The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released its ISO Foresight Trend Report to encourage discussion and exchange within the ISO system about future opportunities for international standardization. The report examines key trends relevant to standardization, with a focus on the economy, technology, society, politics, science, and the environment.
The information in the report was based off of trend reports from a wide variety of organizations, including governments, international organizations, think tanks, Non-Governmental Organizations, research institutes, and consulting firms. ANSI, the U.S. member body to ISO, requested stakeholder input on the report earlier this year.
The report was designed to support the ISO community to navigate global trends as it works towards achieving the goals and priorities of the ISO Strategy 2030, which aligns with the United Nations’ Global Agenda for 2030, to support a more sustainable future.
According to ISO: “Many of the future trends in this report will be familiar. Readers will recognize, for example, the climate emergency, accelerating and converging technologies, shifting geopolitical and economic power, changing demographics and evolving consumer preferences. Although the content may not come as a surprise, we hope that pulling together this information will provide readers with a new, macro perspective on the world around us and standardization’s place in it. This broad perspective should help to inform strategy and decision-making and to drive discussions about the future amongst ISO members and technical committees.”
Access the report and the executive summary via ISO.