Standardization and Japanese information service industry

Propagation and harmonization are two key issues of standardization. A task force was set up in an industry organization to work for the propagation of international standards. The name of the team was the Standard Committee, as part of the Japan Information Services Association (JISA). The activity to propagate standards provides little business profits in the short run. With this demerit, the committee could persuade member company management in specific topics. One example was the acceptance of ISO 9000. The recent activities are centered around Software Life Cycle Process (SLCP) and its practice guideline, Japan Common Frame (JCF). Such management-oriented standards may cause problems in Japan. Harmonization is a systematic problem solved by keeping concordance between International Standard Organization (ISO) standards and the official Japan Industrial Standard (JIS), as a governmental policy