Consolidated Guidance: Standards Organizations
| Standards Organizations |
Synopsis
Some organizations influential in promoting standardization and interoperability are listed in the standards table . These cover not only formal international and national standards bodies but also major consortia and manufacturer influences for de facto standardization. For additional information on standardization refer to the background description.
Standards Organizations
The following table identifies some organizations that establish or promote formal or de facto standards within the IT industry.
| Organization |
Description |
| American National Standards Institute (ANSI) | ANSI has served in its capacity as administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system for more than 80 years. Founded in 1918 by five engineering societies and three Government agencies, the Institute remains a private, nonprofit membership organization supported by a diverse constituency of private and public sector organizations. The Institute promotes and facilitates voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and promotes their integrity. The Institute represents the interests of its nearly 1,000 company, organizational, Government Agency, and institutional and international members. |
| BizTalk | The goal of BizTalk.org is to provide resources for learning about and using XML for EAI and business-to-business (B2B) document exchange, both within the enterprise and over the Internet. On BizTalk.org you can learn how to use XML messages to integrate software applications and build new solutions. The design emphasis is to use XML to integrate your existing data models, solutions, and application infrastructure, and adapt them for electronic commerce. You can also learn about the BizTalk Framework, a set of guidelines for implementing an XML schema and a set of XML tags used in messages sent between applications. |
| Commerce.Net | A global, nonprofit membership organization to promote and advance interoperable electronic commerce. |
| ECMA - European association for standardizing information and communication systems | An international industry association founded in 1961 and dedicated to the standardization of information and communication systems. |
| Electronics Industries Alliance | Accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), EIA provides a forum for industry to develop standards and publications in electronic components, consumer electronics, electronic information, and telecommunications. |
| European Telecommunications Standards Institute ( ETSI ) |
A nonprofit organization of 773 members from 52 countries, inside and outside Europe, whose mission is to produce telecommunications standards that will be used throughout Europe. Based in Sophia Antipolis, France, ETSI unites and represents administrations, network operators, manufacturers, service providers, research bodies, and users.
ETSI produces voluntary standards, some of which may go on to be adopted by the EC as the technical base for Directives or Regulations. Its Work Programme is based on, and coordinated with, the activities of international standardization bodies, mainly the ITU-T (Telecommunication Standardization Sector) and the ITU-R (Radiocommunication Sector). |
| Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) |
The Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) collects and coordinates information from standards organizations. They are attempting to create a registry of data objects for electronic commerce. DISA focuses on standards related to XML, electronic data interchange, and other technologies for allowing computer systems to share data. |
| Global Engineering Documents | Global Engineering Documents is part of Information Handling Services (IHS) a distributor of standards, specifications, and other technical publications. They provide access to standards from many standards organizations. |
| Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) | The ITI represents companies providing information technology products and services and promotes the global competitiveness of its members. Its mission is to shape policies and actions that open markets, promote free and open competition, rely on market-based solutions, protect intellectual property, and develop and advance the use of voluntary standards. |
| International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) | The world organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic, and related technologies. Promotes, through its members, international cooperation on all questions of electrotechnical standardization and related matters, such as the assessment of conformity to standards. |
| International Organization for Standardization (ISO) | A nongovernmental organization established in 1947 to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services and developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic activity. A worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 130 countries, one from each country, results in international agreements, which are published as International Standards. |
| International Telecommunications Union (ITU) previously known as: Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique (CCITT) |
A 130 year old international organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that coordinates government and the private sector global telecom networks and services. The ITU is the leading publisher of telecommunication technology, regulatory, and standards information. |
| Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) | The protocol engineering and development arm of the Internet. Formally established by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) in 1986. Serves as the technology advisory group to the Internet Society. Documents relating to the Internet standards are available from the Request For Comment (RFC) Editor. |
| Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) | A nonprofit, technical professional association with members in over 150 countries.
Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority in technical areas and maintains a consensus-based standards activity. |
| Microsoft - Logo Program | Microsoft offers the Windows Logo Program for Hardware to help customers identify systems that have been tested for compatibility to a baseline definition of platform features and quality goals. |
| National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) | "Insights" develops national standards and its technical experts participate on behalf of the United States in the international standards activities of ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information Technology. NCITS is sponsored by ITI. |
| National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration. Established in 1901, working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards. It carries out this mission through a portfolio of four major programs: Measurements and Standards Laboratories, Advanced Technology Program, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and Baldrige National Quality Award. Maintains links to access information on standards and conformity assessment activities taking place in the public and private sectors. Maintains the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). |
| Object Management Group (OMG) | An open-membership, not-for-profit consortium that produces and maintains computer industry specifications for interoperable enterprise applications. Best-known specifications include CORBA, OMG IDL, IIOP, the OMA, Facilities in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications, and many others, UML, the MOF, and CWM. |
| Open Group | The Open Group was formed in February 1996 through the merger of the X/Open Company Ltd. (founded in 1984) and the Open Software Foundation (OSF) (founded in 1988).Worldwide membership based organization that deliver assurance of conformance to Open Systems Standards through the testing and certification of suppliers' products.
Maintains the Standards Information Database (SIB), a collection of National and International Standards, certain proprietary standards, as well as Open Group Technical Standards that have been scrutinized by and adopted by The Open Group. Also maintains a family of test suites and certification activities to ensure conformance to industry standard APIs and interoperability specifications (e.g., UNIX). |
| RosettaNet | An independent, global, industry consortium formed in 1998 by leading manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and resellers in the IT industry. Dedicated to the adoption, development, and deployment of open and common business electronic interfaces in the IT industry. These standards form a common e-business language, aligning processes between global supply chain partners. |
| Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) | Society of Automotive Engineers is a resource for technical information and expertise used in designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space. IT-related materials address this mobility domain. |
| Sun Java | JavaT related products and specifications (e.g., Enterprise JavaBeans, Java APIs). Establishes the Java Community Process SM Program for participation across many organizations in the proposal, selection, and development of Java APIs. Includes reference implementations and the associated suite of conformance tests. |
| Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) | The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), formed in 1984 as a nonprofit making organization owned by its members, is the prime national trade association for the telecommunications industry in Great Britain. Standards are available from Global Engineering Documents . |
| World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) | A consortium of over 400 member companies that develops technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to promote evolution and interoperability of the Web. Activities relate to Architecture (e.g., HTTP, XML), Technology and Society (e.g., Electronic Commerce, Privacy), User Interface (e.g., DOM, HTML, Television, Voice), and Accessibility (e.g., content guidelines for accessible Web sites, browsers, authoring tools). Has four levels of standardization: working draft, candidate recommendation, proposed recommendation, and recommendation. |