The
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a set of resources to help policy makers understand the importance and impact of International Standards. This toolkit, which includes a brochure, a leaflet, a PowerPoint presentation, a policy website, and a conformity assessment website, outlines the benefits of standards for policy makers and supports their collaboration with standards developers.
ISO's new tools for policy makers include:
- A brochure, Using and Referencing ISO and IEC Standards to Support Public Policy, that details the advantages of using standards from ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and outlines how they can be referenced.
- A leaflet, ISO and IEC International Standards for Policy Makers, that summarizes the above brochure with a quick overview.
- A PowerPoint presentation, Using and Referencing ISO and IEC Standards to Support Public Policy, that ISO members and national policy makers can use to present the main ideas in the above brochure.
- A policy website, www.iso.org/policy, that provides ISO's resources for policy and gives detailed examples of how ISO standards have been used to support policy initiatives.
- A conformity assessment website, www.iso.org/cascoregulators, that assists policy makers in finding appropriate conformity assessment tools, and in understanding and choosing conformity assessment routes to meet their needs.
The conformity assessment website was developed by ISO's Conformity Assessment Committee (CASCO), and features real-world examples of how conformity assessment is considered and referenced in regulatory practice.
ISO's initiatives to help policy makers understand the benefits of standards, a strategic priority for the organization in 2014, will continue in 2015 with an international workshop to open dialogue and collaboration between policy makers and standards developers. More information about the conference, slated for mid-2015, will be released in the coming months.
From referencing ISO and IEC standards in legislation or regulation to using standards to support public policy decisions, there are many ways that policy makers can benefit from standards. ISO's toolkit will help policy makers, along with regulators and standards developers, to better understand how to use standards in effective and cost-efficient ways.
For more information, see the ISO news release.
