ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 169 national standards bodies

Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

You’ll find our Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. Learn more about our structure and how we are governed.

Contact ISO

International Organization for Standardization
ISO Central Secretariat
Chemin de Blandonnet 8
CP 401 - 1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland

E-mail: central@iso.org
Tel.: +41 22 749 01 11
Fax: +41 22 733 34 30

Visiting ISO [PDF, 1.29 MB]

Celebrating 75 years...

Friendship among equals

The ISO story began in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries met at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London...

Read more about the first 50 years of ISO (1947-1997) in the book:

Friendship among equals [PDF, 1.32 MB]

It’s all in the name

Because “International Organization for Standardization” would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek “isos”, meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO.

ISO Today

International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology, management and manufacturing.

169

Members representing ISO in  their country. There is only one member per country.

820

Technical committees and subcommittees to take care of standards development.

How did we do in 2022?

How many projects did we begin? Which sectors were most active? How many documents did we publish?

Find our key achievements in figures at a single glance.

Annual reports

2022 was “business as usual” – offering solutions to the planet’s most pressing challenges, delivering an ambitious ten-year strategy, and bringing every one of our members on that journey.

Find out how we achieved that as we look at the highlights of a year that focused on collaboration, community and climate action.

The ISO Strategy 2030 outlines our vision and our mission for the next 10 years and a set of goals and priorities to help us get there. The three goals are stepping stones to our vision. We will focus on six priorities to achieve our goals and maximize our impact.
Learn how to get the most out of ISO membership
An introduction to the ISO system, how it works and how ISO standards benefit the world.