ARCHIVED: What is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and where can I find more information about it?

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The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) was founded in 1906 and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its function is to coordinate, design, and publish international standards in fields related to electronics, including telecommunications. The electrotechnical standards organizations of each participating country make up its membership, with ANSI representing the United States. For more, visit the IEC web site.

To develop standards for each industry, the IEC forms technical committees and subcommittees. A prominent technical committee is JTC1, the Joint Technical Committee for Information Technology. A joint effort between ISO and the IEC, JTC1 is responsible for codifying standards for many computer-related fields. For more, visit the JTC1 web site.