Discover ISO
ISO's name
Because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different acronyms in different languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), its founders decided to give it also a short, all-purpose name. They chose "ISO", derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal". Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.
Discover ISO
- ISO's name
- Why standards matter
- What standards do
- Who standards benefit
- The ISO brand
- How to recognize an ISO standard
- The scope of ISO's work
- Examples of the benefits standards provide
- What's different about ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
- Why conformity assessment is important
- What "international standardization" means
- ISO's origins
- Who can join ISO
- How the ISO system is managed
- How the ISO system is financed
- How ISO decides to develop a standard
- Who develops ISO standards
- How ISO standards are developed
- ISO's international partners
- ISO's regional partners