Wikifikation and networking since 1906
At the beginning of electricity, nearly 200 years ago, scientists and engineers struggled with chaos as they tried to collaborate on emerging discoveries in the electrical industry. By 1900 the term “horsepower” had been replaced with “kilowatt”, but many other definitions had yet to be agreed upon. The lack of commonly accepted standards for units, measurements and terminology had become a worldwide problem. The development of lamps, fittings and reliable cables required repetitive production and simplified designs. Standards were needed to define agreed ratings and recognized performance criteria to provide guarantees, allow for competition and make electrical products safe and accessible to a broader public.
In June of 1906 a visionary group of people met in London to create a single international authority for electrotechnical standards, the IEC.

Bringing order to chaos
Without standards, product development would be chaotic and dangerous (not to mention a dangerously more expensive) guessing game.
Without standards, reinvention can masquerade as innovation. Reinventing the wheel wastes time and money. It actually slows down innovation, inhibits market development, and limits competition.
Companies can only compete globally if their products operate consistently, safely and predictably from one market to the next.
By serving as the facilitator and platform for thousands of standard-setting discussions, IEC helps bring order out of chaos.
Much like in social networks and wikis today, the IEC has always promoted collaboration. It does so by providing a platform where thousands of experts from industry, academia, and governments discuss their needs and come up with solutions that are valid globally. Contrary to standards that are created solely by an interest group, all IEC International Standards are fully consensus based. That means that no matter which country participants are from, or how small or big their organization, each voice counts equally.
Today, 160 developed and developing countries participate in the IEC.

What does the IEC do?
Think plugs, batteries, hair dryers, your beloved computer, toasters, ovens, cars, mobile phones, toys, TVs, cables, transformers, trains, ships, planes, dams, all alternative and traditional energy, grandma’s hearing aid… millions of products and systems that use or produce electricity are built on IEC International Standards.
Standards ensure that products work safely together and as intended. Because of them you can buy an adaptor in Italy and be certain that it will not blow up your computer back home.

Risk management for innovators
Innovation that ignores standards invites problems – expensive, stupid, avoidable problems – that undermine interoperability and threaten return on investment. Only the marketplace can prove whether an innovation will be profitable, but innovating based on industry standards at least assures a company that its new product will be safe to manufacture and use, and will work with existing related products.

Standards help developing countries
Industrializing countries that adopt standards and carry out conformity assessment make sure low-quality products don’t enter their markets. They gain access to technology transfer and create themselves prospective openings for export.

Standards counter climate change
Without standards, many renewable energy technologies would remain stand-alone and small, totally isolated from Smart Grids that are able to accommodate them. Through standards electric cars will be able to plug in anywhere. Regulators build laws based on IEC efficiency and safety standards. IEC environmental standards regulate the use of chemicals and heavy metals in electrotechnical production and facilitate recycling and waste management.

The IEC is here to make electrotechnology work for you, today and tomorrow.

Vint Cerf, Father of the Internet, talks on electrical energy efficiency.