ACRONYM

FULL TERM

ANS

American National Standard

The equivalent of an international standard that has been adopted within the United States. (One standard can be both.)

ANSI

American National Standards Institute

Oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector. ANSI is also actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards – including globally recognized cross-sector programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems.

AO

Accredited Organization

Organizations that are accredited by ANSI to develop standards and guidelines – following procedures that ensure openness, balance, and equity.

ASC

Accredited Standards Committee

Another term for organizations accredited by ANSI to develop standards and guidelines – following procedures that ensure openness, balance, and equity.

ASQ

American Society for Quality

The world’s largest member organization devoted to quality. (In other words, us!)

BSR

Board of Standards Review

The ANSI board that reviews standards and related ballots submitted to ANSI for approval as an American National Standard (ANS).

CAG

Chairman’s Advisory Group

This group identifies issues, holds preliminary discussions on how to address them, and through the Chair of a specific Technical Committee (TC), makes recommendations to the whole committee.

CD

Committee Draft

An early step toward the development of a new standard: After a committee has created a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) and a Working Draft (WD), a Committee Draft (CD) is available and distributed to all committee members (Participating, Observer, and Liaison members) for comments and for voting (only Participating members can vote). Once consensus has been attained, the text is finalized for submission as a Draft International Standard (DIS).

CDV

Committee Draft for Vote

When the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) drafts an international standard., the draft is called a CDV. It's the equivalent of a Draft International Standard (DIS) drafted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

DIS

Draft International Standard

After the Committee Draft has been approved, the Draft International Standard (DIS) is circulated to all member bodies for voting and comment for a period of five months. At the DIS stage, the document becomes publicly available (although it is not free of charge) and can be used for normative purposes.

DTA

Deputy Technical Advisor

Within the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), this is the title of the vice chair of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG).

EMS

Environmental Management System

This is a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency.

FDIS

Final Draft International Standard

The Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) is submitted to ISO for circulation to all ISO member bodies for a final two-month Yes/No vote. After approval, the document becomes an International Standard (IS).

IEC

International Electrotechnical Commission

The world's leading organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for electrical, electronic, and related technologies (electrotechnologies).

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

ISO is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. It's a network of the national standards institutes of 157 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

By the way, "ISO" is not an acronym – it stems from the Greek word "isos," meaning "equal."

NWIP

New Work Item Proposal

Part of the development of an International Standard is to confirm that a particular International Standard is needed. A new work item proposal (NWIP) is submitted for vote by the members of the relevant Technical Committee (TC) or Subcommittee (SC) to determine if the work item should be included in the group's work program.

PINS

Project Initiation Notification System

When an accredited standards developer begins work on a new standard, this new activity is formally announced to ANSI using this system.

PL

Project Leader

ISO standards are first drafted by a Working Group (WG), which is a small sub-group of content experts. The Project Leader is responsible for the duties of the WG.

QA

Quality Assurance

QA is the activity of providing evidence needed to establish quality principles in work, assuring the activities are performed effectively.

QM

Quality Management

QM is all activities of the overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities of an organization, and facilitate implementation by such means as quality control and quality improvements within a quality system.

SC

Subcommittee

A smaller group within a Technical Committee (TC). The scope of a subcommittee is defined by the parent TC and is related to the defined scope of the parent TC.

SDO

Standards Developing Organization

An organization accredited by ANSI to develop either international or national standards.

SGC

Standards Group Council

The SGC is a council comprised of the chairs of each of the standards committees administered by ASQ.

SPC

Strategic Planning Committee

Under the direction of the chair and vice chair of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176, the SPC charts the future direction of the TAG and deals with strategic TAG issues. This standing committee consists of the TAG Chair, TAG Vice Chairs, TAG Secretary, the ASQ Administrator, two to four TAG participating members, and at the discretion of the TAG Chair, liaison members from related organizations (such as the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 207).

SMB

Standardization Management Board (IEC)

The Standardization Management Board (SMB) is responsible for the management of the IEC’s standards work, including the creation, dissolution, and scopes of the IEC technical committees , the timeliness of standards production, and liaisons with other international organizations. The SMB is a decision-making body and includes a chairman, the IEC General Secretary and 15 members (and alternates) elected by council. It reports all its decisions to the Council Board and to all national committees.

SR

Social Responsibility

ASQ believes that being "socially responsible" means that people and organizations must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organizations and governments have a positive impact on development, business and society with a positive contribution to bottom-line results.

ISO is currently developing the first international standard on SR (ISO 26000) – Learn more.

TA

Technical Advisor

Term used in IEC TAGs, equivalent to Chair

TAG

Technical Advisory Group

In the U.S., each ISO/TC has a national equivalent, known as a TAG. The TAG is comprised of the U.S. experts who offer input to the ISO/TC.

TC

Technical Committee

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the specialized international agency for standardization. Its members are the national standards bodies of more than 150 countries. ISO is made up of approximately 180 Technical Committees. Each Technical Committee (TC) is responsible for a specialized topic.

TG

Task Group

TGs within a U.S. TAG are chartered by the TAG chair to complete a specific assignment or task. Task Group experts often are, but need not be, members of the TAG or the ANSI ASC Z1 Committee. Upon completion of the task, the Task Group is dissolved.

TGC

Task Group Coordinator

TGCs have overall responsibility for leading and managing the completion of a specific task. For TAG-related responsibilities, this typically includes leading and managing U.S. participation in the development of an international standard.

TMB

Technical Management Board (ISO)

ISO’s technical work is carried out under the overall management of the TMB. The TMB reports to the ISO Council and its role is defined in the statutes of the organization.

Specifically, the TMB is responsible for tasks such as setting up the various technical committees (TCs), appointing TC chairs, and monitoring the progress of the technical work. It's also responsible for the Directives, which are essentially the rules for the development of International Standards, and it deals with all matters of strategic planning, coordination, performance, and monitoring of technical committee activities.

WD

Working Draft

At this stage, a project leader (PL) is responsible for the new work item (NWI). The working draft is usually prepared in a WG of experts under the leadership of a convener and a project leader (PL). The convener is responsible for convening the WG. The PL is responsible for driving the deliverable: that is, ensuring the draft is completed.

Successive working drafts may be considered until the WG is satisfied that it has developed the best technical solution to the problem being addressed. This is the consensus-building phase among experts.

Once consensus has been attained, the text is finalized for submission to the WG's TC/SC as a Committee draft (CD).

WG

Working Group (international usage)
Writing Group (national committee usage)

A working draft (WD) is usually prepared in a WG of experts under the leadership of a convener and a project leader (PL).