16/11/2021
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published a new installment of its annual ISO Survey of Certification, on the status of ISO certifications granted worldwide.
The results of this survey reflect the certifications in force as of December 31, 2020, and include 12 standards. The values obtained are reported by the accredited bodies in each country, which generates certain fluctuations in the values obtained each year as participation is voluntary.
On this last occasion, the total number of certificates issued worldwide experienced an increase of 18% with respect to 2019. Part of this is justified by a significant growth in ISO 45.001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems certifications.
Focusing on the certifications granted based on the ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 22301 standards, which establish the requirements for Information Security Management System and Business Continuity respectively, the following stands out:
- That Information Security Management Systems certifications have had an increase of 22.43%, reaching 44,486 certifications reported worldwide.
- That Business Continuity Management Systems certifications have had an increase of 30.4%, reaching 4,662.
These numbers cannot be compared with the 916,842 Quality Management System certifications reported worldwide.
In the Americas, it can be observed that certifications on Information Security Management Systems represent 4.94% and those on Business Continuity, 7.39% of the total certifications reported worldwide.
As an example considering the reported ISO/IEC 27001 certifications, in Uruguay there were 13, a decrease if compared to 2019, when there were 19 (this gets explained because certain organizations are not participating in the survey; from Datasec we can assert that the real number has continued to increase).
The opposite happens in the United States, where an increase of 39.75% is observed between 2019 and 2020, reaching 1058 reported certificates.
For Canada the increase is 35.14%, with a total of 200 certifications.
Regarding Business Continuity Management Systems, certified on ISO 22301, the values in Uruguay remain at 0.
In the United States, there was an increase from 30 to 59 certified organizations, while in Canada there was only one more certification than in 2019.
In terms of Anti-Bribery Management Systems, ISO 37001, Peru stands out with 307 certificates reported, standing as the second country in the world, while in the United States and Canada there are 5 and 6 respectively.
The study largely reflects how companies around the world continue to implement and certify management systems based on ISO standards. Obtaining certification is a way of demonstrating intangible characteristics of an organization: its performance, prospects, practices and processes, making it possible to overcome or reduce information barriers.
In the Americas there is a growing trend for companies exporting services or solutions, as well as government suppliers, to implement and certify management systems to provide guarantees to all parties involved, especially in the face of end-customer requirements.
ISO understands that the participation in the survey was good and comparable with previous years, although there are fluctuations in certain countries so this survey cannot be considered a database of certificates issued.
From Datasec we strive to support public and private organizations in the implementation of international best practices, also leading by example, keeping our information security management system certified, as well as planning to add in the coming months the certification of our quality management system.
For more information on our support services for business continuity management, information security, anti-bribery, or IT governance, please contact us at contacto@datasec-soft.com or access https://www.datasec-soft.com/es/soluciones
