Overview
ISO/IEC Guide 75:2006 - Strategic principles for future IEC and ISO standardization in industrial automation provides high‑level, market‑driven principles for how IEC and ISO technical committees should approach standardization in the industrial automation sector. The Guide is forward‑looking (“future … standardization”) and addresses how standards development should adapt to globalization, rapid IT diffusion, system‑level integration, and changing market and regulatory relationships.
Key topics
- Standards segmentation - Proposes categorizing standards by purpose (safety/compatibility, interoperability, performance, best practices), actors (government vs supply‑chain) and technology dynamics (fast‑changing IT vs mature technologies). This leads to four functional segments to guide choice of standard type and process.
- System vs product orientation - Recommends moving from component/product‑centric standards toward system‑oriented standards that enable plug‑and‑play, reuse (object‑style libraries) and integrated system dependability.
- Pace and timeliness - Highlights that standards with significant IT content (Segment 2) risk obsolescence if developed too slowly; recommends faster, more agile publication routes and functional segmentation to reduce vulnerability to rapid tech change.
- Consensus and governance - Discusses limits of the traditional consensus method for purely industry‑driven areas, while emphasizing that public safety standards must retain broad consensus and public‑sector involvement.
- Safety isolation - Advises separating safety requirements into dedicated safety standards so industry‑driven innovation standards can evolve more quickly while safety remains consensus‑based.
- Product portfolio of IEC/ISO outputs - Encourages appropriate use of the full range of IEC/ISO deliverables (International Standards, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications, Industry Technical Agreements, etc.) to match segmented needs.
- Conformity assessment - Addresses conformity assessment and marking (Clause 10) and the role of Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) versus certification for market access.
Applications and users
ISO/IEC Guide 75 is intended for:
- IEC/ISO technical committees and subcommittees developing automation standards
- Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and national committees aligning work programmes
- Manufacturers, vendors, integrators and system architects planning product interoperability and lifecycle strategies
- Regulators and conformity assessment bodies considering how to reference industry standards without unintended regulatory capture
- SMEs and end‑users seeking clarity on which types of documents (IS, TS, PAS) meet their needs
Practical uses include designing standards roadmaps, choosing the right standard type for fast‑moving technologies, separating safety requirements, and structuring conformity assessment approaches.
Related standards
Guide 75 complements IEC and ISO processes and products (IS, TS, PAS, ITA, IWA) and is intended to inform committee strategies rather than specify technical requirements. It should be read alongside existing IEC/ISO Directives and sector‑specific automation standards when planning new work.