OVERVIEW

Chaos reigns in a world without common standards. For example, in a world with several time systems, some for which a day no longer had 24 hours and could vary from 15 to 27 hours, human activities could not be coordinated. In such a world, people would struggle to answer even the simple question of “what time is it?” as the necessary common understanding would be missing.

Given the importance of standards, a number of international organizations have been established to manage issues of standardization including the International Standardization Organization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), CODEX Alimentarius Commission (CAC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and many others. The need for standards increases as the world economy enters a era of increased globalization marking the dawn of the free trade era.