International Codes Registry
The International Codes Registry (ICR) is an international standards institution responsible for maintaining stable identifiers and compact data-exchange formats used across borders.
ICR maintains code registries for territories, administrative subdivisions, currencies, languages, scripts, date and time notation, and machine-readable unit identifiers. Its standards allow governments, banks, transport systems, publishers, researchers, software services, and international organizations to exchange information without relying on translated names or local abbreviations.
ICR is not a general engineering standards body. It does not set manufacturing tolerances, product certification rules, construction standards, occupational safety requirements, or quality-management systems. Its authority is limited to code registries and data formats.
Assignment of an ICR code is a technical registry act. It does not by itself imply diplomatic recognition, legal sovereignty, or political endorsement.
Standards families
[edit | edit source]ICR standards are organized into numbered families:
- ICR 100 - territories and geopolitical entities
- ICR 110 - administrative subdivisions
- ICR 200 - currencies and monetary units
- ICR 300 - languages
- ICR 310 - scripts and writing systems
- ICR 400 - date and time representation
- ICR 500 - unit identifiers
Governance
[edit | edit source]Each standards family is maintained through a subject-specific maintenance committee. Committees review assignment requests, avoid conflicts with active and reserved codes, and preserve protected historical identifiers.
Changes to authoritative code tables are published through numbered change notices. Machine-readable releases and human-readable tables are expected to contain the same authoritative values.