IT standards and organizations

Terms related to information technology (IT) standards, including definitions about IT organizations and words and phrases about policies and compliance.

Dublin Core - Dublin Core is an international metadata standard formally known as the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set and includes 15 metadata (data that describes data) terms.
dynamic port numbers - Dynamic port numbers, also known as private port numbers, are the port numbers that are available for use by any application to use in communicating with any other application, using the internet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
E-Sign Act (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act) - The E-Sign Act (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act) is a U.
E911 (Enhanced 911) - In the United States, E911 (Enhanced 91 is support for wireless phone users who dial 911, the standard number for requesting help in an emergency.
electric field strength - Electric field strength is a quantitative expression of the intensity of an electric field at a particular location.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) - The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) is a United States federal statute that prohibits a third party from intercepting or disclosing communications without authorization.
element - An element is a fundamental item that can't be easily broken into smaller pieces.
element-of symbol - The element-of symbol is used in mathematical set theory to indicate that a point, object or number belongs to a certain set.
encoding and decoding - Encoding and decoding are used in many forms of communications, including computing, data communications, programming, digital electronics and human communications.
Energy Star - Energy Star is a government-backed labeling program that helps people and organizations save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by identifying factories, office equipment, home appliances and electronics that have superior energy efficiency.
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) - Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) is a network protocol that enables routers to exchange information more efficiently than earlier network protocols, such as Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) or Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
enterprise architecture (EA) - An enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of organizations.
Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) - Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) is a network communication standard capable of handling large amounts of data at speeds of 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, and at up to 1500 bytes per packet.
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) - Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) is an eight-bit encoding scheme that standardizes how alphanumeric characters, punctuation and other symbols are interpreted by a computer's operating system (OS) and applications.
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) - The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is a protocol for wireless networks that expands the authentication methods used by the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), a protocol often used when connecting a computer to the internet.
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) - The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is United States federal legislation that promotes accuracy, fairness and privacy for data used by consumer reporting agencies.
Fair Information Practices (FIP) - FIP (Fair Information Practices) is a general term for a set of standards governing the collection and use of personal data and addressing issues of privacy and accuracy.
fair opportunity - Fair opportunity is a requirement that U.
farad (F) - A farad (F) is the standard unit of capacitance in the International System of Units (SI).
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) - Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the body of laws that govern the U.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the United States (U.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a United States government agency with the purpose to coordinate aid and respond to disasters around the nation when local resources are insufficient.
Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) - Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) is a standard for adoption and use by United States Federal departments and agencies that has been developed within the Information Technology Laboratory and published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a part of the U.
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) - The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is United States legislation that defines a framework of guidelines and security standards to protect government information, operations and assets.
File Transfer Access and Management (FTAM) - File Transfer Access and Management (FTAM) is an OSI application Layer 7 protocol that standardizes how files are accessed and managed in a distributed network file system.
FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) - FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) are a set of standards that describe document processing, encryption algorithms and other information technology standards for use within non-military government agencies and by government contractors and vendors who work with the agencies.
floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) - Floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) is a measure of a computer's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second.
flux - In physics, flux is a measure of the number of electric or magnetic field lines passing through a surface in a given amount time.
foot cubed (cubic foot) - The foot cubed, also called the cubic foot, is the unit of volume in the English foot-pound-second (fps) system.
foot per second (ft/s or ft/sec) - The foot per second (symbolized ft/s or ft/sec) is the unit of linear speed in the foot-pound-second (fps) or English system.
foot-pound-second system of units (fps system of units) - The foot-pound-second (fps) system of units is a scheme for measuring dimensional and material quantities.
framework - In general, a framework is a real or conceptual structure intended to serve as a support or guide for the building of something that expands the structure into something useful.
frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) - Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) transmission is the repeated switching of the carrier frequency during radio transmission to reduce interference and avoid interception.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a network protocol for transmitting files between computers over TCP/IP connections.
G-Cloud (Government Cloud) - G-Cloud (Government Cloud) is a U.
G-code - G-code (also known as RS-274) is the name of the most prevalent programming language for computer numerical control (CNC) in computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM).
GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) - GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) is a collection of commonly followed accounting rules and standards for financial reporting.
Gartner - Gartner is an IT research firm and consultancy, formerly known as Gartner Group.
Gartner Hype Cycle - The Gartner Hype Cycle is a graphical representation of the lifecycle stages a technology goes through from the initial development to its commercial availability and adoption, as well as its eventual decline and obsolescence.
gas - A gas is a substance that is in a gaseous, or vaporous, state of matter.
GFEBS (General Fund Enterprise Business System) - GFEBS (General Fund Enterprise Business System) is a Web-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for the United States Army.
GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching or Multiprotocol Lambda Switching) - GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching) is a networking technology that enables fast and reliable network switching of data flows on any type of network infrastructure.
government to government (G2G) - Government to government (G2G) is a term used to describe interactions between governments, typically at the national level.
government Trojan - A government Trojan is spyware installed on a computer or network by a law enforcement agency for the purpose of capturing information relevant to a criminal investigation.
governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) - A governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) is a contract between a commercial IT service or product vendor and the U.
gram (g or gm) - The gram (abbreviation, g or gm) is the cgs (centimeter/gram/second) unit of mass.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) - The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act or GLBA), also known as the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, is a federal law enacted in the United States to control the ways financial institutions deal with the private information of individuals.
GSA IT Schedule 70 - GSA IT Schedule 70 is a long-term contract issued by the U.
GVRP (GARP VLAN Registration Protocol or Generic VLAN Registration Protocol) - GVRP (GARP VLAN Registration Protocol or Generic VLAN Registration Protocol) is a standards-based protocol that facilitates control of virtual local area networks (VLANs) within a larger network.
hard drive shredder - A hard drive shredder is a mechanical device that physically destroys old hard drives in such a way that the data they contain cannot be recovered.
