Did you know that you come into contact with standards every day?
Last updated:
9/4/2025
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If you know NBN, you most likely also know what standards are. Maybe you've needed them at work? Or perhaps you've heard colleagues talk about them? But did you know that you come into contact with standards every day? They're embedded in your everyday activities much more than you think.
If you commute to work by train, then you can thank internationally agreed standards for the tracks you travel on. There are agreements on the materials used to lay tracks, how wide those tracks should be, signalling between trains and stations, safety regulations for train equipment, and so on.
Why is this important? Just imagine a train crossing national borders. In a world without standards – where every country had different widths of railroads or every station had different agreements about signalling a train – that would be a recipe for disaster. There's no doubt about it: agreements on how to do things make life easier and also safer. For the rail industry, all these rules, procedures, materials and dimensions were established internationally.
Do you have Wi-Fi at home? Do you use a printer in your home office? What paper do you use for it? With these three examples, we have three more standards that you interact with on a regular, or even daily, basis. Wi-Fi frequencies are aligned across national borders, including between EU countries. The EU directive determines which frequency band should be used for digital wireless communications.
And when you need to print something, you're encountering a standard that has existed since 1922. Do you think of A4 as the standard paper size? For those of us in Europe, A4 is 'normal'. In fact, it's become so common that we sometimes forget that in the United States, people tend to use a different size of paper, the American letter size.
For several years now, there have also been agreements related to the manufacturing of printers and printer components. The goal here is to reduce the impact on the environment. Too many printers, ink cartridges and parts end up on the waste heap because of poor quality and the lack of compatibility. To solve this, there needs to be a focus on making more sustainable printers, with parts that are easier to replace and preferably made with environmentally friendly materials where possible. Increased quality and durability also keep your wallet happy, since you don't have to buy a new printer every year.
At NBN, standards are with us everywhere we go; we work with them every day. They're part of the story we want to convey. Making life easier and guaranteeing quality are two aspects of that story. But standards are also with you everywhere you go, literally.
Some examples: the clothes you wear, the mobile phone in your pocket or bag, and the money in your wallet. Universal clothing sizes emerged from international agreements. And with the rise of technology and the digitalisation of society, the need for universal chargers also came about. As from 28 December 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU must have a USB-C charging port. This too will become 'the standard' again within a few years, and we'll forget that it was ever different.
There are even standards for the mobile networks you surf on. The 4G standard was created by the International Telecommunication Union. This standard describes how 4G works, including what technology is used to transmit data and how fast it goes.
Where does the need for standards actually come from? Here are some few examples will make that very clear.
For starters, consider the production of an Airbus A330. The parts for this aircraft are manufactured in several countries and later assembled in one place, in Toulouse, France. Of course, clear agreements have to be in place for this to be possible. For example, it's essential that all the screws and bolts are the same, that all the material is of the same quality and, last but not least, that the dimensions of every aspect are decided in advance. That way, the company can be confident that the parts fit together properly.
In fact, the standards for screws and bolts were among the first international standards developed by ISO. They not only defined the dimensions of the components, but also the quality of the steel to be used.
Another example, one from the United States, clearly demonstrates the benefits of standardisation: public fire hydrants. When a fire broke out in the American city of Baltimore in 1904, reinforcements were called in from other fire districts. Once they arrived at the scene, the out-of-town firemen realised that their fire hoses couldn't be connected to the local hydrants. A tough lesson, but one that saw many standardisation projects emerge as a result.
Every now and then, stop and think about how often you benefit from standards throughout your day. Standards change and evolve with the times. That's what makes them so interesting.
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