The International Electrotechnical Commission[1] (IEC) is a non-profit A non-profit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Examples of NPOs include charities (i.e. charitable organizations), trade unions, and public arts organizations. Most governments and government agencies meet this definition, but in, non-governmental international standards organization A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise maintaining standards that address the interests of a wide base of users outside the standards development organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology". IEC standards cover a vast range of technologies from power generation, transmission and distribution to home appliances and office equipment, semiconductors, fibre optics, batteries, solar energy, nanotechnology and marine energy as well as many others. The IEC also manages three global conformity assessment systems that certify whether equipment, system or components conform to its International Standards.
The IEC charter embraces all electrotechnologies including energy production and distribution, electronics, magnetics and electromagnetics, electroacoustics, multimedia and telecommunication, as well as associated general disciplines such as terminology and symbols, electromagnetic compatibility (by its Advisory Committee on Electromagnetic Compatibility, ACEC), measurement and performance, dependability, design and development, safety and the environment.
History
The IEC held its inaugural meeting on 26 June 1906, following discussions between the British IEE The Institution of Electrical Engineers or IEE was a British professional organisation for electronics, electrical, manufacturing and IT professionals. In 2006 it merged with the IIE to form the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). The IEE was founded in 1871 as the Society of Telegraph Engineers and was Incorporated by Royal Charter, the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world, with more than 395,000 members in around 150 countries (then called AIEE The American Institute of Electrical Engineers was a United States based organization of electrical engineers that existed between 1884 and 1963, when it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)), and others, which began at the 1900 Paris International Electrical Congress, and continued with Colonel R. E. B. Crompton playing a key role. It currently counts more than 130 countries. Sixty-seven of these are members, while another 69 participate in the Affiliate Country Programme, which is not a form of membership but is designed to help industrializing countries get involved with the IEC. Originally located in London London is a leading global city, the world's largest financial centre alongside New York, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence and strengths in the arts, education, entertainment, fashion, finance,, the commission moved to its current headquarters in Geneva Geneva (Arpitan: Genèva, IPA: [ˈd͡zənɛva]; French: Genève, IPA: [ʒənɛv]; German: Genf, IPA: [ˈɡɛnf] ; Italian: Ginevra; Romansh: Genevra) is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva ( in 1948. It now has regional centres in Asia-Pacific (Singapore), Latin America (São Paulo, Brazil) and North America (Boston, United States).
Today, the IEC is the world's leading international organization in its field, and its standards are adopted as national standards by its members. The work is done by some 10 000 electrical and electronics experts from industry, government, academia, test labs and others with an interest in the subject.
The IEC was instrumental in developing and distributing standards for units of measurement, particularly the gauss, hertz The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications, and weber. They also first proposed a system of standards, the Giorgi System Giovanni Giorgi was an electrical engineer who invented the Giorgi system of measurement, the precursor to the International System (SI), which ultimately became the SI The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. It is the world's most widely used system of measurement, both in everyday commerce and in science, or Système International d’unités (in English, the International System of Units).
In 1938, it published a multilingual international vocabulary to unify electrical terminology. This effort continues, and the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary remains an important work in the electrical and electronic industries.
The CISPR CISPR, the Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques, translates from the French as the Special international committee on radio interference. It was founded in 1934 to set standards for controlling electromagnetic interference in electrical and electronic devices, and is a part of the International Electrotechnical (Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques) – in English, the International Special Committee on Radio Interference – is one of the groups founded by the IEC.
IEC standards
See also:
List of IEC standards To distinguish standards published by the International Electrotechnical Commission numerically from other international standards, their number range was shifted in 1997 by adding 60000. So what used to be called IEC 27 is now officially IEC 60027, and so on. However, the old numbers remain commonly used. The 60000 series of standards are also
IEC standards have numbers in the range 60000–79999 and their titles take a form such as IEC 60417: Graphical symbols for use on equipment. The numbers of older IEC standards were converted in 1997 by adding 60000, for example IEC 27 became IEC 60027.
The IEC cooperates closely with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO (pronounced /ˈaɪsoʊ/ EYE-soe), is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on 23 February 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial standards. It has and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) The International Telecommunication Union is the eldest organization in the UN family still in existence. It was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris on 17 May 1865 and is today the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector. In addition, it works with several major standards development organizations, including the IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world, with more than 395,000 members in around 150 countries with which it signed a cooperation agreement in 2002, which was amended in 2008 to include joint development work.
Standards developed jointly with ISO such as ISO/IEC 26300, Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) v1.0 carry the acronym of both organizations. The use of the ISO/IEC prefix covers publications from ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology, as well as conformity assessment standards developed by ISO CASCO. Other standards developed in cooperation between IEC and ISO are assigned numbers in the 80000 series, such as IEC 82045-1.
