World Standards Day (or International Standards Day) is celebrated internationally each year on 14 October. The day honors the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry, and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy.
14 October was specifically chosen to mark the date, in 1946, when delegates from 25 countries first gathered in London and decided to create an international organization focused on facilitating standardization. Even though ISO was formed one year later, it wasn’t until 1970 that the first World Standards Day was celebrated.
Around the globe, various activities are chosen by national bodies to commemorate the date. The United States held a 2014 U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day on 23 October 2014. The Standards Council of Canada (SCC), Canada’s national accreditation body, celebrates World Standards Day together with the international community by observing the day near the dates of the international observance. In 2012 SCC celebrated World Standards Day on Friday, 12 October.
Video is the modern medium of expression. Advances in technology have changed our world, revolutionizing entertainment, connecting friends and families across the globe, enriching our communications experiences and enabling major improvements in medical care and education.
The innovation of recent decades has driven a huge leap forward in video quality. And the video has also become more accessible, helping people worldwide to share their stories in vivid, moving pictures. These gains in both the sophistication and accessibility of video are built on International Standards.
The video compression algorithms standardized in collaboration by IEC, ISO and ITU have been honored with two Primetime Emmy Awards, recognizing that these standards are central to the industry’s ability to meet the rising demand for video, one of the most bandwidth-intensive applications running over global networks.
International Standards meet industry demand for powerful compression capabilities. They also enable smooth transitions to the next generation of video compression technology, helping the industry to maximize return on each wave of investment.
Having standards recognized and respected all over the world means that video encoded on one device can be decoded by another, regardless of the device being used. This introduces economies of scale that help to grow the market, giving innovators the confidence to invest in new video applications and services.
