Policies+and+standards


 * Policies and standards **

__**Policies**__ From the ITGS Guide: Policies are enforceable measures intended to promote appropriate use. They can be developed by governments, businesses and private groups or individuals. They normally consist of rules governing access to or use of information, hardware or software. For example a national policy on IT security would need to define what constitues unlawful access to networks and to treat transgression. Policies also affect the exchange of information, for example, by making it subject to copyright laws. In general, policies can promote or restrict access, modify behaviour or require the fulfillment of certain conditions prior to or during use.

A policy will sometimes take the form of a contract or sometimes just a mutual agreement based on trust.

Example - [] - Du privacy policy

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__**Standards**__ From the ITGS Guide: Standards are social or technical rules and conventions that enable compatibility and therefore facilitate communication or interoperability between different IT systems and their components. They might govern the design and use of hardware, software and information. For example, communication protocols used on the internet, the ASCII representation for characters, or the design of the printer port on a personal computer are goverened by all standards.
 * A technical standard is an established norm or requirement. It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes and practices. []**

Examples of stadards within IT include USB, VGA , HTML. These standards allow manufacturers, software developers and users to interoperate easily and successfully. eg. a a USB memory stick. A manufacturer will design a memory stick using a USB connection, while PC and laptop designers will include USB ports on their products, aslo operation systems such as Windows and Mac will be made with USB compatability.

Other examples of standards include standard units in maths and physics such as m/s or kg.