Nano-objects maybe the smallest useful objects around, but they have a big presence—and every day that presence, in the form of nanotechnology, seems to be getting bigger. Nanotechnology in its varied forms is expected to be a prime economic driver in this century. It has many applications and even more benefits: new materials that are…

It was a long time coming, but with cosmetics companies going hard for the hearts, minds, and complexion of not just women the world over, but also men, it was just a matter of time. And now it’s finally here: an ISO standard for cosmetics. Specifically, an ISO standard to help evaluate the antimicrobial properties…

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is evolving. Already hefting a portmanteau of over 19,100 international standards covering nearly everything from cookstoves to computer networks, ISO is diversifying its portfolio some more with the addition of seven new areas for standards development. These are biomimetics, carbon capture and storage, coalbed methane, facilities management, fireworks, railway…

Given that there are hundreds of millions of open fires and traditional cookstoves lit every day around the world and that millions of injuries and deaths are caused by them annually, it’s no surprise that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has come up with a document to help solve the problem. The new document,…

Given that out of ISO’s 19100-plus international standards over 550 directly concern water (from management of wastewater systems to water supply during crisis situations), speaks volumes about the importance of the resource to the public and to industry. Now, water will again be on center stage at a workshop in Kobe, Japan—and ISO will be…

Where’s the fire? The question, sans the cynicism, has gotten a makeover from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) with its release of a new standard for fire prevention and mitigation. The new ISO standard, ISO 16732-1 (Fire safety engineering – Fire risk assessment – Part 1: General), is intended for fire-safety practitioners to help…

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has done something special—it has compiled on a CD the entire ISO 14000 family of environmental management standards, throwing in for good measure a collection of publications related to sustainability. For many countries ISO 14000—and especially the environmental management framework ISO 14001 (a member of the ISO 14000 family)…

How to manage a mega event like the 2012 Summer Olympics that easily involves thousands of personnel to coordinate and dozens of venues to manage? The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has an answer: ISO 20121:2012 (Event sustainability management systems – Requirements with guidance for use), a newly released standard to support the organizers of…

With the environment increasingly getting traction in both public awareness and industry agenda, it’s no surprise that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published yet another ISO standard that gives the beleaguered environment a leg up. This time it is to help the construction industry better manage the environmental effects of its most-used and…

Probably next to information management in popularity as far as the global community is concerned is the management of the environment. Thanks to the newfound relevance of global warming and the resurgent green movement, the environment is no longer a fringe pet concept but is now a mainstream concern that has been recognized to have…

The way the enterprise world today works has come down to just one, but global, concern: the management of information. A critical component of that is the security of all that information. ISO 27001 officially bears the designation “ISO/IEC 27001:2005,” an international management-system framework issued in 2005 by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), the…

Given a backdrop of fake products totaling over US$500 billion a year and driven by the question “How do consumers know what they are getting?” the ISO Committee on consumer policy (ISO/COPOLCO) ran a workshop on May 15, 2012 in Nadi, Fiji in hopes of finding a solution via new ISO standards. The workshop, hosted…

Good news for the modern financial-services manager. ISO has announced the release of a new standard for the financial services industry that introduces a universally acceptable way to accurately and unambiguously identify parties engaged in financial transactions. ISO 17442:2012 (Financial services – Legal Entity Identifier [LEI]) is designed to address the analysis and data-collection requirements…

Good news for traders and international business. ISO recently announced the publication of a new standard and a technical specification to enhance confidence between partners in B2B transactions, and to support trade regulations. The twin releases exemplify the pervasiveness of and near-universal need today for standards, but especially for ISO standards and the training associated…

How can signage be conveyed to the blind or the visually impaired and how can the solutions be uniformly manufactured from one country to the next? The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has addressed these issues by publishing a standard that provides the specifications for tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) and the recommendations for their…