ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialised system for worldwide standardisation.  National Bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organisation to deal with particular fields of technical activity.  ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest.  Other international organisations, governmental and non-governmental in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.

Information technology standardisation has some unique requirements as a consequence of the pace of innovation.  Therefore, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information Technology.  ISO/IEC JTC 1 has accordingly developed and maintains its own procedures, as well as collaborating with the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU‑T) in the maintenance of a guide to collaboration between ISO/IEC JTC 1 and ITU‑T and rules for the drafting and presentation of common ISO/IEC/ITU‑T texts.

In view of the dynamic nature of IT standardisation, as part of the process of maintenance of its procedures, ISO/IEC JTC 1 develops Supplements to the Procedures for the technical work of ISO/IEC JTC 1 on Information Technology.  Such Supplements are published by ISO/IEC and are available from the ISO/IEC Information Technology Task Force (ITTF).  Such Supplements may be incorporated into subsequent editions of the Procedures for the technical work of ISO/IEC JTC 1 on Information Technology.