October 14: World Standards Day

The World Standards Day is observed every year on 14 October across the globe to mark the development of voluntary engineering and scientific standards. The theme for year 2017 is “Standards make cities smarter”

Significance of the day

Observance of the day honours contributions of all those who have developed technical agreements that are published as international standards. It also seeks to raise awareness regarding significance of standardization in global economy, among regulators, industry and consumers.
This day is mainly celebrated by members of organisations like ISO (International Organisation for Standardization), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ITU (International Teleommunication Union) and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

Background

The first World Standards Day was celebrated on 14 October, 1970. On this day in 1946, representatives from 25 countries gathered in London for first time with the aim of creating an international organization solely focused on facilitating standardization. The ISO was formed a year later in 1947.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2017