Standardisation

Standardisation, or standardization in American English, refers to the process of developing and implementing agreed-upon norms and criteria to ensure that products, services, and systems are compatible and interchangeable. The goal is to reduce complexity and facilitate trade, safety, quality, and interoperability across markets and technologies.

Standards may cover design specifications, test methods, performance criteria, terminology, data formats, interfaces, and management systems. They can be international, regional, or national, and may be voluntary or mandated by law. The development typically involves a consensus-based process led by standardization bodies.

Major international bodies include ISO, IEC, and the ITU; regional bodies include CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI in Europe; national bodies include ANSI in the United States and DIN in Germany. Standards are published as documents that specify requirements or guidance and are periodically revised to reflect advances.

Benefits include enabling interoperability, protecting consumers, supporting competition, and reducing costs through economies of scale. Critiques focus on potential stifling of innovation, the cost of compliance, the risk of standardization capture, and the tension between global universality and local needs.

Examples include ISO 9001 quality management, ISO 14001 environmental management, IEC 60601 medical electrical equipment standards, USB and Bluetooth interfaces, and web-related standards such as HTML and CSS.