Membership and participation
The IEC is made up of members, called national committees, and each NC represents its nation's electrotechnical interests in the IEC. This includes manufacturers, providers, distributors and vendors, consumers and users, all levels of governmental agencies, professional societies and trade associations as well as standards developers from national standards bodies. National committees are constituted in different ways. Some NCs are public sector only, some are a combination of public and private sector, and some are private sector only. About 90% of those who prepare IEC standards work in industry.
IEC Member countries include:
- Algeria
- Argentina The Argentine claims in Antarctica along with the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands (administered by the United Kingdom) shown in light green - Instituto Argentino de Normalización y Certificación The Argentine Normalization and Certification Institute is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) member body for Argentina (IRAM)
- Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177- Standards Australia Standards Australia was established in 1922 and is recognised through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian government as the peak non-government standards development body in Australia. It is a company limited by guarantee, with 72 members representing groups interested in the development and application of standards and related
- Austria Austria /ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/ (German: Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and - Österreichischer Verband für Elektrotechnik (ÖVE)
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Brazil Brazil (pronounced /brəˈzɪl/ ; Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is the only Portuguese-speaking - Comitê Brasileiro de Eletricidade, Eletrônica, Iluminação e Telecomunicações (Cobei)
- Bulgaria
- Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three - Standards Council of Canada The Standards Council of Canada is a federal Crown corporation with the mandate to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the Standards Council has a 15-member governing Council and a staff of approximately 90. The organization reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry and oversees
- Colombia
- China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity - Standardization Administration of China The Standardization Administration of China is the Standards organization authorized by the State Council of China to exercise administrative responsibilities by undertaking unified management, supervision and overall coordination of standardization work in China. The SAC represents China within the International Organization for Standardization ( (SAC)
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Finland
- France France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th - Union technique de l'électricité et de la communication (UTE)
- Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, - Deutsche Kommission Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik im DIN und VDE (DKE)
- Greece
- Hungary
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- Iceland - Icelandic Standards (IST)
- India Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam - Bureau of Indian Standards The Bureau of Indian Standards is the national standards organisation of India under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It was founded on April 1, 1987, replacing the Indian Standards Institute (BIS)
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine - Comitato Elettrotecnico Italiano (CEI)
- Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is - Japanese Industrial Standards Committee
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Latvia
- Libya
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Pakistan (TRACKS ENTERTAINMENT) Cable Network
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a state in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, - Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rostekhregulirovaniye Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology is the name of the Russian government agency that serves as a national standardization body of the Russian Federation. Previously it was named Gosstandart of Russia)
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- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia Slovenia /sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija] (help·info)), is a country in Central Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy on the west, the Adriatic Sea on the southwest, Croatia on the south and east, Hungary on
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK, Korean: 대한민국, pronounced [tɛːhanminɡuk̚] ) and sometimes referred to simply as Korea, is a state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its - Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS)
- South Africa Coordinates: 29°02′46″S 25°03′47″E / 29.046°S 25.063°E The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent - South African Bureau of Standards The South African Bureau of Standards is the national standards body of South Africa, publishing South African National Standards (SANS). It supplies standards through Standards SA (SABS)
- Spain Spain (pronounced /ˈspeɪn/ spayn; Spanish: España, pronounced [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.[note 6] Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for - Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación (AENOR Countries in International Organization for Standardization is a list and map of the 163 members in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and their membership status within the organization)
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden Sweden (pronounced /ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən, Swedish: Sverige pronounced [ˈsveːrijə] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and water borders with - Swedish Electrical Standard(SEK)
- Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to - Swiss Electrotechnical Committee (CES)
- Thailand
- The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land - British Electrotechnical Committee (BEC), part of the British Standards Institution (BSI)
- United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language - American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute or ANSI [citation needed] is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American (ANSI) (USNC/IEC); NEMA also helps to develop and promote IEC standards [2]
- Vietnam Vietnam (pronounced /ˌviː.ɛtˈnɑːm/ VEE-et-NAHM; Vietnamese: Việt Nam, listen ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam, listen (help·info)), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China (PRC) to the - Vietnamese National Committee Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ)
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In 2001 and in response to calls from the WTO to open itself to more developing nations, the IEC launched the Affiliate Country Programme to encourage developing nations to become involved in the Commission's work and/or to use its International Standards. Countries signing a pledge to participate in the work and to encourage the use of IEC Standards in national standards and regulations are granted access to a limited number of technical committee documents for the purposes of commenting. In addition, they can select a limited number of IEC Standards for their national standards' library. Countries participating in the Affiliate Country Programme include:
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Armenia
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brunei Darussalam
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Congo (Democratic Rep. of)
- Costa Rica
- Cote D'Ivoire
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
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- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lao Pdr
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Mozambique
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- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Rwanda
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Sudan
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Zambia
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See also
References
- ^ "IEC Statutes and Rules of Procedure" (PDF). IEC. 2006-06-23. pp. 30. http://www.iec.ch/tiss/iec/stat-2001e.pdf.
- ^ "The IEC and NEMA", nema.org, accessed 2009-04-12
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