If you are sitting on a chair reading this, you might want to take a moment and thank a 58-year old organization located in Switzerland.

Why?  The primary reason your chair does not fall apart is because that organization, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), developed standards for screw threads. It did the same thing for thousands of other “widgets” that keep our world glued together. If you go to France and insert your debit card into an ATM machine, it will work because ISO standards specify the size and thickness of the cards we use for financial transactions.

ISO standards also pave the way for progress.  The rapid growth in technology that is profoundly changing the way we work, live and play is possible because ISO standards determine such things as the digital coding of audio-visual signals.

Thanks to standardization, consumers from Saginaw to Shanghai have the confidence that the products they buy will meet their needs.