary for developing consensus standards. A Code of Conduct has subsequently been developed in consultation with the Technical Management Board. It was initially presented at the ISO Committee Chairs' conference that took place in June 2011 and the feedback received has been taken into account. The Code of Conduct can now be found on the URL below. We hope it helps you in your technical work.
Suggestions for implementation
To
be effective, the ISO Code of Conduct must
remain visible and those who choose to participate in an ISO committee, working group or consensus group should be repeatedly reminded of its principles. The following are easy ways to ensure that the importance of the Code of Conduct is regularly emphasized.
- The Code of Conduct could be included with meeting documentation.
- Leaders could present the Code of Conduct at kick off meetings with a brief presentation of why it is important.
- The Code of Conduct could be made a standing item on all meeting agendas where the first few minutes of every meeting are spent reviewing its principles.
- The Code of Conduct to could be attached to the meeting attendance lists which are circulated for signature by attendees at physical meetings.
- Meeting reports should include the details of any discussions on the Code of Conduct.
Any further ideas or good practices on how to maintain the visibility of the Code of Conduct are greatly welcome, as are any questions regarding its contents or implementation. Please send an e-mail to share your thoughts and experiences to tmb@iso.org.
Selection criteria for people leading the technical work
Also under the Living Lab discussions the key role played by those leading the technical work played in the success of the technical work. Subsequently a Selection Criteria for People Leading the Technical Work have been developed. This covers the role of Chair, Convenor and Secretary. Again the Selection Criteria were drafted in consultation with the Technical Management Board and presented at the TC Chairs' Conference in June 2011. The feedback from the event helped to refine and finalize the Selection Criteria.
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