World Meteorological Organization and ISO partnership
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have signed an agreement to formalise a partnership, to increase their cooperation in the development of international Standards for meteorological and hydrological data, products, and services.
The working arrangements between the WMO and ISO aim to strengthen the development of international Standards and to avoid duplication of work on Standards related to meteorological, climatological, hydrological, marine and related environmental data, products, and services. The WMO has liaison status with many of ISO's technical committees developing Standards related to hydrometry, air quality, water quality, soil quality, geographic information, solar energy, petroleum and gas industry, information technologies, marine, quantities, and units.
Software designers and developers get new international Standards
Ergonomics of human-system interaction – Guidance on software accessibility, ISO 9241-171:2008, covers issues associated with designing accessible software for people with the widest range of physical, sensory and cognitive abilities, including those who are temporarily disabled, and the elderly.
Software documentation, ISO/IEC 26514:2008, specifies the structure, content, and format for user documentation, and also provides informative guidance for user documentation style. It is the first of a new suite of Standards planned to address software user documentation. Three further standards are being developed that will address the needs of managers, acquirers and suppliers, and testers and assessors of software user documentation.
Information technology – Office equipment accessibility guidelines for elderly persons and persons with disabilities, ISO/IEC 10779:2008, provides guidelines to improve accessibility required when primarily older person ...read more [opens in new window]
Nanotechnology terms clearly defined in new ISO Standard
ISO launched work in 2005 to develop Standards to support the innovative field of nanotechnologies. ISO/TS 27687:2008 is the first part of a series on nanotechnology terminology and definitions.
Nanotechnologies, a field of applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale, are expected to be a key economic driver for the 21st century. They promise significant benefits, including enhancements in medical diagnosis and treatment, more efficient energy sources, lighter, stronger and cheaper materials, faster and more powerful electronic products, and cleaner, cheaper water.
The Standard covers the terminology and definitions for objects at the nano-scale, which come in several shapes. The three basic shapes referred to are nanoparticle, nanofibre, and nanoplate. It provides clarity in the description and naming of fundamental building blocks for this important area of technology, to help communications between organisations and individual ...read more [opens in new window]
International social responsibility Standard will advance as stakeholder consensus builds
The future ISO 26000 Standard giving guidance on social responsibility has passed an important stage in its development, by moving from the status of a working draft to a committee draft.
The resolution approving the circulation of the document as a committee draft was one of the main outcomes of the 6th plenary meeting of the Working Group in September 2008 in Chile. The plenary addressed the following key topics: international norms of behaviour, nature of reference to social responsibility initiatives, nature of reference to government, sphere of influence (including issues relating to value chain and supply chain), and picking and choosing (including issues pertaining to relevance and significance and prioritisation). The meeting was one of the largest ISO Standards development meetings ever held, with 386 experts attending from 76 ISO member countries, and 33 liaison organisations.
A high level of consensus is being built among the multi-stakeholder representation wi ...read more [opens in new window]