ISO

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Organization for determining standards in most technical and nontechnical fields. Founded in Geneva in 1947, its membership includes more than 100 countries. An appropriate national body represents each country; for example, the U.S. member is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Standardization affects units of measurement, alphabetization and transliteration, and specifications for parts, materials, surfaces, processes, tools, methods of testing, and machines. The ISO publishes the results of its work as “International Standards” (IS). ISO standards are optimally reviewed every five years.

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Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)

European Space Agency satellite that from 1995 to 1998 observed astronomical sources of infrared radiation. The satellite, which carried a 60-cm (24-in.) telescope, made significant observations of protoplanetary disks of dust and gas around young stars, with results suggesting that individual planets can form over periods as brief as 20 million years, and discovered that these disks are rich in silicates, the minerals that form the basis of many common types of rock. It also discovered a large number of brown dwarfs.

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ISO

(1) See ISO speed.

(2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. ISO deals with all fields except electrical and electronics, which is governed by the older International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). With regard to information processing, ISO and IEC created JTC1, the Joint Technical Committee for information technology.

It carries out its work through more than 185 technical committees and 2,700 subcommittees and working groups, and is made up of standards organizations from more than 95 countries, some of them serving as secretariats for these technical bodies.

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ISO - International Organization for Standardization