ISO has set an ambitious goal to see international standards used everywhere. To realize this goal, we must work to demonstrate the benefits that international standards bring. ISO’s research activities aim to understand and communicate how standards support economic growth, social progress and environmental sustainability.
Despite the widespread use of standards, they often remain hidden, working modestly behind the scenes to underpin the technology and services that we rely on. Sometimes the contribution made by standards can be hard to explain or quantify. ISO promotes and conducts research so we can better understand the impacts of standards and how to maximize their benefits. From the results of this research, we produce materials to help communicate key findings to businesses, learning institutions and the wider public. Our goal is not only to foster a better understanding of the advantages that standards bring to both organizations and society, but also to build interest in taking part in international standardization. To find out more, hear from businesses and browse ISO case studies that clearly show the benefits that standards can bring.

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ISO Research Grant 2023
We are thrilled to announce the opening of the 2023 edition of the ISO Research Grant! You can find all the relevant details in the ISO Research Grant 2023 call for proposals [pdf].
This year’s focus is on “Standards and emerging technologies: risks, opportunities and governance challenges.”
Following the publication of the ISO Foresight Report 2022, ISO identified technological advances as having major repercussions for standardization, from the need for new standards to support the development and commercialization of emerging technologies, to the potential for standards to support the good governance of these technologies. For the Research Grant 2023, ISO would like to further investigate the role standards can play in technology governance in order to optimize societal benefits at the technological frontier.
To apply for the ISO Research Grant, send your letter of motivation, CV and research proposal by email to research@iso.org before the deadline on Friday 16 June 2023, 23:59 (CEST).
Read more about global trends and how these link to ISO’s work in the ISO Trend Report 2022. What impact could these trends have on International Standardization? What future opportunities do they hold?
Part of the ISO Strategy 2030 involves ISO examining external drivers of change and evaluating their impact on our organization. Using foresight tools and methodologies, ISO is following global trends, analyzing their links to existing ISO work, and asking what their implications for standardization could be. Our ultimate aim is to better understand the context in which we operate, so that ISO can effectively meet emerging market needs and help to shape a more sustainable future.
Access the ISO Research Library for research about standards. ISO has compiled research from academia, international organizations and ISO Members and more. The ISO Research Library contains a growing collection of publications about standards, standards development and the impacts of standardization. The library is designed to support the work of ISO members, researchers and others with an interest in standards. You can browse the collection using the search fields, or, if you are looking for something specific, try the keyword search.

La Méthodologie ISO peut être utilisée pour mesurer les avantages économiques des normes.
Ce document d’orientation est destiné aux organismes de normalisation du monde entier qui souhaitent évaluer l’impact économique des normes sur leur économie locale. Il fournit à ces organismes des informations détaillées sur une méthodologie qui a fait ses preuves pour divers organismes nationaux de …
Cette étude, qui s’appuie sur la recherche universitaire et des études de cas, examine la relation complexe entre les normes et l’innovation. Elle propose une synthèse de l’état de la recherche dans ce domaine et évalue les implications de cette interdépendance sur les plans théorique et pratique. Cette …
Nombre d’entre nous sont convaincus de l’impact positif des normes sur la société, mais face à une large gamme de normes et de documents normatifs abordant une multitude de sujets, comment mesurer cet effet ? Les membres de l’ISO du monde entier ont étudié cette question de manière approfondie et se …
Le lien entre les normes et le commerce est un sujet d’un grand intérêt pour la communauté de la normalisation. Ce rapport de synthèse présente une sélection d’études représentatives sur l’incidence des normes sur le commerce dans une multitude de contextes.