Standardization in Computers and Information Processing
Chuck Phillips, R. E. Utman · afips · 1899
The data processing standardization program is a comparatively new effort since it had its genesis in an action by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in late 1959. On a recommendation from Sweden, ISO decided there was a need for a standards program in connection with computers and information processing. It seems rather remarkable that the need for a standards program was recognized so early in the state of an art whose principal tool, the electronic computer, is only fifteen years old this year. Before getting into the specifics of this program, let us first consider very briefly, standardization as a process, and its affect upon our lives. The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes standardization as a continuing process to establish measurable or recognizable degrees of uniformity, accuracy or excellence, or an state in that process. It goes on to point out that man's accomplishments in this direction pale into insignificance when compared with standards in nature, which we would be unable to recognize and classify within a species, the many kinds of plants, fishes, birds or animals. Without such standardization in the human body, physicians would not know whether an individual possessed certain organs, where to look for them, or how to diagnose or treat disease. To further quote the Encyclopaedia without nature's standards there could be no organized society, no education and no physicians; each depends upon underlying comparable similarities. Although we are inclined to think of man-made standards as relating principally to such things as weights and measures, money, energy, power or other material commodities, you will also find standards in social customs, in codes, procedures, specifications and time--to name a few. Standardization is important to geography, photography, chemistry, pharmacy, safety, education, games, sports, music, ethics and religion. The profession of accounting, for example, is largely dependent upon standards--which are generally referred to as accepted practice.