Importance

In modern society, the application of standards provides for transparency and compatibility of the results of work at individual stages of development of a product or service, and their route to the user.

In the contemporary world, standards are indispensable in the rationalization of production and services, as they eliminate many unnecessary barrier to trade. In standards, one can find technical specifications and other precise criteria that are often used as rules, instructions, test procedures or definitions, and as currently established state of the art, they provide the basis for new development.

The development stages of a standardization document

The development stages of a standardization document as illustrated in the figure below start with an idea or initiative. This first step may be triggered by any part of the interested public, or even by an individual.

All subsequent development stages are performed within the standardization organization, while the remarks of the rest of the public to the document are addressed in a public inquiry procedure.

Standardization work is carried out at several levels, with the national level, which is represented and coordinated by SIST, being combined and complemented by that of the European organizations (CEN, CENELEC, ETSI) in the case of European standards, and the international organizations (ISO, IEC, ITU) when preparing International Standards.