Each year on 14 October, the members of the IEC, ISO and ITU celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as international standards.
World Standards Day began as a celebration of the birth of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which held its first meeting in London on October 14, 1946.
From an initial roster of 25 countries, ISO (based in Geneva, Switzerland) now has 123 member nations and has evolved into the global clearinghouse for all standards activities.
ISO's US representative, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is one of the founding organizations of World Standards Day.
Today, World Standards Day is sponsored annually by ISO; the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which develops international standards for the electrical and electronics industries; and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an international organization responsible for the coordination, development, regulation, and standardization of telecommunications standards.
The goal of World Standards Day is to raise awareness of the importance of global standardization to the world economy and to promote its role in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government, and consumers worldwide.
The international event pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardization activities.
Since its initial celebration in 1970, member countries commemorate World Standards Day by organizing special gatherings and events, ranging from conferences, exhibitions, and seminars to film shows, TV and radio interviews, and full "standards weeks" around mid October.
The IEC, ISO and ITU announce the winners of annual World Standards Day contest. This year two competitions were launched, a poster contest and a video contest, along the theme “Standards make cities smarter”.
