The April 2011 issue of ISO Focus+ – the magazine of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) – presents concrete examples of how ISO International Standards for codes can help save time, space, energy – and money.
Coding systems are among the most frequently used systems for standardization by government, business and the general public at large. Every day, codes are used in millions of operations and items worldwide, in domains that range from financial transactions and freight containers to books and passports. In all cases, these codes save time, space, and energy – which ultimately result in financial savings too.
To draw attention to the important impact of codes, ISO Focus+ is devoting the Special Report of its April 2011 edition to the subject
With the theme of "Success codes", this Special Report is dedicated to the vast amount of work done by ISO codes to make the world simpler for us all. It brings together a portfolio of articles that showcases how ISO standards save time (and therefore money), reduce error rates and establish unambiguous and consistent representations for people, places, or things.
Articles cover an array of topics, from the International Bank Account Number (IBAN), the Business Identifier Code (BIC), International Standard Book Number (ISBN), Vehicle Identification Number (VIC) and the BIC Codes for containers. It also describes the ISO standard for country codes (ISO 3166-1), which is one of the most widely used standards because all national postal organizations throughout the world exchange international mail in containers bearing its country codes for identification.
Karla McKenna, Chair of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 68, comments on the importance of codes for the financial services indsutry: “Consider just one type of transaction – credit card payments – and one financial institution. In 2007, this single card issuer had 20 000 member banks with 1.59 billion cards in circulation generating 59 billion transactions per year, with peaks of more than 6 800 transactions per second.
These credit cards are accepted in 170 countries, and annual transaction volume amounts to USD 4.8 trillion. Without consistent and reliable message exchange, none of this would have been possible.”
The April edition of ISO Focus+ also features an exclusive interview with the CEO of NTUC FairPrice Seah Kian Peng, who says, “As a trusted supermarket retailer in Singapore serving our customers for more than 30 years, maintaining high quality standards and adopting best international practices are integral to FairPrice’s promise to deliver quality products at best value and service to our customers. From an operational standpoint, standardization translates into higher efficiency, process and product consistency and improved productivity."
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Social Accountability 8000 has been developed by Social Accountability International (SAI). SAI is a non-profit affiliate of the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP). SA8000 is a global standardized code of conduct with a goal of improving working conditions around the world.