ISO has begun the development of ISO 21500, an international standard on project management.

BSI British Standards recently hosted the inaugural meeting in London of the new project committee, ISO/PC 236, Project management, established to develop ISO 21500. Over 50 delegates from around the world attended to begin work on the international standard, which is intended to provide generic guidance, explaining the core principles and what constitutes good practice in project management.

ISO 21500 will build on existing standards and work at the national level. It is intended to be applicable to organizations of all sizes and sectors and will be designed for relative newcomers to project management, or as an aide-mémoire for more experienced practitioners.

So far, delegations of experts selected by the national standards institutes of 20 countries are participating in the work, with another three countries having observer status.

ISO/PC 236 includes three working groups, respectively addressing terminology, processes and informative guidance.

The secretariat of ISO/PC 236 is held by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and it is chaired by Dr. Jim Gordon, of the United Kingdom, who commented: “The development of an international standard will be welcomed by many countries and will have broad relevance to projects in many industries and the public sector."

all news »