HDLC (High-level Data Link Control) - HDLC (High-level Data Link Control) is a group of protocols or rules for transmitting data between network points (sometimes called nodes).
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) - HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a proprietary specification designed to ensure compatibility between video and audio devices over a single digital interface.
heat - Heat is the transfer of thermal energy from one physical system to another system or from one region in a physical system to another region.
HELLO packet - A HELLO packet is a special data packet (message) that is sent out periodically from a router to establish and confirm network adjacency relationships to other routers in the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) communications protocol.
henry per meter (H/m) - The henry per meter (symbolized H/m) is the unit of magnetic permeability in the International System of Units (SI).
hertz (Hz) - Hertz (Hz) is the standard unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI).
Hewlett-Packard (HP) - HP (Hewlett-Packard) is a prominent IT company based in Palo Alto, California.
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) - The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to promote the best use of IT and management systems in the healthcare industry.
HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act of 2009 - The HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act of 2009 is legislation that was created to stimulate the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and the supporting technology in the United States.
horsepower (hp) - Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement in the foot-pound-second (fps or ft-lb/s) or English system, sometimes used to express the rate at which mechanical energy is expended.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring files -- such as text, images, sound, video and other multimedia files -- over the web.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol daemon (HTTPD) - On the Web, each server has an HTTPD or Hypertext Transfer Protocol daemon that waits in attendance for requests to come in from the rest of the Web.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) - Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a protocol that secures communication and data transfer between a user's web browser and a website.
IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) - IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, N.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) - ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the private, non-government, nonprofit corporation with responsibility for IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management and root server system management functions.
ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) - The International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), is a global standard for classifying and coding mortality and morbidity data.
ICD-10-PCS (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System) - The International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) is an American adaptation of the World Health Organization's ICD-10 system, tailored for procedural coding in inpatient and hospital settings.
ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) - ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is an error-reporting protocol that network devices such as routers use to generate error messages to the source IP address when network problems prevent delivery of IP packets.
ICT (information and communications technology or technologies) - ICT, or information and communications technology (or technologies), is the infrastructure and components that enable modern computing.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) - The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) describes itself as "the world's largest technical professional society -- promoting the development and application of electrotechnology and allied sciences for the benefit of humanity, the advancement of the profession, and the well-being of our members.
IEEE 802.3 - 802.3, or IEEE 802.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) - Internet Message Access Protocol, or IMAP, is a standard email retrieval (incoming) protocol.
incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) - An incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) is a type of U.
Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) - In telecommunications, the Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) is a contractual agreement (temporary ownership) of a portion of the capacity of an international cable.
InfiniBand - InfiniBand is an industry standard communications specification the InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) developed.
Information and Content Exchange (ICE) - Information and Content Exchange (ICE) is an XML-based standard protocol for electronic business-to-business (B2B) asset management.
information society - Information Society is a term for a society in which the creation, distribution, and manipulation of information has become the most significant economic and cultural activity.
Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (IT Act 2008) - The Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (IT Act 2008) is a substantial addition to India's Information Technology Act 2000.
intellectual property core (IP core) - An intellectual property core (IP core) is a functional block of logic or data used to make a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or application-specific integrated circuit for a product.
international private leased circuit (IPLC) - An international private leased circuit (IPLC) is a point-to-point private line used by an organization to communicate between offices that are dispersed throughout the world.
International System of Units (SI) - The International System of Units is a global standard for expressing the magnitudes or quantities of important natural phenomena.
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) - The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the body that defines standard operating internet protocols such as TCP/IP.
Internet Protocol (IP) - The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the internet.
IP address (Internet Protocol address) - Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique numerical identifier for every device or network that connects to the internet.
IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) - IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) is a general term for technologies, products and services that use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to support voice calling, voicemail, video calling, video conferencing, faxing and instant messaging.
IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) - IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) is a suite of protocols and algorithms for securing data transmitted over the internet or any public network.
IPTV (Internet Protocol television) - IPTV (Internet Protocol television) is a service that provides television programming and other video content using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite, as opposed to broadcast TV, cable TV or satellite signals.
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) - IPv6 is a set of specifications from the Internet Engineering Task Force that improves IPv4 by extending IP addresses from 32 bits to 128 bits.
ISACA - ISACA is an independent, nonprofit, global association that engages in the development, adoption and use of globally accepted information system (IS) knowledge and practices.
iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) - ISCSI is a transport layer protocol that describes how Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) packets should be transported over a TCP/IP network.
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) - ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies.
ISO 14000 and 14001 - ISO 14000 is a series of environmental management standards developed and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
ISO 22301 (International Organization of Standardization standard 22301) - International Organization of Standardization standard 22301 (ISO 22301) is a proposed standard that would call for meeting specific societal security requirements for disaster preparedness and business continuity management systems (BCMS).
ISO 27002 (International Organization for Standardization 27002) - The ISO 27002 standard is a collection of information security management guidelines that are intended to help an organization implement, maintain and improve its information security management.
ISO 9000 - ISO 9000 is a series of standards, developed and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
ISO date format - The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) date and time format is a standard way to express a numeric calendar date -- and optionally time -- in a format that eliminates ambiguity between entities.
IT automation - IT automation is the use of instructions to create a repeated process that replaces an IT professional's manual work in data centers and cloud deployments.
IT controls - An IT control is a procedure or policy that provides a reasonable assurance that the information technology (IT) used by an organization operates as intended, that data is reliable and that the organization is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
IT operations management (ITOM) - IT operations management (ITOM) is a strategic approach to managing an organization's information technology needs.
ITAR and EAR compliance - The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) are two important U.