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.