What are standards?

A standard is an agreed way of doing something so that manufacturers and providers know what requirements need to be met, and consumers can be reassured what to expect.

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Some standards focus on safety. Say that you want to buy your child a cycle helmet. Besides a good fit and fancy colours, you will certainly look out for a label confirming the helmet’s protective features that have been thoroughly tested by an accredited institute.

Other standards focus on collaboration. They are all around in everyday life, often without us giving it any thought. One of the earliest standards ever defined covers the width of railway tracks. If these were different from country to country, we wouldn’t be travelling far!

More recent standards define how we can exchange data in smooth, structured and secure ways. Data standards establish how information is organised in a uniform way so that it can be understood by different ICT systems.

Bank card payments

We all use our bank card to pay for purchases, be it in the grocery shop around the corner or online. In a flick of time, the payment terminal understands your request, checks with your bank if you have enough provision in your bank account to validate your payment request and to transfer the correct sum to the shop owner’s account.

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