BSI Education

Key references

Key references to recent documents for students at diploma, further education and higher education levels, and anyone researching BSI (British Standards Institution), standards and standardization in the UK. The references are grouped into topics with brief notes.

BSI Group

The BSI Group is global, employing more than 2,200 people and operates in over 110 countries worldwide. BSI is the largest and was the first NSB in the world and has three operating divisions. Central to these is BSI British Standards, the UK's National Standards Body (NSB), the standards development division of the Group and incorporates Business Information, its commercial arm. The other divisions are BSI Management Systems and BSI Product Services.

Further information on the BSI Group is:

BusinessStandards.com is the magazine for businesses, featuring interviews with leading business figures, news and views on the latest developments in management systems, registration and standards.

Role of the National Standards Body

BSI British Standards is recognised as the UK National Standards Body (NSB) by the UK Government. 

BS 0 - A Standard for Standards

BS 0 is a two-part standard which describes the context of standardization and identifies the aims, principles and procedural safeguards that apply when standards are prepared. It explains how standards are used in trade descriptions and in contracts, and how they may be invoked in legislation.

It also includes definitions of terms such as 'standardization', 'standard', 'code of practice' and other standards related concepts and contexts.

To download a FREE copy of BS 0 Parts 1 and 2, please follow the links below:

National Standardization Strategic Framework

In 2003 the UK government set up the National Standardization Strategic Framework (NSSF) as part of its commitment to innovation and technology. The framework was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and led jointly by the DTI, the British Standards Institution (BSI), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Learn more about the aims, strategy, progress, activities and resources on the NSSF website.

Intellectual Property Rights

Standards and Intellectual Property Rights: A Practical Guide for Innovative Business sets out the options a business has to make the most of its innovative ideas using standards and intellectual property rights. It takes you step-by-step through the options available during the lifecycle of an innovation and includes case studies from businesses in different sectors.

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills

Innovation Through Standards Unit

The Innovation Through Standards Unit aims to secure a standards, testing and certification infrastructure which meets the needs of UK industry.

Economics of standards

  • Swann, G M Peter The Economics of Standardization: Final Report for Standards and Technical Regulations Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry. Manchester Business School, December 2000. (File type: Adobe Acrobat Document, File size: 328.97kb) This article includes a review of the literature on standardization. The references for this paper are listed as a separate document.
  • The Empirical Economics of Standards. DTI Economics Paper No. 12, June 2005. (File type: Adobe Acrobat Document, File size: 969kb)
    The authors are Paul Temple, Robert Witt, Chris Spencer, Knut Blind, Andre Junjmittag and GM Peter Swann.

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